Elijah E. Cummings: A life in photos - Roll Call

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Elijah E. Cummings: A life in photos

Images of the Maryland lawmaker from the CQ Roll Call archives

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., interviewed by Roll Call in his Rayburn House Office Building office. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

By Roll Call Staff

Posted October 17, 2019 at 9:53am

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a 12-term congressman, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and a key player in the ongoing impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, died early Thursday of complications from longtime health issues. The Maryland Democrat was 68.

Here is a look at Cummings through the years.

In the summer of 1982, Baltimore attorney Elijah E. Cummings (pictured on the left) visited a Baltimore neighborhood with his mentor, then-Maryland Delegate Lena K. Lee. Delegate Lee (pictured on the right), who was retiring from Maryland's House of Delegates, encouraged Cummings to run for her seat. .Cummings won the seat and served in the Maryland House until 1996, when he was elected to represent Maryland's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Recently, Congressman Cummings introduced legislation to officially rename the U.S. Post Office located at 1826 Pennsylvania Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland, as the — In the summer of 1982, then-Baltimore attorney Cummings visited a Baltimore neighborhood with his mentor, then-Maryland Del. Lena K. Lee. Lee, who was retiring from Maryland’s House of Delegates, encouraged Cummings to run for her seat. Cummings won the seat and served in the Maryland House until 1996, when he was elected to represent Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House. (CQ Roll Call file photo)

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. listens to testimony before Select Committee on Intelligence hearing involving allegations of CIA involvement in the crack cocaine epidemic on Oct. 23, 1996. (Photo by Maureen Keating/CQ Roll Call) — Cummings listens to testimony before a Select Committee on Intelligence hearing in 1996 involving allegations of CIA involvement in the crack cocaine epidemic. (Maureen Keating/CQ Roll Call file photo)

10/30/03.PICKERING CLOTURE VOTE--Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., during a news conference after a cloture vote failed to end a Democrat-led filibuster of the nomination of Charles W. Pickering Sr. to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, adding the Mississippi jurist to a growing list of President Bush's judicial nominees blocked by filibusters..CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY PHOTO BY SCOTT J. FERRELL — 2003: Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Cummings during a news conference after a cloture vote failed to end a Democrat-led filibuster of the nomination of Charles W. Pickering Sr. to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. (Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call file photo)

11/12/03.30-HOUR JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS DEBATE--Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md.,. and Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, at a rally in the early evening in the Mansfield Room near the Senate floor..CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY PHOTO BY SCOTT J. FERRELL — 2003: Cummings and Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, at a rally in the Mansfield Room near the Senate floor amid judicial confirmation debate. (Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call file photo)

cbc7/121002 -- Reps. Shelia Jackson Lee, D-Texas, Elijah Cummings, D-Md., incoming Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Delegate Donna Christensen, D-VI, share a laugh at a news conference on the CBC's new leadership, Tuesday.... — 2003: Reps. Shelia Jackson Lee, D-Texas, Cummings, and then-incoming chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Delegate Donna Christensen, D-VI, share a laugh at a news conference on the CBC’s new leadership. (CQ Roll Call file photo)

10/15/03.IRAQ SUPPLEMENTAL/CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS--CBC Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., talks to reporters after a news conference on the $87 billion request by the administration on Iraq and Afghanistan. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is in background right..CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY PHOTO BY SCOTT J. FERRELL — 2003: Cummings talks to reporters after a news conference on the $87 billion request by the administration on Iraq and Afghanistan. (Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call file photo)

From left, Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va., Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, confer before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the role of the credit rating agencies in the financial crisis of Wall Street markets, October 22, 2008. — 2008: From left, Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va., Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., Cummings, and Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, confer before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the role of the credit rating agencies in the financial crisis of Wall Street markets. (CQ Roll Call file photo)

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 17: Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., speaks with ranking member Elijah Cummings, D-Md., before the start of the House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi hearing on — 2014: Then-Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., speaks with then-ranking member Cummings before the start of the House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi hearing on “Implementation of the Accountability Review Board Recommendations” in 2014. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 22: Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., talks with a constituent in between events in Baltimore, Md., October 22, 2014. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) — 2014: Cummings talks with a constituent in Baltimore. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Rep. Elijah Cummings spoke today at the National Press Club about the Congressional Black Caucus and the upcoming Presidential election. — 2016: Cummings speaks at the National Press Club event about the Congressional Black Caucus and the upcoming presidential election. (CQ Roll Call file photo)

UNITED STATES - JUNE 29: Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., speaks during a rally with lawmakers and gun violence victims to call for action on gun safety measures on the steps of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Baltimore, Md., June 29, 2016. Reps. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., and John Sarbanes, D-Md., also attended the event. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) — 2016: Cummings speaks during a rally with lawmakers and gun violence victims to call for action on gun safety measures on the steps of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Baltimore in June 2016. Reps. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., and John Sarbanes, D-Md., also attended the event. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

UNITED STATES - JUNE 12: Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., right, and ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, conduct a House Oversight and Reform Committee markup in Rayburn Building on a resolution on whether to hold Attorney General William Barr and the Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) — 2019: Cummings and ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, conduct a House Oversight and Reform Committee markup in Rayburn Building on a resolution on whether to hold Attorney General William Barr and the Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

UNITED STATES - JUNE 12: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., are seen during a House Oversight and Reform Committee markup in Rayburn Building on a resolution on whether to hold Attorney General William Barr and the Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) — 2019: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Cummings are seen during an Oversight Committee markup on a resolution on the Barr and Ross contempt resolution. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

UNITED STATES - JULY 12: Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., is seen during the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing in Rayburn Building where members of Congress testified about their trip to the border of the U.S. and Mexico on Friday, July 12, 2019. The hearing was titled — 2019: Cummings is seen during the Oversight Committee hearing members’ trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in July. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

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