Elijah Cummings

Elijah Cummings
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office April 16, 1996
Preceded by	Kweisi Mfume
Maryland House of Delegates 39th District
In office January 12, 1983 – January 10, 1996
Succeeded by	Sterling Page
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Dr. Maya Rockeymoore-Cummings
Residence	Baltimore, Maryland
Alma mater	Howard University, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Occupation	attorney

Elijah Eugene Cummings (born January 18, 1951) is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 7th district of the State of Maryland (map) since 1996.

Early life and career

Cummings was born in Baltimore and graduated with honors from the Baltimore City College in 1969. He later attended Howard University in Washington, DC, where he served in student government as sophomore class president, Student Government treasurer and later Student Government President. He became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

Cummings attended law school at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, graduating in 1976 and entering the Maryland Bar in December 1976. He practiced law for 19 years before first being elected to the House in the 1996 elections.

For 16 years, Cummings served in the Maryland House of Delegates. In the Maryland General Assembly, he served as Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and was the first African American in Maryland history to be named Speaker pro Tempore, the second highest position in the House of Delegates.

Congressional career

Rep. Cummings (at podium; D-Maryland) joins other Members of the Congressional Black Caucus in protesting the nomination of Judge Charles W. Pickering to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (March, 2002).

Cummings was elected to the United States House of Representatives in April 1996 in a special election for Maryland's 7th Congressional District following the resignation of Kweisi Mfume. On November 4, 2008, Congressman Cummings was re-elected for a seventh term with 79.5 percent of the vote.

He received praise and a boost in notoriety following the congressional panel hearings on steroids in March 2005. While investigating the use of steroids in sports, the panel called numerous baseball players to testify, including former legendary slugger Mark McGwire. After McGwire answered many previous questions in a vague fashion, Cummings demanded to know if he was "taking the fifth", referring to the fifth amendment. McGwire responded by saying "I am here to talk about the future not about the past". The exchange came to epitomize the entire inquiry.

Cummings served as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 108th United States Congress. He is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, an organization of progressive members of Congress.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  • Subcommittee on Domestic Policy.
  • Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Post Office, and District of Columbia.
• Joint Economic Committee

Caucus memberships

• Task Force on Health Care Reform
• Co-founder and Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Drug Policy

Other contributions and service

Cummings also serves on numerous Maryland boards and commissions including the Board of Visitors (BOV) to the United States Naval Academy, the Baltimore 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 Dunbar-Hopkins Health Partnership Executive Board.

In addition to his many speaking engagements, he writes a biweekly column for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper. He currently lives in the Madison Park community in Baltimore, and is an active member of the New Psalmist Baptist Church. He was mentioned as a possible candidate in 2006 for the United States Senate seat of retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes, but ended up endorsing Kweisi Mfume for the seat instead of running himself (see Maryland United States Senate election, 2006). He is also considered to be a possible candidate for Governor of Maryland in the future.

References

• United States Congress. "Elijah Cummings (id: C000984)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Official Congressional biography for Representative Cummings.
• Congressional Quarterly Voting and Elections Collection.

External links

• Congressman Elijah E. Cummings official U.S. House website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia