Rep. Jim Clyburn reflects on enduring legacy of Elijah Cummings, longtime friend and colleague
On Thursday U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings lies in state in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. The Maryland congressman and civil rights champion died last Thursday at the age of 68 due to complications from long-standing health issues.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn spoke to CBS News Friday about the enduring legacy of his colleague and longtime friend. Clyburn shared one of the childhood stories that informed the late Baltimore representative's 23-year career in Congress
"Elijah graduated law school Phi Beta Kappa," Clyburn said. "However, when he was in grade school, he was placed in special education. And a teacher saw in him the inquisitiveness rather than mischief, took him out of that special ed class, and put him where he should have been. He has never forgotten that. And that is one of the things that drove him."
Clyburn said most of his conversations with Cummings were based on that experience and on their parallel histories in the church. Both congressmen were raised by preachers. "So much of Elijah's service was faith-based," Clyburn said.
Clyburn said he believes Cummings would have liked to be remembered for his efforts to improve rural communities on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. But Clyburn said his friend will truly be memorialized for his "passion for preserving this democracy" as chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, one of the committees leading the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
"He had this thing about whether or not we were doing all we could to protect this fragile democracy that we have," Clyburn recalled. "And that was the source of the animus that the president directed toward him, because Elijah was not having any of the president's foolishness when it came to preserving the Constitution of the United States and this democracy that is built upon it."
Becky Van Dercook contributed to this report.