G. K. Butterfield: “Let me thank Congressman Horsford for yielding this evening, and I thank him for his extraordinary leadership. Elijah…”

“Let me thank Congressman Horsford for yielding this evening, and I thank him for his extraordinary leadership. Elijah Cummings was my friend. Nearly every legislative day for the past 15 years, we talked about every subject you can imagine. Some of it consisted of small talk, but very often it consisted of serious conversations about our families and about our communities. So, on behalf of my family and on behalf of the 750,000 people of the First Congressional District of North Carolina, I extend condolences to the Cummings family and to the good people of Baltimore. Mr. Speaker, several years ago, I shared with Congressman Cummings a very sad situation in my district involving an African American attorney who had suffered a debilitating stroke and was having financial problems. Immediately--immediately--Mr. Cummings said: I have great affection for Black lawyers who have served their community, and I am going to send him some money. And he did. From time to time, I would see Mr. Cummings on national television on the talk shows. I would come back to the floor on Monday night or Tuesday night and I would sit next to him. I would compliment Mr. Cummings about his appearances on television and how he handled himself. I recall one day he told me that every minute that he is on television, he spent 1 hour preparing for that 1 minute. He was one for preparation. I sat next to Congressman Cummings as he cast his last floor vote several weeks ago.…”