Longtime congressman Elijah E. Cummings was remembered Thursday as the moral backbone of Congress, a leader who — like the prophet whose name he shared — "saw wrongdoing and spent his life working to banish it from our land."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a fellow Maryland Democrat, made the biblical comparison as hundreds of current and former members of the House and Senate gathered in Statuary Hall in the Capitol to honor their friend and colleague.
Leaders from both chambers, and both sides of the aisle, lauded Cummings as a public servant who always prioritized the constituents who elected him.
"Elijah Cummings did not just represent Baltimore, he embodied it," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), recalling the Democrat's efforts to calm rioting after the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a young unarmed black man, of injuries sustained in police custody.
"Let's go home. Let's all go home," McConnell recalled Cummings saying to protesters. "Now our distinguished colleague truly has gone home, home to his father's house," McConnell continued. "And we pray that our God will now reward the service Elijah Cummings gave in life, with the peace of God which surpasses all understanding."
Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Cummings was "universally respected and admired in a divided time," with power that came not from his booming baritone, but from his moral force."He was strong, very strong when necessary, but also kind and caring and honorable," Schumer said. " His voice could shake mountains, stir the most cynical hearts, inspiring us all to better."
Cummings is the first African American lawmaker to lie in state in the Capitol. Two other African Americans have received the honor, known as lying "in honor" for nonelected officials: Civil rights icon Rosa Parks, in 2005, and Capitol Police Officer Jacob J. Chestnut Jr., who was killed in 1998 by a gunman who had burst into the Capitol.
Cummings (D), who chaired of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, died Oct. 17, at age 68.
Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton will be among those delivering remarks at his funeral Friday at New Psalmist Baptist Church in West Baltimore, where Cummings worshiped for decades.Late Thursday morning, lawmakers and guests stood silently as the flag-draped coffin was slowly rolled into a packed Statuary Hall, followed by Cummings' widow, Maryland Democratic Party chair Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, and other family members.
Two military guards stood at attention at either end of the coffin.Current and former members of Congress crowded together against velvet ropes, wearing dark suits and dresses. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton was seated between Reps. John Lewis and Maxine Waters, also Democrats. Former congressman Jim Moran stood with Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) and freshman Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.).
After the "arrival ceremony," the coffin was moved to the entrance of the House chamber, where members of the public may pay their respects until 7 pm.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the coffin was placed atop the same catafalque that held the remains of Abraham Lincoln. She described Cummings as a mentor to generations of young political leaders, quoting his frequent refrain that children are "the messages to a future we will never see."
Nancy Pelosi celebrates the life of "North Star" Elijah Cummings www.youtube.com
Speaker Pelosi on Congressman Cummings at the Capitol. October 24, 2019 from D.C.
"Elijah was truly a master of the house. He respected its history, and in it he helped shape America's future," Pelosi said.
When committee assignments were made, Pelosi recalled, Cummings wanted as many freshmen as possible in his committee. "I love their potential and I want to help them realize it," he said, according to Pelosi.
Cummings was a regular on television news panels and a leading figure in the Trump impeachment inquiry.
But mourners at a day-long celebration in his honor Wednesday at Morgan State University in Baltimore, where Cummings served on the board of regents, said they would remember him as a man who always fought for his city and its people.
"He spoke for the forgotten," said Emanuel J. Stanley, grand master of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Maryland, a national fraternal organization to which Cummings belonged. "Now he is dancing with the angels."
Noreen Wright, 59, a home health-care nurse, brought her 9- and 12-year-old grandsons to the historically black research university, saying she wanted them to witness history.
"He's an icon," Wright said of Cummings, who she called a modern-day civil rights leader. "He's someone that the next generation can look at to see how it's supposed to be done."
More than two dozen speakers took turns at a lectern directly behind the casket , which was guarded by Prince Hall Freemasons. Local, state and federal elected officials praised Cummings as a champion who expanded health care access, protected the right to vote and fought for educational opportunities for children.
Many also shared personal stories about how he mentored them in their careers and family lives.
"He wasn't about the people, he was the people," said Del. Nick J. Mosby (D-Baltimore City). Alluding to Cummings's dignified response when President Trump insulted him and Baltimore this summer, Mosby said: "He governed with emotion but never allowed emotions to govern him."
Mosby said he and his wife, Marilyn J. Mosby, who is the state's attorney for Baltimore, will miss their double dates with the late congressman and his wife.
Former senator Barbara A. Mikulski, who retired in 2016 as the nation's longest-serving female senator, said Cummings could "investigate, legislate and agitate" and inspired a feeling of connection with every man and woman in his beloved city.
"I'm back!" she told the crowd. "I'm back for Elijah. And Elijah always had my back, and Elijah always had your back, too."
By Jenna Portnoy and Ovetta Wiggins, Washington Post, October 24, 2019
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October 24, 2019
Voices4America Post Script. A fit tribute to a great man. #ElijahCummings
Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton will speak Friday at the funeral of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are also among those scheduled to speak.The funeral will be held at New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore where the late congressman worshiped for decades."
