Civil-rights icon and Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings of Baltimore died this morning at age 68. He was an elegant and eloquent speaker — a shining example of leadership. Watch his first speech from the floor of the House of Representatives in 1996.
Rep. Elijah Cummings first speech on the floor of the House of Representatives (4/26/96): "We need to take more time to find common ground."@RepCummings had 955 C-SPAN appearances. https://t.co/KrqsHVM0bL
RIP. pic.twitter.com/0FKpCxBTw8
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 17, 2019
And here’s what he said this July.
I'm begging the American people to pay attention to what is going on. Because if you want to have a democracy intact for your children, and your children's children, and generations yet unborn we've got to guard this moment…this is our watch. pic.twitter.com/ShTZwbQROP
— Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) July 24, 2019
You’ll be able to read in depth about his life and accomplishments in numerous tributes today. The one thing I want to emphasize is that Cummings served for 13 years in Maryland’s House of Delegates before winning his congressional seat — a reminder to all of us to vote in local and state elections, where the greatest often get their start.