LEGISLATOR US Representative ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D-MD-07)

IN OFFICE CONTACT

Up for re-election in 2016 Email Contact Form https://cummings.house. 11th Term gov/contact-me/email-me Re-elected in 2014 Web cummings.house.gov http://cummings.house.gov

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DC Office 2230 Rayburn House Office Building

BGOV BIOGRAPHY

By Brian Nutting, Bloomberg News

As the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Elijah Cummings repeatedly jousted with the committee's chairman, the aggressive and partisan Darrell Issa, in both the 112th and 113th Congresses.

They represented one of the most contentious duos in Congress, tussling over the committee's agenda, with Issa launching probes of the Barack Obama administration's actions and Cummings coming to the administration's defense. Cummings was the Maryland chairman of Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

Cummings would rather Issa direct the committee's efforts toward issues that the Maryland Democrat contends affect people's lives. Price-gouging by drug companies, voter suppression and home-mortgage foreclosures fit the bill better than Issa's priorities, Cummings says.

Whether it be the committee's hearings on the Justice Department's ``fast and furious'' gun-trafficking operation, or the circumstances of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, or the allegations of Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups, Cummings has mounted stout defenses of the administration.

In 2012, he issued a statement blasting Issa for ``astonishingly reckless'' behavior in making public sensitive documents relating to the Benghazi attack. Cummings complained that the release could endanger lives and compromise the FBI investigation of the incident.

He also objected to the treatment of an Energy Department employee who Cummings said had been deprived of his rights by the committee majority, telling Issa in a letter that it was ``an extreme abuse of the authority of this committee.''

The two locked horns over Issa's hearings on whether the IRS targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for extra scrutiny. Cummings argued that some groups labeled as progressive or liberal also were scrutinized when applying for tax-exempt status, and he accused Issa of ``cherry-picking'' information about the IRS actions.

Cummings periodically offers foreclosure prevention seminars to aid people who face the risk of foreclosure, matching

© 2015 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All Rights Reserved Cummings periodically offers foreclosure prevention seminars to aid people who face the risk of foreclosure, matching homeowners with lenders to work out loan modifications or pointing homeowners to other resources such as pro bono lawyers and federal assistance programs.

In the 113th Congress, he, along with five other ranking members of committees or subcommittees, introduced a bill to help protect service members, surviving spouses and veterans with disabilities from improper home-foreclosure actions. His focus wasn't solely on veterans and service personnel; in 2013 he complained that banking regulators had failed to protect consumer interests against abuses by mortgage-servicing companies that illegally foreclosed on many homes.

Cummings has personal experience in fending off a foreclosure; he faced that situation himself early in his congressional tenure, and went two winters without fixing his furnace because he couldn't afford it.

Occasionally he and Issa will see eye-to-eye. In 2013, for instance, they both supported legislation to tighten oversight on spending for federal agency travel and conferences.

And in 2012, the two agreed that the National Football League players' union should not drag its feet on testing players for the use of human growth hormone. Cummings pointed out that the players' union had agreed before the 2011 season to implement the test and was ``trying to back out.'' Cummings noted, ``When they refuse to do so, that sends exactly the wrong message to the kids we have sworn to protect. And that is when it becomes our business.''

In 2005, Cummings had similarly urged Major League Baseball to deal with players' abuse of steroids. In 2007, he urged players who had received honors ``enhanced by the use of drugs'' to immediately return the awards to MLB. Cummings said that steroid abuse has had a ``devastating impact'' on American children.

When Republican George W. Bush was president, Cummings was a vocal critic of government efforts to bail out the faltering economy. He questioned the administration's intentions, asking whether the efforts were to rescue major U.S. banks or to help the American taxpayer.

In 2008, he voted against a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry when it the House first took it up. He voted for the bailout a few months later, with the admonition that Congress, while coming to the aid of Wall Street, ``must not forget Main Street.''

Even after the financial-services bailout, Cummings kept after industry executives and federal regulators to take steps to avert a similar crisis in the future.

A few months later, under the Obama administration, he voted for an economic stimulus package, even though it didn't include as much for aid to state governments, school construction and unemployment insurance as he would have liked.

Cummings is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the group of the most liberal Democrats, and his voting record places him well to the left on the political spectrum: His lifetime score from the American Conservative Union, through 2012, was 3 percent. Early Years Cummings was born to working-class parents who had moved to Baltimore from South Carolina. He was president of his senior class in high school and student body president at Howard University. He went into private practice after law school and in 1982 won election to the Maryland state House. He served there for seven terms, focusing on jobs, education and health care, and was named speaker pro tem in 1995. At the time, that was the highest office ever held by a black in Maryland.

In 1996, when veteran Democratic Representative Kweise Mfume resigned his House seat to become president of the NAACP, Cummings joined a huge field of candidates seeking to replace him. In the special-election primary, Cummings outpaced 26 other Democrats to win the nomination, which in the solidly Democratic 7th District was tantamount to election.

Since then, he has had no difficulties winning re-election, collecting at least 70 percent of the vote each time. Updated Feb. 18, 2014

BIO FROM REPRESENTATIVE'S WEBSITE © 2015 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All Rights Reserved From the Representative's Website Congressman Elijah E. Cummings was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, where he still resides today. He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Howard University, serving as Student Government President and graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and then graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law. Congressman Cummings has also received seven honorary doctoral degrees from Universities throughout the nation. Congressman Cummings has dedicated his life of service to uplifting and empowering the people he is sworn to represent. He began his career of public service in the Maryland House of Delegates, where he served for 14 years and became the first African American in Maryland history to be named Speaker Pro Tem. Since 1996, Congressman Cummings has proudly represented Maryland's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman Cummings often says that our children are the living messages that we send to a future we will never see. In that vein, he is committed to ensuring that our next generation has access to quality healthcare and education, clean air and water, and a strong economy defined by fiscal responsibility. Congressman Cummings currently serves as the Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. As the main investigative committee in the House of Representatives, Oversight and Government Reform has jurisdiction to investigate any federal program and any matter with federal policy implications. As the Committee's Ranking Member, Congressman Cummings fights to hold the Presidential Administration to a high standard of excellence and to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the actions of the government of the United States. He also seeks to identify appropriate reforms that prevent waste, fraud and abuse and that ensure government programs meet the needs of the American people. Congressman Cummings is also a senior member of the Joint Economic Committee and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, serving on both the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation and the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. Congressman Cummings has consistently been an advocate for the rights of those facing foreclosure and holds regular Foreclosure Prevention Seminars for people who are at risk of being foreclosed upon. The homeowners are matched with lenders to work out loan modifications on site to prevent foreclosure. He began the 112th Congress by requesting that the first hearing in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigate the causes of, and potential solutions to, the foreclosure crisis. Congressman Cummings serves on numerous boards and commissions. He is spearheading an effort to strengthen the Maritime curriculum at the Maritime Industries Academy (MIA) in Baltimore, serving as Chairman of the MIA Board and Chairman of the MIA Foundation Board. He also serves on the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors, the Morgan State University Board of Regents, the University of Maryland Law School Board of Advisors, the SEED School of Maryland, and the Baltimore Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America Board of Directors. He is an honorary Board member of KIPP Baltimore Schools and the Baltimore School for the Arts. Congressman Cummings is an active member of New Psalmist Baptist Church and is married to Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings.

PERSONAL PROFILE

COMMITTEES Birthdate 01/18/1951 PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS House Committee on Oversight and Education Government Reform Birthplace Baltimore, MD Ranking Member Political Howard University House Committee on Transportation Democratic Party Party Bachelor's Degree 1973 and Infrastructure

House Select Committee for the Marital Married Univ of Maryland Schl of Law 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi Status Ranking Member JD 1976 Dr. Maya CAUCUSES Spouse Rockeymoore Cummings © 2015 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All Rights Reserved Congressional Oral Health Caucus Cummings 1983 - 1995 State Delegate, (MD)House of Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Residence Baltimore, MD Delegates 1995 - 1996 Speaker Pro Tem/State Delegate, (MD)House of Congressional Black Caucus Delegates 04-16-1996 - Present Religion Baptist Representative:Maryland, (US)House of Representatives

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