Elijah Cummings

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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
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	January 18, 1951 (age 56) Baltimore, Maryland
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	separated
Religion	Baptist

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.

[edit] Early life and career

Cummings was born in Baltimore and graduated with honors from Baltimore City College High School 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, 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 and was the first African American in Maryland history to be named Speaker Pro Tem, the second highest position in the House of Delegates.

[edit] Congressional career

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 9, 2004, Congressman Cummings was re-elected with 74 percent of the vote. On November 7, 2006, Congressman Cummings was re-elected for a sixth term. He was running unopposed.

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 also served as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 108th United States Congress. He is a member of Congressional Progressive Caucus, an organization of liberal congressmen.

[edit] Committee assignments

As of January 2007, Cummings serves on the following House committees:

• Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
  • Chair of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
  • Member of the Subcommittee on Highways & Transit.
  • Member of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.
• Member of the House Government Reform Committee.
  • Member of the Subcommittee on Domestic Policy.
  • Member of the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Post Office, and District of Columbia.
• Member of the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services
  • Member of the Subcommittee on Readiness
• Member of the Joint Economic Committee

[edit] Other contributions and service

Earlier photo of Congressman Cummings.

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 bi-weekly column for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper and his son Matt Ross is an o.k. basketball player for Towson High J.V. 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.

He received praise and a boost in notoriety following the congressional panel hearings on steroids in March of 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 and auspicious fashion, Cummings demanded to know if he was "taking the fifth", referring to the fifth amendment. McGwire responded by timidly saying "I am here to talk about the future not about the past". The exchange came to epitomize the entire inquiry.

[edit] Election history

[edit] References

• This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Official Congressional biography for Representative Cummings.
• Congressional Quarterly Voting and Elections Collection.

[edit] External links

• Official website for Representative Cummings.
• Voting record maintained by the Washington Post

Chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus
Diggs • Stokes • Rangel • Burke • Mitchell • Collins • Fauntroy • Dixon • Leland • Dymally • Dellums • Towns • Mfume • Payne • Waters • Clyburn • Johnson • Cummings • Watt • Kilpatrick