Pelosi Remarks at Committee on Oversight and Reform Hearing Room Dedication Ceremony in Honor of Chairman Elijah E. Cummings

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and other Members of Congress for the dedication of the Committee on Oversight and Reform Hearing Room in honor of the late Chairman Elijah E. Cummings. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you, Steny. Clearly, Mr. Clyburn didn't think you needed an introduction to this crowd.

[Laughter]

Thank you, for your kind words – not so fast on the historic part, but anyway.

[Laughter]

Welcome again to Maya, to Jennifer, to sister Yvonne, brother James, cousin Carmen, nephew Anthony. I'm sorry Adia and Diane are not here. They are missed. Please give them our regards and gratitude for sharing the wonderful Elijah Cummings with us.

It was really an honor to serve with him, and I know that many of us here considered it a joy to call him friend.

Now you see everybody up here – all these Members of Congress and in the crowd and the rest. They all wish they were up here, because they have so much to say about Elijah Cummings. Because he was such a – it was such an honor to serve with him, and we always learned from him every single day.

Sometimes I would say to him, ‘Elijah, my close Baltimore bro' – we had a good rapport. We always consulted – I said, ‘Elijah, am I mentoring you? I'm older. Or are you mentoring me?'

[Laughter]

Because we always, always had the benefit of his thinking, even though sometimes he didn't want us to think he was teaching us but that it was our idea in the first place. But he was remarkable.

So, thank you, Madam Chair Carolyn Maloney, for this – hosting this celebration about this room being named for Elijah, and thank you for carrying on his work to protect our Constitution, our system of checks and balances as we exercise oversight.

And again, to members of the family, we say thank you.

But to – we all consider ourselves members of Elijah's official family. Members of leadership, Members of the Maryland Delegation – are they all here? Members of the Maryland Delegation: Jamie, okay, the Baltimoreans, Sarbanes and Ruppersberger, where is Ruppersberger? All the rest.

Well, they can attest to the fact – of course, Mr. Hoyer – they can attest to the fact that he was a great Baltimore Orioles fan, right? John, right?

[Laughter]

A Ravens fan, right? He loved Baltimore and he loved that team spirit. And he thought that it was really part of his representation here to not only represent the people of the area, but the spirit of the area. So, it wasn't only Baltimore city. It went out into the counties as well.

To the Congressional Black Caucus, that involvement was so important to him. And it was a, like a cornerstone for him. It was where values – we call it ‘the conscience of the Congress.'

And, of course, in the leadership with all of us. But, especially his brother, Mr. Clyburn, who spoke so beautifully about their spiritual and family backgrounds together.

His Committee – he loved being Chair of this Committee. He also loved being on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. That meant a lot to him because it could connect him, very directly, to meeting the needs of his district. And I was honored to appoint him to the Naval Academy Board of Visitors, which he enjoyed very much as well. But every place he went, he enhanced the opportunities for making chance for the better.

Now here, we called him our North Star. Everybody agreed, correct? Elijah Cummings was our North Star. He just was a leading tower of integrity and intellect and character. He was truly the Master of the House, as many of us said when we eulogized him in the Statuary Hall of the House of Representatives. How appropriate that he would be sent off from Congress in such an important way. I don't remember that any House Member ever was, lying in State in the House and so many thousands of visitors coming to say goodbye to Elijah Cummings, Mr. Chairman.

He was in a room, Statuary Hall, that was, where so many patriots and heroes were memorialized, and Elijah too. The people from both sides of the aisle, people from both sides of the Capitol. It was beautiful. A beautiful thing.

And then we all had the honor of celebrating Elijah's life at New Psalmist Baptist Church, I am glad I made the cut because I could tell them there some of the things of what was happening here and the reverence in which he was held. This beautiful, saintly man.

Others have spoken about him saying, ‘We're better than this.' He's always about the children. ‘The children, our living messengers to a future we will never see,' he said over and over. You've heard him say that, right? Did you teach him that?

[Laughter]

A future we would never see. And he wanted to be sure that everything we did was to make that future better for our children. In everything he did he wanted to make sure that we instilled the values of kindness and America in those children as they went forward.

And it was about the children, that he spoke from that chair: the Chairman's seat. It was about when they talked about what was happening to the children that he said, ‘We are better than this.' It was always connecting to the children.

So here we are, dedicating a room to him. Thank you, Madam Chair, for pointing out that this is historic. Again, as you said, he is a historic figure and a pioneer in so many ways. So, when people walk the halls of Congress – whether they come in this room or not – they will see above the door, his name. And they will know how special he was by that manifestation of respect for him.

But what they also should know is that his name is on so many pieces of legislation. His work is on so much policy in the Congress of the United States – it made a real difference in people's lives.

He was so, really, spectacular, that it is – I still can't get over getting that call, practically in the middle of the night, that our darling Elijah had left us. But when he was here, and even praying for us up there – as Steny referenced and others referenced, dancing with the angels – we know that the life and the work of Elijah Cummings was really a blessing to America. We say God bless America – he truly did, with the work and legacy of Elijah Cummings.

So I hope it's a comfort to his family, his entire family – Maya and the entire family – that so many people truly deeply mourn your loss still, pray for your family at this sad time and, not only pray for Elijah, but pray to Elijah.

Thank you, Elijah for being the great person that you are. We miss you terribly. I don't know when that will go away. But we do know one thing: the great work that you did for our country will always be an important legacy for all of us to benefit from, for the children.

Now it is time for us to unveil the plaque, so will the speakers come forward to do that?