Elijah Cummings: “The training effort that's ongoing is extensive. It is one that happens in the midst of a counterinsurgency fight.”

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.

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.

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…

If we had a House and if we had a Senate that would pass legislation and we had a President that would sign it, this problem which is the subject of this hearing today could be fixed.