Precinct Reporter Group News

Top Menu

  • Precinct Reporter News
  • Food
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
  • Subscribe
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Precinct Reporter News
  • Food
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy

logo

Precinct Reporter Group News

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
  • Subscribe
  • Black Press: Breaking News, Global Media App Take Center Stage

  • The Mind and Heart of Harriet Tubman

  • Felicia Alexander Builds Her Place on SBCUSD Board

  • New LBC Programs Grapple with Homelessness

  • CA College Corps Offers Students Much More Than $10K Stipends

Latest PRGNews
Home›Latest PRGNews›Congressman Elijah Cummings Dies at 68

Congressman Elijah Cummings Dies at 68

By Precinct Reporter News
October 24, 2019
2621
0
Share:

By Stacy M. Brown

NNPA Newswire Correspondent

The Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and a titan of the U.S. Congress, Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD-7), died early Thursday morning on October 17. He was 68.

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, the congressman’s wife and chair of the Maryland Democratic Committee, said Cummings died at 2:45 a.m. at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Mrs. Cummings said her husband’s death resulted from complications concerning longstanding health challenges.

In recent years, Cummings had been in and out of the hospital. “Dr. Elijah Saunders and I took care of Congressman Cummings for [years] for his blood pressure,” said Cummings’ longtime nurse, Barbara “B.J.” Shaneman.

“He always called me the boss because he told his team I was a short woman with a big voice. I would fuss at him about watching his blood pressure. His health was my concern. I screamed when I heard the news. I said, ‘this can’t happen.’ I said they [Cummings and Saunders, who died in 2015] were the last of the old guard,” Shaneman said.

Recently, and in increasingly rare sightings of the congressman, Cummings was seen using a walker.

He underwent an undisclosed medical procedure, and his office expected that he would only miss about one week of work.

“He was an honorable man who proudly served his district and the nation with dignity, integrity, compassion, and humility,” Mrs. Cummings said.

Cummings obtained his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Howard University, serving as Student Government President and graduating Phi Beta Kappa.

He earned his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law.

The recipient of 13 honorary doctoral degrees, Cummings dedicated his life of service to uplifting and empowering the people he was sworn to represent, according to his biography.

He began his career in public service in the Maryland House of Delegates, where he served for 14 years, becoming the first African American in Maryland history to ascend to the position of Speaker Pro Tem.

Since 1996, Cummings has represented Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Cummings was committed to ensuring that the next generation has access to quality healthcare and education, clean air and water, and a strong economy defined by fiscal responsibility. Children “are the living messages that we send to a future we will never see,” he often said.

In addition to the contributions he made to improve the lives of all Americans, the congressman was a passionate advocate for his beloved Baltimore, where he was born and raised.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump disparaged the city – particularly parts of Cummings’ district — labeling the city as a “rodent-infested mess where no human being would want to live.”

Cummings immediately responded: “Those in the highest levels of government must stop making hateful, incendiary comments that only serve to divide and distract the nation from its real problems, including mass shootings and white supremacy.”

“Those in the highest levels of the government must stop invoking fear, using racist language and encouraging reprehensible behavior,” Cummings added.

“He was a champion of the people, a soldier and a warrior for his city, the state, and the nation,” said Baltimore Times Publisher Joy Bramble. “Elijah Cummings made Baltimore and all of those who came across better.”

The congressman told a local reporter that he and Trump had just one face-to-face conversation since the president took office in 2016.

“I said, ‘Mr. President, you’re now 70-something, I’m 60-something. Very soon, you and I will be dancing with the angels. The thing that you and I need to do is figure out what we can do – what present can we bring to generations unborn?”

His last act in Congress came on Oct. 8, when he joined three others from a bipartisan group to introduce legislation called “The Family Asthma Act.” The bill seeks to expand federal, state, and local efforts to improve care for individuals with asthma.

“Long live the freedom-fighting spirit of Brother Leader Congressman Elijah Cummings,” National Newspaper Publishers Association President, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., said. “On behalf of the Black Press of America, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Cummings and to the Cummings family.”

TagsBaltimoreChair House Committee on OversightcongressLong Beach LeaderNNPA Newswireprecinct reporterRep. Elijah Cummingstricounty bulletin
Previous Article

Lawmakers: Strengthen, Not Weaken, CRA

Next Article

Legislation Encourages Community College Students to Graduate

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Precinct Reporter News

Related articles More from author

  • Latest PRGNews

    AARP, NNPA Host Webinar on Saving Black Lives During COVID-19

    April 23, 2020
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Don’t Post Vaccine Card Online

    June 24, 2021
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Tustin Mayor Letitia Clark Discusses Goals

    January 14, 2021
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Bianca Smith 1st Black Woman Coach in Baseball History

    January 7, 2021
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    New App Nudges Students to Higher Education

    December 31, 2020
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    St. Paul AME Welcomes New Pastor

    December 13, 2018
    By Precinct Reporter News

You might be interested

  • Latest PRGNews

    Fighting Discrimination in the Housing Market

  • Latest PRGNews

    CAP Riverside: 54 Years of Critical Programs

  • Latest PRGNews

    New Partnership Leads Black Health Outreach

Ads

Advertise with us!

Ads

Ads |

Ads V

ADS III

Find us on Facebook

Ads

Precinct Reporter News Group

Your local news resource for 50 years in the Inland Empire, Orange County, Long Beach and surrounding areas!

To subscribe or advertise, call 909.889.0597

About us

  • Broadcasting & Media Production Company
    357 W. 2nd Street
    San Bernardino, California, CA 92401
  • mailto:sales@precinctreporter.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Black Press: Breaking News, Global Media App Take Center Stage

    By Precinct Reporter News
    March 23, 2023
  • The Mind and Heart of Harriet Tubman

    By Precinct Reporter News
    March 23, 2023
  • Felicia Alexander Builds Her Place on SBCUSD Board

    By Precinct Reporter News
    March 23, 2023
  • IE/OC Prostate and Breast Cancer, Change the Menu

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015
  • Join our Recipe Competition!

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015
  • SB Budget Cuts CDBG

    SB CDBG Cuts Have Local Nonprofits Braced for the Worst

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015

Follow us

© Powered by Hotspotwebsites.net. All rights reserved.