Elijah Cummings

So many times we've heard our public employees are not treated very fairly, and I was very glad to hear you say what you said.

We simply cannot maintain our competitiveness as a Nation by failing to make investments that enable us to build, maintain, and protect our essential transportation infrastructure.

I want to thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for calling this hearing.

It's not that simple. Having been a trial lawyer for 20, for almost 30 years, it's not that simple.

If mortgage servicing companies are allowed to disregard requests for documents that are integral to this investigation, the Committee's integrity will be called into question and, more importantly, abuses may continue.

Ranking Member Cummings requested that Chairman Issa issue subpoenas to those mortgage servicing companies.

When Chairman Issa declined to send these document requests, Ranking Member Cummings sent them himself.

When people don't trust each other, it slows down everything. When they trust each other, it speeds it up.

We have to get stuff done. And I can't--we cannot keep our commitment to Ms. Terry by doing this back-and-forth thing.

I shall not rest until everybody involved in this process--and I mean that--I shall not rest until all of that is addressed.

I have spent a phenomenal amount of time trying to protect witnesses.

I am always concerned about people possibly dying as a result of something we might do in this committee.

Some kind of way, we have to establish--you know, the majority has some concerns, and I think many of them probably quite legitimate. And there has to be a balance here.

Disclosure of these types of information may present risks to individuals' safety in the violent environment of firearms-trafficking activities.

I believe deep in my heart that, some kind of way, out of his death will come life.

It seems to me that we do have a--there are some serious disconnects.

We need to do two things--we have two things going on here.

The purpose of our investigation is to understand what occurred and who is responsible.

I apologize. Because we are better than that. We are better than that.

I see this committee as just lower than a court.

I will do everything in my power. I will not rest until we bring everybody to justice.

We want absolutely no retaliation against you. You are simply standing up for what you believe in.

I promise you, we will not rest until every single person responsible for all of this, no matter where they are, are brought to justice.

I want to make sure that there is no person--I don't care who they are--whose trial is jeopardized, that is able to get away, to get off of charges.

When Mexican President Calderon addressed Congress in May, he pleaded for us to stop fueling a full-scale drug war with military-grade assault weapons.