Getty Elijah Cummings left behind many profound quotes.
Elijah Cummings, who was described as a “father, a husband, a son of Baltimore and a Statesman” who served Maryland’s 7th Congressional District for more than 20 years, left behind a series of inspirational and colorful quotes about life, diversity, disparities, and politics.
“Many of these Americans who are struggling to survive are Americans of color, .. Their cries for assistance confront America with a test of our moral compass as a nation,” he once said with typical fiery eloquence.
“When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked, in 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact? Did we stand on the sidelines and say nothing?” he said.
WATCH: House Oversight Chair Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) delivers closing remarks at the Michael Cohen hearing. #MTPDaily
@RepCummings: “You know I’ve sat here and I’ve listened to all this, and it’s very painful. It’s very painful… As a country, we are so much better than this.”
Cummings, the long-time Maryland Congressman in the 7th Congressional District, died at age 68 in the early morning hours of October 17, 2019. The exact cause of death was not released, but his office told The Baltimore Sun that he died of longstanding health problems. He had recently been hospitalized for an unspecified medical procedure.
The Baltimore Sun once reported that Cummings was the son of parents who moved to Baltimore in 1945 “leaving behind harsh lives as sharecroppers in South Carolina on land where his ancestors had been slaves.”
Cummings once said: “Most of us are trying to set some kind of decent example for kids, … What kind of message is that sending?”
Here are some of Elijah Cummings’ best quotes:
On His Parents
Ruth Cummings, mother of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings and founder of Victory Prayer Chapel, dies t.co/YC3uCF44xt
Cummings was the son of Robert and Ruth Cummings, who were deeply religious South Carolina sharecroppers. Over the years, he was quoted talking about their importance to his life. His father emphasized education.
“My mom and dad, although they may not have had a lot of formal education, they were two of the most brilliant people that I know,” he said.
“My father was a great inspiration to me,” Cummings told The Baltimore Sun. “He taught us nothing was impossible, despite his limited education. He spent his life believing in education and emphasized that we had to be in school every day.”
“My mother was one of the smartest, most thoughtful and loving people I have ever known. She created a home for me, my dad and my six siblings where God was at the center and love overflowed,” Cummings told Afro.com when his mom died.
On Public Transportation, Police & Education
Rep. Elijah Cummings (Getty)
“Our decisions about transportation determine much more than where roads or bridges or tunnels or rail lines will be built. They determine the connections and barriers that people will encounter in their daily lives – and thus how hard or easy it will be for people to get where they need and want to go,” Cummings said.
“I don’t want anybody to be confused that the issue of police and community is one part of a broader set of issues, our children need to be properly educated. They need to be trained so that they can get jobs and be functional,” he said, according to QuoteTab.
“By providing students in our Nation with such an education, we help save our children from the clutches of poverty, crime, drugs, and hopelessness, and we help safeguard our Nation’s prosperity for generations yet unborn,” he said, according to inspiringquotes.us.
He also spoke out about unjust policing. “It seems as if there are some police who believe that it is their job to not only arrest, but to convict and punish severely, unreasonably and unjustly at the scene of arrest defendants and suspects,” he said.
On Civil Rights & Racial Disparities
Elijah Cummings is on the House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and Transportation and Infrastructure. He is also the ranking Democrat on the Select Committee on Benghazi.
InspiringQuotes.us also provides these quotes from Cummings talking about civil rights and inequities:
“It was to carry the American democratic journey beyond these failings that Black citizens and civil rights workers risked unemployment, violence and death.”
“Americans of our own time – minority and majority Americans alike – need the continued guidance that the Voting Rights Act provides. We have come a long way, but more needs to be done.”
On Baltimore, Maryland
GettyHouse Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) makes closing remarks after testimony from Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump, in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill February 27, 2019 in Washington, DC.
According to Brainy Quote, Cummings made some interesting comments about Baltimore, Maryland over the years. Some of them:
“You have to understand – I come from a neighborhood where ‘The Wire’ was filmed.”
“There are two Baltimores. There are clearly two Baltimores.”
“However, it is clear that it is not beneath President Trump. The president should be ashamed, we know that Baltimorians and other individuals across the country live in housing that is sub-standard and that if President Trump and President Trump [ Housing and Urban Development ] director… got serious about making that agency work for the benefit of Baltimorians and people in cities like Baltimore instead of trying to cut the budget for that agency every year, the change that could be made,” he also said.
On President Trump
GettyRanking member Elijah Cummings (D-MD), speaks during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, about the Flint, Michigan water crisis, on Capitol Hill March 15, 2016 in Washington, DC.
Elijah Cummings was a sharp critic of President Donald Trump. According to Quote.net, here are some of his quotes on the president:
“The Trump administration’s actions at the southern border are grotesque and dehumanizing, there seems to be open contempt for the rule of law and for basic human decency.”
“Our Republican colleagues are so busy trying to defend the Trump administration, even when there are 25 violations of federal law, that we are basically giving away our power.”
“We can not have people disobeying the law, the President is not above the law. And neither is Ms. Conway above the law.”
“The Trump Administration has demonstrated repeatedly that it is willing to disregard the Constitution, defy decades of clear precedent, and invent frivolous new arguments to delay and obstruct Congress’ oversight authority, and Attorney General( William) Barr and Secretary( Wilbur) Ross are complicit in this cover-up, both Secretary Ross and Attorney Attorney General -LRB- William -RRB- Barr are refusing to comply with duly authorized subpoenas from Congress.”
READ NEXT: Elijah Cummings’ Family.