Elijah E. Cummings
Table of contents
- 1. Current Position: U.S. Representative (since April 1996)
- 2. Why He Matters
- 2.1. At a Glance
- 2.2. In Their Own Words
- 3. Path to Power
- 3.1. Political Start
- 4. The Issues
- 4.1. The Economy
- 4.2. Education
- 4.3. Law Enforcement
- 5. The Network
- 6. Footnotes
Credit: Congress Bio DirectoryCurrent Position: U.S. Representative (since April 1996)
Why He Matters
At a Glance
Current Position: U.S. Representative (since April 1996)
Career History: Maryland speaker pro tempore (1995-1996); Defense attorney (1976-1996);
Member of the Maryland state house of delegates, (1983-1996)
Birthday: Jan. 18, 1951
Hometown: Baltimore, Md.
Alma Mater: Howard University, B.A., political science, 1973; University of Maryland School of Law, J.D., 1976
Spouse: Joyce Cummings (separated)
Religion: Baptist
Committees:
House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation); House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
DC Office: 2235 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-4741
District Office: 1010 Park Avenue, Suite 105 Baltimore, Md., 21201, 410-685-9199; 754 Frederick Road, Catonsville, Md., 21228, 410-719-8777; 8267 Main Street, Room 102, Ellicott Mills Post Office, Ellicott City, Md., 21043, 410-465-8259
News pundits are far more deferential to Cummings nowadays. In the wake of AIG’s collapse, and the groundbreaking revelations that Cummings’ investigations uncovered, the Maryland representative has become an authority on the economy, its ills and the ideal remedies. He has logged hundreds of visits on television and radio, and he has appeared in the columns of many leading magazines.
“When Cummings talks, Wall Street listens—especially on the Obama administration's handling of the economic crisis,” wrote Baltimore Sun columnist Paul West. West, Paul, "Cummings' doubts about Geithner complicate his position," The Baltimore Sun, March 29, 2009.
This would surprise few voters in Maryland’s 7th Congressional District, which Cummings has represented since 1996 with levels of popular support that most lawmakers would envy. He won each of the last four election cycles by margins of 74% to 100% in his heavily Democratic district.
Cummings reelection campaigns receive consistently strong backing from law firms, transportation unions, public-sector unions, sea-transport unions and public-health associations. CSX Corporation, the Airline Pilots Association, the American Dental Association, the Carpenters & Joiners Union, and Constellation Energy are among his top contributors. Open Secrets.org, Congressional Elections: Maryland District 07
In Their Own Words
“In the neighborhood that I grew up in, in the city of Baltimore, one of the things that you tried to do was make sure that you were not considered a chump… And what really bothers me is all of these other people who are lined up, they’ll say, ‘Well, is Kashkari a chump? We can go in there we’ll get some money," Cummings said of the financial industry's attitude toward the bailout.Path to Power
Cummings was born poor in west Baltimore. His father was a laborer for a fruit orchard and a chemical plant, while his mother held jobs as a pickle-factory worker and a domestic housekeeper. The realities of inner-city life surrounded him in the form of vast numbers of young men in his neighborhood who ran afoul of the law and got committed to reform schools. Their plights led him to consider a career in law.
“I also thought that these young men probably needed lawyers,” he said. “I went into law, and later politics, in hopes that I could give of myself, be an inspiration to others.”Bernstein, Alice, "Congressman Elijah Cummings: A true representative," East Texas Review, Sept. 11-18, 2003.
Cummings graduated from Howard University in 1973 with a B.A. in political science. He graduated with a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1976 and won admission to the Maryland Bar that year. He practiced law for 19 years as a defense attorney with Cummings & Dashiell, PA.Project Vote Smart - Representative Elijah E. Cummings - Biography
Political Start
He officially entered politics in 1983, when he won an election to the Maryland state House of Delegates. In 1995, his colleagues selected him to serve as speaker pro tempore—he was the first African-American in Maryland’s history to attain this position."Elijah Cummings," Answers.com.
In February 1996, the 7th district’s then-representative, Kweisi Mfume (D), resigned to head the NAACP.Hotline, "ON THE HOUSE - MD 07 RESULTS: IT'S NOW REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS," April 17, 1996. Cummings ran for the seat in an April 1996 special election in a crowded field of 27 Democratic and five Republican candidates. Cummings won 37 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, far ahead of second-place finisher Frank M. Reid III, who garnered 24 percent. In the April 1996 special election, Cummings trounced Republican Kenneth Kondner 81 percent to 19 percent."Elijah Cummings," Answers.com.
Cummings now serves as chairman of the House Transportation subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation; and the Congressional Caucus on Drug Policy. He is also a senior member of both the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
He is a part of the Congressional Black Caucus; the Progressive Caucus; and the Out-of-Iraq Caucus.Congressional Elections: Maryland District 07
The Issues
Cummings’s voting record is solidly liberal: He sided with the majority of his Democratic Party colleagues 98.8% of the time in the 107th Congress and 94.5% of the time throughout his Congressional career.Washington Post Votes Database
Cummings is a prominent critic of AIG. He grilled Neel Kashkari, interim assistant secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability, in a Nov. 14, 2008, hearing in which he told Kashkari that in light of the distribution of federal funds to AIG, and AIG’s subsequent use of them for expensive receptions and salary bonuses, some observers might take Kashkari for a “chump”:
“In the neighborhood that I grew up in, in the city of Baltimore, one of the things that you tried to do was make sure that you were not considered a chump… And what really bothers me is all of these other people who are lined up, they’ll say, ‘Well, is Kashkari a chump? We can go in there we’ll get some money.”Brinsley, John and Christie, Rebecca, Bloomberg, "Paulson's `Chump' Kashkari May Ruin Christmas, Congressman Says," Nov. 14, 2008
Cummings was also among the 27 House Democrats who called for a federal investigation into $52 billion of bailout proceeds that AIG dispensed as “counterparty payments” to other companies to whom it had previously issued credit-default swaps.Son, Hugh, "AIG Bank Payments Probed by TARP Inspector General," Bloomberg, April 7, 2009Counterparty payments act as collateral and cover the cost of the swap in the event of a default. Under pressure from Cummings’ investigations, AIG executives revealed that the beneficiaries included Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and more than a dozen other prominent Wall Street firms, as well as a number of prominent banks in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom."Collateral Payments Under AIGFP CDS," AIG
Cummings is additionally a sponsor of initiatives to increase access to college, reform public education and combat crime and drug abuse by addressing their underlying social causes.
The Economy
Since the onset of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, Cummings has pressed the Federal Reserve to better regulate the mortgage industry. He also introduced a resolution to support responsible lending practices and co-sponsored the Expanding American Home Ownership Act of 200, which expanded the services the Federal Housing Administration offers borrowers; and the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, which protects potential homeowners from abusive practices within the mortgage-lending industry.Congressional Elections: Maryland District 07
Cummings initially came out against the 2008 Wall Street bailout, stating that “Congress simply cannot bail out Wall Street while at the same time bailing on Main Street.” He co-sponsored an alternative bailout plan that gave homeowners more protections and reduced the power of the Treasury secretary. But Cummings later dropped his opposition and voted for the 2008 bailout, citing the widespread inability of many of his constituents to obtain needed credit.Helderman, Rosalind, "Edwards, Cummings Vote 'Yes' on Bailout," Washington Post, Oct. 3, 2008.
Cummings strongly supported the 2009 economic stimulus act. He praised its passage, but lamented the lack of funding for things like school construction.”Congressman Elijah E. Cummings web site Cummings was the only Maryland representative of either party to oppose President Clinton’s 1996 Welfare Reform Act.Congressional Elections: Maryland District 07
Education
Cummings is committed to expanding and upgrading early childhood education. He supported the Head Start for School Readiness Act, a measure to allow an additional 10,000 children into the national Head Start program, increase teacher salaries and improve cooperation between Head Start and state and local child-care programs to increase full-day and full-year services.
He sponsored a bill to train more teachers to serve children with disabilities in integrated settings, and he supported the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act to recruit more math and science teachers. Cummings supported the reauthorization and full funding of the No Child Left Behind Act. He has also co-sponsored legislation with Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor George Miller (D-Calif.), to address U.S. high-school dropout rates.Congressional Elections: Maryland District 07
Cummings has been at the forefront of efforts to make college education more affordable. At the start of the 110th Congress, Cummings supported a budget resolution to increase the maximum Pell Grant scholarship for higher education for the first time since 2003. He also co-sponsored the College Student Relief Act, which halved interest rates on student loans.Congressman Elijah E. Cummings web site
Cummings opposes voucher programs that would help defray the costs of private-school tuition for needy families. He insists that federal spending be directed toward needed improvements in public schools."Elijah Cummings," Answers.com
Law Enforcement
The urban problems of crime and drug abuse are high-priority issues for Cummings. He has hosted events throughout Baltimore’s 7th district to educate parents, teachers and community leaders about the signs and language of gang activity; ways to communicate with young people about gangs; and safe means of reporting gang activity. He is currently sponsoring a bill to provide grant money for witness protection to cities and counties that average at least 100 homicides a year; the bill also provides training assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service.Congressional Elections: Maryland District 07
Cummings co-founded the Congressional Caucus on Drug Policy and led efforts to renew the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He has supported many initiatives to rehabilitate convicted drug offenders, such as increasing access to buprenorphine, a treatment for opiate dependency, and expanding use of drug courts, which offer convicts pathways to addiction treatment. He co-sponsored the Second Chance Act, which provides re-entry services to people in jail."Elijah Cummings," Answers.com.
The Maryland Democrat has taken decisive stands against racial discrimination in law-enforcement efforts. This year, he co-sponsored the Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Act, which equalized the discrepancies in mandatory minimum sentences for powder cocaine and crack-cocaine; sentences have historically been harsher for African-American convicts. In 1999, he co-sponsored the Traffic Stops Statistics Study Act, which called for documentation of the extent to which police are influenced by race when conducting traffic stops."Elijah Cummings," Answers.com.
The Network
In early 2007, when the contest for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination was underway, Barack Obama personally telephoned Cummings to ask him to lead his Maryland effort. Cummings accepted, and traveled extensively both throughout Maryland and the U.S. to raise support for Obama’s bid. Cummings was particularly visible in the hotly-contested South Carolina primary, one that analysts say proved pivotal to Obama’s eventual securing of the nomination. Cummings subsequently co-chaired the Maryland delegation at the 2008 Democratic Convention.Nitkin, David, "Marylanders in Obama's orbit," The Baltimore Sun, August 26, 2008.
In 2006, he backed his predecessor in the House, Kweisi Mfume (D), in the primary for the open Senate seat being vacated by outgoing Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D).Dennison, Thomas, "Democrats Fear Backlash from Black Voters," The Gazette, Sept. 7, 2006 But he actively gathered Democrats behind then-Rep. Benjamin Cardin (D) following Cardin’s nomination victory.
In addition to his leadership roles in Congress, Cummings serves on the boards of numerous private and public associations and institutions: the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors, the Morgan State University Board of Regents, the Maryland Zoo Board of Trustees, the Baltimore Aquarium Board of Trustees, the Baltimore Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America Board of Directors, and the Yale-Howard Nursing Partnership Center to Reduce Health Disparities by Self and Family Management Advisory Committee.Congressional Elections: Maryland District 07
He keeps in touch with the concerns of the residents of his district by holding town hall meetings for his constituents has and has also organized five community-input groups or "roundtables," which assist him in developing solutions to the problems facing his district.Congressional Elections: Maryland District 07
Cummings has also been a Huffington Post blogger since mid-2007. Blog topics include Blackwater, the November 2007 Israel-Palestine negotiations in Annapolis, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League baseball. In the wake of the October 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, he published numerous posts excoriating profligate spending by CitiGroup and other corporations seeking federal assistance."Rep. Elijah Cummings," Huffington Post.
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Footnotes
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