Hoyer Floor Remarks on Renaming Baltimore Post Office for Representative Elijah E. Cummings
WASHINGTON, DC – This afternoon, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) delivered remarks on the House Floor urging bipartisan support for H.R. 9544, legislation to rename a United States Postal Service (USPS) Office in Baltimore, Maryland after the late Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (MD-07). Below is a video and transcript of his remarks:
Click here to watch a full video of his remarks.
"‘We are better than this.’ Surely all of us ought to be saying that to ourselves as we conclude this Congress. ‘We're better than this.’ You will hear that said so often when we talk about our friend Elijah Cummings. I rise today in support of this legislation.
"Mr. Speaker, the Old Testament tells us a man long ago who saw injustice, wrongdoing and suffering and devoted his life to banishing these evils from his native land. A man who kept an enduring faith not only in God, but in his fellow men and women. A man who inspired that same faith in the people around him. That man was the Prophet Elijah. That Elijah, and the Elijah I served with in Congress for nearly 23 years, was my dear friend Elijah Cummings.
"He was like Elijah the prophet. He possessed a moral clarity that guided him in every part of his life. Whether it was protecting voting rights, alleviating poverty, expanding civil rights and promoting justice, Elijah Cummings demonstrated principled tenacity and boundless energy when standing up for the causes in which he believed. He believed in this House's ability and sacred responsibility to better our republic and the lives of each and every one of our citizens.
"It was because of that belief that he held all who served in this House to such a high standard of ethics, the same standard to which he prepared. When he believed this institution was failing short of the standard he would demand of us, as I said at the beginning and repeat again: We're better than this. And frankly, as we sit in these extraordinary seats given to us only through the hands of our neighbors and friends in our districts – when we have the opportunity to make a decision, we ought to have resounding in our head that someone will say when we act, that we are not better than this, but we are what we have done.
"We need to be better. No place benefited from Elijah's principal leadership more than his hometown. He was a true son of Baltimore; a city of grit, of opportunity, of hard work, and as they would say of themselves, of charm. He loved his city, and his city loved him in return. Naming this post office after him pays tribute to his lifelong devotion to Baltimore, to democracy, to justice, to the average person, to every person, to his brothers and sisters, and to his country. Ten seconds?
"We lost Elijah far too early. His memory continues to guide us, however. His example is one to which all members of this institution, all Marylanders, all Americans and all people ought to aspire. Attaching his name to this post office will serve as a reminder to all who seek, in his words, "not just common ground, but higher ground. I yield back.”