Political Quotes

“And I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for those beautiful remarks. Elijah Cummings was a great Representative for the people of Baltimore and for the people of Maryland. He was a great leader, and he was a great teacher, too. I remember when I was in my third term in office, and I had started off here on the Judiciary Committee and the Oversight Committee, to which Chairman Cummings had recruited me. I was also on the House Administration Committee. Then, I had an invitation to go on the Rules Committee, but I was afraid that I might be overextended. I went and sat right over on the floor next to Chairman Cummings where he liked to sit, and I told him that I was afraid that I might be overburdening myself with too many committees. He turned silent for a moment, and then he said: ``Raskin''--he spoke very sharply to me at that moment. I had never heard him use that tone of voice. I said: Yes? He said: You are never too busy to do that which you ought to be doing. I never forgot that, and I have used that line for a lot of other colleagues. People will complain about being tired and exhausted and so on, but we are never too busy to be doing that which we ought to be doing. Congressman Mfume, with this visionary legislation, is setting up a post office at 340 South Loudon Avenue in Baltimore that will be graced with the name of the great Elijah Cummings.…”