{"id":13069,"date":"2019-10-25T12:24:18","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T12:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=13069"},"modified":"2026-07-05T16:43:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T16:43:24","slug":"hundreds-gather-at-u-s-capitol-to-pay-final-respects-to-rep-elijah-e-cummings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2019\/10\/25\/hundreds-gather-at-u-s-capitol-to-pay-final-respects-to-rep-elijah-e-cummings\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds Gather At U.S. Capitol To Pay Final Respects To Rep. Elijah E. Cummings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Long lines of people of all ages and races are paying their respects as Rep. Elijah Cummings<\/b> lies in state at the U.S. Capitol, the first African American lawmaker to ever receive that honor. The husband, father, brother, and member of Congress was remembered by colleagues as a \u201cmagnificent man\u201d who fiercely advocated for justice.<\/p>\n

Thursday morning\u2019s somber ceremony inside the grand National Statuary Hall was private for Cummings\u2019 family, members of Congress and invited guests. The public is welcome until Thursday evening (October 24) to view Cummings\u2019 casket, which was escorted by U.S. military members and draped with the American flag.<\/b><\/p>\n

Cummings\u2019 widow, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings<\/b>, Ph.D., and relatives were in attendance, as were Capitol Hill staffers and aides and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. Baltimore Mayor Bernard \u201cJack\u201d Young<\/b>, Mayor Muriel Bowser<\/b> of Washington D.C. and the Rev. Al Sharpton<\/b> were among the invited guests. Two HBCU choirs \u2014 Morgan State University (where Cummings served on the Board of Regents) and Howard University (his undergraduate alma mater) \u2014 performed during the nearly hour-long program filled with scripture readings and spirituals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe have lost a member of our family,\u201d said Rep. Karen Bass<\/b> (D-CA), chairwoman of the 55-member Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in her remarks. \u201cHe never set out to be a giant, but he became one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cummings, 68, a Baltimore native who represented Maryland\u2019s 7th Congressional District, passed away on October 17 after battling a series of health challenges. At the time of his death, the lawyer served as Chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee, which is helping to lead the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Al Drago-Pool\/Getty Image<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
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From House Speaker Nancy Pelosi <\/b>(D-CA), to Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer<\/b> (D-NY) to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell<\/b> (R-KY), Cummings was praised for his devotion to the Constitution and a desire to uplift his constituents and all Americans.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike the Biblical prophet Elijah, he saw wrongdoing and spent his life working to banish it from our land,\u201d said Rep. Steny Hoyer<\/b> (D-MD), House Majority Leader and a longtime friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cElijah Cummings viewed service in this House for what it is: an instrument by which ordinary citizens make our republic better by giving it their love, their labor, and their very best,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cAnd, as it was said before and Elijah would repeatedly remind us when we came short of our goals and ideals: \u2018We are better than this.\u2019\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Cummings, one of seven children born to former South Carolina sharecroppers who came to Baltimore in the 1940s, is being remembered nationally and internationally. Condolences have come from as far away as Egypt, Brazil, France and Japan, his wife told mourners during a packed community celebration held Wednesday in Baltimore on Morgan\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Melina Mara-Pool\/Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
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Al Sharpton<\/b>, President and founder of the National Action Network (NAN), told BET that Cummings was a dear friend. \u201cElijah Cummings was a leader with a great purpose who demonstrated ethics and integrity while serving Congress and his country. \u2026His powerful legacy continues to influence young people and will last for generations,\u201d he says. \u201cI think I speak for all civil rights leaders when I say he will be deeply missed, and we will do our best to continue his great work.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the ceremony concluded on Thursday, Mrs. Cummings raised her hands and prayed over her husband\u2019s casket. Later, members of the CBC gathered in a circle to say a final group goodbye.<\/p>\n

On Friday morning, a wake and funeral will be held at New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore where the Congressman worshipped for decades. Those confirmed to attend and speak at the public homegoing service include Cummings\u2019 family, former presidents Barack Obama<\/b> and Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton<\/b>, dignitaries, friends and residents of his beloved hometown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long lines of people of all ages and races are paying their respects as Rep. Elijah Cummings lies in state at the U.S. Capitol, the first African American lawmaker to ever receive that honor. The husband, father, brother, and member of Congress was remembered by colleagues as a \u201cmagnificent man\u201d who fiercely advocated for justice. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[461,12],"tags":[4899,455,3604,3193,160,3603,2784,11941,3195,6573,2422,9649,3189,7489,287,3615,6537,1279,11555,12679,6693,3606,7234,5049,5455,3545,5575,6225,7896,12634,1143,10769,3613,4074,2959,10419,5525,8029,10776,3874,5423,10634,6220,11743,11031,3072,2603,1727,3607,5331,3609,3610,5572,10500,2470,6025,11973,7811,3608,3805,3605,4415,3488,3611,8501,10838,9277,3616,184,214,6348,2354,3954,10415,594,5140],"class_list":["post-13069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-world-news","tag-african","tag-african-american","tag-al-sharpton","tag-baltimore","tag-barack-obama","tag-barack-obama-and-bill-clinton","tag-bet","tag-bill","tag-bill-clinton","tag-black","tag-brazil","tag-capitol","tag-capitol-hill","tag-chairman","tag-children","tag-chuck-schumer-d-ny-to-senate-majority-leader-mitch-mcconnell-r-ky","tag-church","tag-circle","tag-citizens","tag-clinton","tag-congress","tag-cummings-widow","tag-death","tag-egypt","tag-family","tag-founder","tag-france","tag-friends","tag-funeral","tag-health","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-house-speaker","tag-house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-d-ca","tag-impeachment-inquiry","tag-japan","tag-justice","tag-labor","tag-land","tag-lawyer","tag-lead","tag-lies","tag-lost","tag-love","tag-majority","tag-majority-leader","tag-mara","tag-maryland","tag-maya","tag-maya-rockeymoore-cummings","tag-mayor","tag-mayor-bernard-jack-young","tag-mayor-muriel-bowser-of-washington-d-c-and-the-rev-al-sharpton","tag-military","tag-mitch-mcconnell","tag-nancy-pelosi","tag-obama","tag-one","tag-pelosi","tag-ph-d","tag-president","tag-president-and-founder-of-the-national-action-network-nan","tag-presidents-barack-obama-and-bill-clinton","tag-rep-elijah-cummings","tag-rep-karen-bass-d-ca","tag-senate","tag-south-carolina","tag-speaker","tag-steny-hoyer-d-md","tag-united-states-president-donald-john-trump-jr","tag-university","tag-us","tag-washington","tag-will","tag-work","tag-who","tag-young"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50794,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13069\/revisions\/50794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}