Elijah Cummings: “The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, a Member of Congress from the State of Maryland, Opening Statement.”

I am extremely proud that our committee is holding the first hearing on D.C. Statehood in the House of Representatives in more than 25 years.

That year, Bayou La Batre did elect its first Asian-American city council member.

And I don't give a damn how you look at it; there are efforts to stop people from voting. That is not right. This is not Russia. This is the United States of America.

On my mother's dying bed, 92 years old, former sharecropper, her last words were, 'Do not let them take our votes away from us.' She had fought and seen people harmed, beaten, trying to vote. Talk about inalienable rights. Voting is…