Press Releases

CONGRESSWOMAN STACEY PLASKETT RELEASES STATEMENT ON PASSING OF CONGRESSMAN ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

Washington, October 17, 2019
Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett issued the following statement on the passing of House Oversight Committee Chairman and Congressional Black Caucus Member, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings:

For Immediate Release                                                                                                                                                  Contact: Michael J. McQuerry

October 17, 2019                                                                                                                                                                                           202-215-8524

PRESS STATEMENT

CONGRESSWOMAN STACEY PLASKETT RELEASES STATEMENT ON PASSING OF CONGRESSMAN ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

Washington, DC - Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett issued the following statement on the passing of House Oversight Committee Chairman and Congressional Black Caucus Member, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings:

“Today we lost the earthly man, Elijah Cummings. Most of the country and many around the world knew him as a member of Congress from the city of Baltimore. He was a fierce fighter for the forgotten, a sworn opponent of hunger, of poverty, of abuse and of addiction. Chairman Cummings was a driven man, a person who pushed for what was right because he believed in the supreme responsibility of elected officials to look out for those that we represent.

“I had the honor of being a member of the Committee he chaired, Oversight and Reform, for 5 years. Like so many of his generation, he was raised in a time of both overt and unwritten racism. He believed especially in his duty to speak up for the marginalized in his home city of Baltimore. Here in Congress he was a giant where he grew deep and meaningful friendships with people regardless of their political ideology. He was a mentor to me. I and those who had a chance to interact with him knew him as more than a member of Congress. He was a man of God. He lived and worked in Congress on Christian values.  He demonstrated those daily.

“He was a man of great wisdom and although he needed little protection I viewed my role on the Committee as not only being the consummate prosecutor and counselor but as a frontline and protector to this gentleman. 

“To his wife, Maya, his family and staff our prayers and love are with you.  He often reminded us all of the legacy we leave, and the account we must give on Judgement Day.  He left a positive legacy and among us, his account will be “well done. ”

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