Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Trump Says No Summit Deal With Putin Over Ukraine War, Talks Were ‘Very Productive’

21 hours ago

Madera County Man Arrested in Fatal Crash Case

24 hours ago

Man Fleeing an Immigration Raid Dies After Running Onto LA Freeway

1 day ago

Kevin McCarthy, Redistricting Commission’s Popularity Stand in Newsom’s Way

1 day ago

California Man Safe After High-Tech Rescue From Behind Sequoia Waterfall

1 day ago

California Legislature’s Final Weeks Could Decide Delta Water Tunnel’s Fate

1 day ago

US Consumer Sentiment Weakens in August, Inflation Expectations Rise

1 day ago

Trump Names Rosner as Chair of Energy Regulator

2 days ago
Late Rep. Cummings Hailed as 'North Star' for Democrats
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
October 24, 2019

Share

WASHINGTON — The late Rep. Elijah Cummings was hailed as the “North Star” for fellow House Democrats as congressional leaders and colleagues paid tribute to him at a Capitol ceremony Thursday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a close personal and political ally, said that not only was Cummings a guiding light, “Elijah was truly a master of the House.”

“Let’s go home. Let’s all go home. Now our distinguished colleague truly has gone home.” — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recalled Cummings’ efforts to calm his native Baltimore amid violent 2015 protests following the death of a black man, Freddie Gray, in police custody. Cummings’ involvement, taking to the streets with a bullhorn, helped quiet the disturbances.
By day, Cummings was at the Capitol in the halls of power, McConnell said, but at night he returned to Baltimore to encourage unity.
“Let’s go home. Let’s all go home,” McConnell recalled Cummings saying at the time. “Now our distinguished colleague truly has gone home.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that like Cummings’ namesake, the Prophet Elijah, the congressman “saw wrongdoing and spent his life working to banish it from our land.”
Hoyer also recalled the 2015 Baltimore protests and said Cummings was “a calming influence in a sea of rage.”
A sharecropper’s son, Cummings rose to become a civil rights champion and chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, where he was a leader of an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
The late Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings is carried through the Rotunda of the Capitol to lie in state at the Capitol in Washington,Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. Following at far left is his widow, Maya Rockeymoore. The Maryland congressman and civil rights champion died Thursday, Oct. 17, at age 68 of complications from long-standing health issues. (Michael Reynolds/Pool via AP). (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A Wake and Funeral Are Planned Friday in Baltimore

Cummings died Oct. 17 after complications from long-standing health problems
Hoyer and other speakers remembered a frequent Cummings lament when events went awry or politicians acted badly: “We are better than this,” Cummings would thunder to all who would listen.

“He pulled no punches. He was authentic to the core and a champion of our democracy.” Rep. Karen Bass
Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Cummings was respected and revered in the caucus, “a quiet giant” whose words were heeded.
“He pulled no punches. He was authentic to the core and a champion of our democracy,” Bass said.
Rep. Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican who frequently sparred with Cummings on the Oversight and Reform Committee, called Cummings a close friend whose “smile would consume his whole face.”
But Cummings “also had eyes that would pierce through anybody that was standing in his way,” Meadows recalled. Bowing his head, Meadows sad he was blessed to know Cummings, adding: “Perhaps this place and this country would be better served with a few more unexpected friendships.”
The public was to have the chance to pay respects to Cummings later Thursday in Statuary Hall. Cummings is just the third African American to lie in honor at the Capitol and the first black lawmaker.
A wake and funeral are planned Friday in Baltimore.
As a tribute to Cummings, no votes were scheduled Thursday in the House.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

How Do We Bridge America’s New Segregation?

DON'T MISS

Micky MaKenzie, Bold Pup With a Big Heart, Ready for a New Home

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Xi Told Him China Will Not Invade Taiwan While He Is US President

DON'T MISS

Melania Trump Sends Letter to Putin About Abducted Children

DON'T MISS

Category 4 Hurricane Erin Continues to Intensify, NHC Says

DON'T MISS

US Stops Visitor Visas for People From Gaza

DON'T MISS

Trump Says No Summit Deal With Putin Over Ukraine War, Talks Were ‘Very Productive’

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Man Guilty of Multiple Lewd Acts on Child

DON'T MISS

Sanger Police Arrest Second Suspect Charged in Juvenile Shooting

DON'T MISS

Pismo’s Manager Stuck in ICE Detention for Long Ago Teen Crime

UP NEXT

US Stops Visitor Visas for People From Gaza

UP NEXT

Washington Sues to Stop Federal Takeover of Police Department

UP NEXT

US Health Chief Kennedy Says No Plans for 2028 Presidential Run

UP NEXT

Redistricting Fight Continues as Texas Governor Abbott Calls New Special Legislative Session

UP NEXT

DOJ Sues California to End Enforcement of Emissions Standards for Trucks

UP NEXT

US Consumer Sentiment Weakens in August, Inflation Expectations Rise

UP NEXT

Trump Heads to ‘High Stakes’ Alaska Summit With Putin on Ukraine

UP NEXT

All National Guard Troops Sent to Washington Are Mobilized, Pentagon Says

UP NEXT

Trump: Journalists Should Be Allowed Into Gaza

UP NEXT

Why Young Americans Dread Turning 26: Health Insurance Chaos

Melania Trump Sends Letter to Putin About Abducted Children

6 hours ago

Category 4 Hurricane Erin Continues to Intensify, NHC Says

6 hours ago

US Stops Visitor Visas for People From Gaza

6 hours ago

Trump Says No Summit Deal With Putin Over Ukraine War, Talks Were ‘Very Productive’

21 hours ago

Tulare County Man Guilty of Multiple Lewd Acts on Child

22 hours ago

Sanger Police Arrest Second Suspect Charged in Juvenile Shooting

22 hours ago

Pismo’s Manager Stuck in ICE Detention for Long Ago Teen Crime

23 hours ago

Complaint Filed Against Judge in NW Fresno Luxury Apartment Case

23 hours ago

Madera County Man Arrested in Fatal Crash Case

24 hours ago

Fresno Two-Vehicle Crash Near Highway 168 Entrance Causes Traffic Delays

24 hours ago

How Do We Bridge America’s New Segregation?

America’s democracy is under threat. President Donald Trump smashes alliances, upends norms and tramples the Constitution. So it’s normal to...

5 hours ago

3D illustration, Symbolic image on the topic of division, exclusion
5 hours ago

How Do We Bridge America’s New Segregation?

Micky MaKenzie, a bold yet sweet pup who loves belly rubs, car rides and playing with dogs of all sizes, is now recovered from surgery and ready for a forever home with his best buddy Sunny. (Mell's Mutts)
5 hours ago

Micky MaKenzie, Bold Pup With a Big Heart, Ready for a New Home

President Donald Trump holds a press conference following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
6 hours ago

Trump Says Xi Told Him China Will Not Invade Taiwan While He Is US President

U.S. first lady Melania Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. (Reuters File)
6 hours ago

Melania Trump Sends Letter to Putin About Abducted Children

Hurricane Erin, which is the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season and has developed into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane, moves westward near Puerto Rico in a composite satellite image August 16, 2025. CIRA/NOAA/Handout via REUTERS
6 hours ago

Category 4 Hurricane Erin Continues to Intensify, NHC Says

United States Department of State logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
6 hours ago

US Stops Visitor Visas for People From Gaza

U.S. President Donald Trump goes to shake hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
21 hours ago

Trump Says No Summit Deal With Putin Over Ukraine War, Talks Were ‘Very Productive’

A Farmersville man, Jose Martinez-Delgadillo, was found guilty on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, of multiple lewd acts on a child, possession of child pornography, and other crimes, and faces over 22 years in prison with lifetime sex offender registration. (Tulare County DA)
22 hours ago

Tulare County Man Guilty of Multiple Lewd Acts on Child

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend