A portrait honoring former U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Cummings was a Baltimore native who earned degrees from both Howard University in Washington, D.C. and the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. After graduating from college, he went on to spend 13 years in the Maryland House of Delegates. From there, Cummings represented Maryland’s 7th District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 23 years. During his time on Capitol Hill, he became the chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform. On October 7, 2019, Cummings passed away at the age of 68 “due to complications concerning longstanding health challenges.”
“He was my Baltimore brother,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi said at the portrait unveiling ceremony.
“He was so astute, so smart, so wise, so strategic and the rest, and that’s why he made such a big difference. He was a leader of towering integrity. Everybody knows that. A man whose life embodied the American dream.”
Moving forward, the portrait will hang in the Rayburn House Office Building’s Oversight and Reform Committee hearing room.
