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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | October 18, 2019 12:57 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Malcolm Kenyatta and Rep. Jordan A. Harris, Rep. Stephen Kinsey |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Resolution Honoring the Life of Congressman Elijah Cummings |
| Born the grandson of sharecroppers and son of factory workers, Elijah Cummings earned a bachelor’s degree from Howard University in 1973 and graduated from the University of Maryland Law School in 1976. In 1983, he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, where he would become the first African-American speaker pro tempore. In 1996, Cummings was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he became the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in 2011 and chairman of the committee in 2019. While impressive, Representative Cummings was more than a simple biography could ever properly encapsulate. He was a voice for change, hope, and civility that was respected by both the powerful and downtrodden, Democrat and Republican, and everyone in between. He was a fearsome fighter not just for the people he represented, but for every American. He spoke truth to power and earned respect in the process. Congressman Cummings brought injustice into light and fought it wherever he saw it until his final days when he died at the age of 68. Representative Cummings believed that “our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see.” He was a living message of hope and leaves a message to every American to fight for what we believe is right. In these divided times, I ask that you join me in supporting this resolution to honor the life of Congressman Cummings and help take a step toward proving that, as he often said, “we are better than this.” |
Introduced as HR783