Im sure the gavel woke you up. Welcome to the National Press club, the worlds leading professional organization for journalists. My name is jeff ballou, news editor with al jazeera media network, where my colleague has been unjustly imprisoned by the government of egypt for 957 days. We have called for his immediate release, along with other detained journalists. I am particularly grateful to my fellow members to pitch hit for our 112th president , alison kodjak, who is getting welldeserved rest while she prepares for her new duties leading the Investigations Unit at the Associated Press, having just Left National public radio. Thanking the members as always for putting their trust in me to have served as their 110th president in 2017. Today, we welcome our headliner, elijah cummings. Before i get into the formal introduction, we will introduce to head to table and a couple of housekeeping rules. The latter first, if you do have you in the those of ballroom, you have your cards on the table so please write them down and pass them up front. Manye will try to ask as of them as time permits. Also, if you have a mobile , please silence your cell phones. We encourage the youth of twitter and other social media to follow along and pose questions, but we would rather not have that accompanied by the usual beeps, sounding like r2d2 from star wars. I would like to introduce the head table. From my left, mike smith, a member of the National Press club Headliners Team and volunteer at the academy in baltimore. Hold your applause until the entire group has been introduced. Those listening on the radio or watching on television, if there are applause or other expressions of approval or disapproval, we hope not the latter, it is a reminder that isnt invitedblic to our luncheons and not a symbol of any journalistic bias one way or the other. Next to mike, lisa matthews, news assignment manager at the Associated Press and member of the National Press club board of governors. Jonathan salant, washington correspondent at new Jersey Advance Media and one of my predecessors who served as president of the National Press club. Alfarouk, who loves to be called danny around the club, medical regulatory reporter at medtech insight and member of the National Press club board of governors. Jeff barker, washington reporter at the baltimore sun. Robert costa, National Political reporter at the Washington Post and post of Washington Week in review and member of the club as well. Dr. Maya rockeymoore cummings, chair of the Maryland Democratic party and spouse of congressman elijah cummings. Lori russo, president of Stanton Communications and cochair of the National Press clubs Headliners Team. Sam is on his way, breaking news. Jeff as always, sam feist is the Washington Bureau chief at cnn. He is rushing over here. We will introduce him when the time comes. Alayna treene, White House Reporter at axios. Bob weiner, president of weiner public news and the National Press club member who organized todays luncheon. Thank you, bob. Jennifer cummings, daughter of the congressman. Nikki schwab, washington reporter at the new york post. And jennifer jacobs, White House Reporter at bloomberg news. [applause] jeff we welcome our headliner, congressman elijah cummings, democrat from the state of maryland, chairman of the house and houseon oversight reform. His remarks come in the wake of President Trumps comments about his district, which he called baltimore a disgusting rat and rodent infested mess and worst in america. Mr. Cummings will also address the committees investigation into the trump administration, the Prescription Drug industrys pricing practices, and other topics. Now serving his 13th in the house, representative cummings has been an advocate for Affordable Health care, a leader in the fight against drug abuse, and the push for urban revitalization and assistance to lower income americans. I thank members bob weiner, headliners, cochairs, past, and many other Staff Members of the press club, ank for helping put together this lunch. Usually in august, we are a bit sleepy, but not so much today. About 230 of you in here. Thank you. With that, i am going to introduce congressman cummings, who will give some remarks. We will have some q a and fun this afternoon. [applause] rep. Cummings thank you very much. God has called me to this moment. I did not ask for it. As a son of former sharecroppers from south carolina, who plowed the fields, picked cotton, picked the strawberries, i am indeed humbled by this invitation. I want you to fully understand that this invitation and the date was set a long time ago, two months ago as a matter of fact. It just so happened that destiny has brought us to this moment. I would like to thank the National Press club. Alisondent kodjak, bob weiner, and jeff ballou. I would like to thank all of you for inviting me to join you today for this conversation. It is my hope there will be a conversation among citizens about the state of our government and the future of our precious country and our democracy. Before we begin, i want to take the moment to address the recent Mass Shootings that took the lives of people this past weekend. , first oftell you all, let me express my sympathy and condolences to the families. I want to thank our first responders. Those who go into dangerous situations to save lives. I thank god for you. [applause] i am truly heartbroken for these families and communities suffering at the hands of gun violence. Im sorry that once again, we are mourning the lives of those who were stolen from us before they reach their potential or their destiny. Gun violence seems to know no bounds, none. None. School. A shopping mall. A movie theater, a park, a church. The only thing that has changed is the location. The only thing. Im a man of deep faith. And i believe that prayer works. But the American People are begging us for more than thoughts and prayers. They want action. And guess what they want it now. They know this is a critical moment in our history. That is why i cosponsored a bipartisan background check act which will require background checks for fire am firearm transfers between private parties. This bill passed the house and i call on Mitch Mcconnell to consider the measure. And then i want president to sign it. We want action. [applause] we must also stop the hateful, incendiary comments. We got to do it. Those in the highest levels of government must stop invoking language, andcist encouraging reprehensible behavior. It only creates more division among us and severely limits our ability to Work Together for the common good. As a country, we finally must say that enough is enough. That we are done with the hateful rhetoric, that we are done with the Mass Shootings, that we are done with the white supremacist domestic terrorist who are terrorizing our country and fighting against everything america stands for and everything that are phenomenal military has fought for. And when i am speaking of that [applause] conversation of a that i had with my 10yearold niece this weekend. , uncle elijah, are they going to put us in cages . Are they going to put us in cages . That is coming from a 10yearold. We are better than that. We must stand together with those who we do not look like, with those who we do not agree with, and recognize that we have more in common than we have that separates us. [applause] rep. Cummings we all are sick of this. We all want decency and respect. Decency and respect. We want our communities to be protected. We want all to live in a country where our children are safe when they go to the mall or to walmart or to the local school. We must stand united and demand change. One of the things i have always thought about, and i think about is one thing when you have a government where the people are afraid of the government, did you hear what i said . Afraid of the government and we need to switch that around where the government is afraid of the people. [applause] rep. Cummings i have hope because i know some people at home in every city and country are watching the communities of el paso and dayton in pain. We are grieving with them. We feel your pain. We really do. We feel it. As you prepare to bury your own, who were simply trying to live a life of peace, doing what , they arenormally do in pain and we are in pain. From that pain must come passion. And from that passion, we must do our purpose. We must shift that pain into action and demand that our government take serious action for people who intend on killing and obtaining guns to put an end to the senseless violence. Let me turn to our discussion for the day. I will touch upon the great work my committee is doing and trying to do. To eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse of this administration in our efforts to address Critical Issues like Prescription Drug prices. I will also briefly address the mytant attempts to attack community in baltimore and in so us as ao defied conch to divide us as a country and to distract us. I want to emphasize that, to distract us from all that unites us in combat the danger that our country faces. I was born along with my father five of my six brothers and sisters in baltimore. Educated and still live in baltimore. I want my neighbors to know how i am so proud that they have trusted me to represent them in the congress of the United States of america. Thank you, baltimore. Thank you. [applause] cummings my neighbors by large are the most determined, hardworking, and deserving people i know. People anyone, and especially our National Leaders should be proud to have as their countrymen and women. They are no different than the people of texas or ohio or anywhere else in our great nation. We have honest and candid conversations. We do not hesitate to critique and protest what is lacking and what is wrong in the city. These criticisms are necessary for they are the birthing ground of constructive change. At the same time, unbalanced criticism can be self reinforcing causing us to doubt our ability to improve. We are improving every day. When i hear a criticism from anyone about the city, what bothers me the most is we have people stepping on hopes of our children. And the hopes of our people. When i have my niece asking if are they going to put us in cages, there is something wrong with that. Our children must know we are doing everything we can right now to ensure they will have a better future. I will do my part until i die to make sure that happens. Time is precious. I will not waste it on anything attempting to distract me from my purpose and my mission. When i became the chairman, i said i wanted to conduct rigorous, responsible oversight and address the issues that matter most to American People. That is what my committee is doing and trying to do. We are addressing issues like Prescription Drug pricing, Voting Rights, criminal justice reform, opioid abuse, and each one of these issues are dear to my heart. I have been addressing them a long time. My committees first hearing this year was on the rising cost of Prescription Drug prices. Mother of am a baby. Listen to this this was the first witness that appeared before my committee as chairman. She told us about her 22yearold daughter, who is rationing her insulin because she could not afford it. 333 a month. She died. Do you hear me . 22 years old. She will never reach her destiny. She is gone. 333 a month. I convened another meeting before the august recess where we heard directly from patients who described the devastating impact of not being able to afford their lifesaving medications. They represent the millions of patients all over the country who need our help and they need our help desperately. That is why i launched an investigation into the higher drug prices. The American People simply want to know why Drug Companies are increasing the prices so drastically. What happened to the steps that congress can take to make drugs much more affordable . Oversight is the first step to finding the building to support effective, Lasting Solutions that can really address problems. Oversight starts with gathering facts. You all should know a lot about that, this is in your self interest members of the press. If we are being blocked and not getting the information that we need to hold the administration accountable, then we have a problem. That is exactly what has been happening. Versight, gathering facts ofmittee has collected tens thousands of pages of documents request to to our these Drug Companies. Our staff is analyzing the staff we are expecting more. But it is interesting that the won my coms mittee. They wrote the Drug Companies and told them not to cooperate with us. That is unheard of. By the way, let me put a footnote right here. Dont let the congress off lightly. Everybody keeps running around talking about the president ial race, which is very important. They talk about the congressional seats, and that is important. But do not let the senate go. Do not. Zero in on the senate. Every single last one of them. We act like we dont have the power to change the senate. We do. And we need to act now, right now. [applause] rep. Cummings so we also are investigating voter suppression. Let me by all, and i emphasize all. Launching investigations to combat waste, fraud, and abuse, which is our job, by the way, under the constitution of the United States of america. That is our job. [applause] cummings for example, we are investigating the childstration in main separation policy and the decision to add the Citizenship Question to the senses, and you all need to really evaluate you in the press what happened here. Let me tell you. Let me give you the rest of the story. Is, thelem for refusedon i has to give information has refused to give information and stonewalled the approach. The administration used this approach the day after the democrats took control of the house when he threatened,we net let the administrations attempts to delay and obstruct us go unchallenged. The American People voted. Majorityd us into the with the expectation that we will uncover, expose, and ultimately fix these abuses. Is anersight committee investigative body of the congress. And our job is to ensure that of same requirements transparency and accountability. So now the question, we must ask ourselves what we hope to leave for the next generation. That is a question we have to ask. The American People that if you want your government to do more to address the issues that matter most to you, then you need to vote. You have to vote like you have never voted before. [applause] rep. Cummings if you want your elected officials to work for you, you need to vote. If you want more at the highest levels of government, only if you want more, you need to vote. You need to get up and vote. It is time for america to wake up. And pay close attention to what the administration is trying to do. For example, despite warnings now listen to this carefully despite warnings from internal experts within the Commerce Department that adding a Citizenship Question would be accuracy ofarm the the enumeration, this administration used the Voting Rights act of all things as a pretext to try to add a Citizenship Question to the 2020 census. Reveal thats the administration wanted to add the Citizenship Question in order to gerrymander legislative districts to help republicans. That is not fair. That is not right to any of us. That means the millions and millions of dollars are allocated to redistricting to make sure that we have fair representation would not be accurate. We would not get what we have paid into. I want to remind the taxpayers of america, you pay taxes. Veryeserve the very, very, best from our government. We must have High Expectations of our government. [applause] rep. Cummings transparency about these facts ultimately led to the president dropping the Citizenship Question at the last minute. Imagine what wouldve happened activists, congress, and the media turned a blind eye to their efforts. I urge everyone to take a long look at the actions and policies of the administration to determine how they will vote in the next election. I want to leave you with a thought. We are engaged in a fight for the soul of our democracy. I said that before our present administration won. I said it to the democratic caucus. I said to them, this is not about trump. This is not about hillary. It is much bigger than that. It is a fight for the soul of our democracy and we have to understand that. [applause] rep. Cummings we in congress and you in the media must confront and overcome the attacks on our constitution we created to protect institutions from sources both foreign and domestic. Those of us who raise up to adulthood and citizenship in the time of dr. Martin luther king, are not at ease. We are not. We are not afraid. Above all, we will not be defeated. We have endured and overcome such threats before and we understand the duty to restore the good, bad, and ugly. Dr. King often reminded us that our nations darkest hours half have often been just before the dawn. Come on, now. Go ahead. You can clap. [applause] rep. Cummings and let me remind you. He also said something i think about every day. He said so often, our silence becomes our betrayal. Betrayal of future generations, betrayal of people like my niece. Betrayal of those who have worked hard all their lives to be the best they can be, giving it everything they got. The promise still rings true. If we marchether, together, we vote together, we can restore the light of democracy. Let me refer you to one thing. Said dorother ballou not use your cell phones, but i want you to google, and i am saying this to every preacher, every evangelical, every speechwriter everybody. I want you to read this article. It sets in place where we are now. President george w. Speechwriter from the august second edition of the Washington Post. He detailed the racist history of our country and those who are victimized by it, making the point that racist comments reopen scars of so many past wounds. We also made a critical point that the president s racist comments expand to divide in our nation, and that those who allow those comments to go unchecked are enabling them. I want to thank my wife. Dr. Cummings. Amen. [applause] daughter,ngs and my jennifer cummings, for being with me today. And make sure you read that article. Everybody, make sure you read it. Every preacher, you need to preach from it. Behink what we need to do is about the business of uniting our great country. Are truly, truly a great country, but we have to keep it. With that, i thank you. [applause] rep. Cummings they said it was a soldout crowd, and i really appreciate that. You have the press all up in the gallery. Jeff the questions have been flowing, mr. Chairman. They indeed have. With your permission, we will have a little fireside chat. Manyof you have sent napkins. A couple of housekeeping reminders for those of you who may have tuned in late, you are chairmanthe remarks of elijah cummings, chairman of the House Oversight committee of the United States congress. And to our audience both here in the ballroom and those who are listening and watching, signs of applause and others our signals that we do invite members of the public to our luncheon, therefore, it is not necessarily coming from those of us who are members of the press. We have to maintain neutrality. You had a lot to say, mr. Chairman. Rep. Cummings i did. [laughter] president s visit on, and justnd dayt for the sake of time moving along since you very much want something done, should Congress Cancel recess and come back to address gun control legislation . Rep. Cummings yes. When you fuel dying people are dying. People are afraid to even go to the movies. They are afraid to go shopping. They are afraid to go about their daily lives. I have so many of my constituents, and by the way, i represent a very diverse districts. I have the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor. I literally have all people coming up to me with tears running down their faces. Please, i do not want to turn on the news anymore. Please help us save our country. They are very serious about that. I think we have a responsibility to do what is necessary to save lives. Im prepared to go. You talked about your bill that passed the house. Have you spoken to anybody in the senate, majority leader mcconnell in particular, to move this background check legislation . Rep. Cummings i am constantly trying to talk to my no, i have notut talked to mr. Mcconnell. I am asking him to allow the many phenomenal people of the legislation that we have passed in the house to help the American People move forward. That he opens the door. Right now, he is blocking and doing everything in his power to do that. Humbly to move away from the door. President ou think the could move the along . Before you got on the helicopter, he very much said that he thinks there is a lot of , convergingpening around a background check legislation making it to his desk. Rep. Cummings i am so glad you asked that question. I think we really need to be careful when listening to politicians talk about what they gon do. [laughter] let me be clear. Talk talk, of end, talk, but in the nothing happens. Hook, ier after sandy joined with congressman riegel of virginia, a republican, to try to get some meaningful legislation passed after sandy hook. Remember that . And nothing happened. The question has to always be the bottom line. Either you do it or you dont. I think we play a little game here. When i was a kid, they would play a little game where you put the you shuffle things and you put them under stuff. I think what is happening is the republicans listen to me carefully they make all these glorious statements. Love gun safety, we love it. But i guarantee you, the people want action. The people simply want action. Is they willl do make these glorious statements and then they will know they can make the statement without any repercussions and they figured the president has got their back and even if the president says some nice things, i believe it is a situation where mcconnell got his back. Do isin, what we have to demand to results. Editorialy to every board in this world, in the , you must ask for action. What have you resulted in, what has come out . Do believe asi i said to michael cohen, to not ask a question in these difficult times of why did something happen to you. Ask why they did it happen for you. I do believe that this is a moment in our history that be the ones who will open the door in government and bring us to a new sense of normal. [applause] jeff has Speaker Pelosi told you said that she will call back to congress . Rep. Cummings i have not talked to her about it. But i would totally support her if she did it. I think Speaker Pelosi is a phenomenal woman. I really do. [applause] jeff she rep. Cummings she is courageous and she is one of the few people that i know of that can galvanize this congress to address the issues of the American People. Is in sync with her conduct, every single day. , i trust her,er and i think if you are looking for signals as to where we should be going, look to Speaker Pelosi. [applause] i dont want to spend too much time on gun violence, but there are a couple of things that have been popping up in the questions. As you know, the president is making his visits to dayton and el paso. He said before he got on the helicopter that his rhetoric quote, brought people together. How would you size of the . Residents remarks rep. Cummings let me be clear. President , has these many families begin to bury consoler ando be a chief. Oler in that is what i want from him. That is what people expect from leadership. I remember when president obama president , we had a big meeting in the democratic caucus. Somebody was complaining about him not speaking up on certain things. President obama said something i shall never forget. Didnt speak about it because i realized that every syllable that comes out of my mouth affects the world. , im very careful about what i say. I would hope that the president would consider that and i would hope that he will embrace these families. I wasny of them watching the news this morning thanks to you all, and there were protests and what have you. So again, that is all i want him to remember right now. And to sign the bills, of course. We have a gun problem, an anger problem, a race problem, or Mental Health problem . Rep. Cummings we have all of that. We have all of it. We have people who need mental treatment. You have people who are bent on doing harm. You have people who are there on the edge and sometimes these comments push them a little further. It is rarely that i go through a week without getting a death threat. Rarely. Im just trying to do my job. I am doing what the people paid me to do. I am doing what i swore to do. Im doing what the constitution says i must do. Some people get confused. I remember when i was first interviewed by the new york times. It is before i became chairman and they said they say that you are the president s worst nightmare. I said that hurts my feelings. I said im not about the business of being the president s worst nightmare. I said, you know, im doing my job. I have these duties, but i said, guess what. The president is probably a nice guy, but i love my democracy. I love my country. And i love my countrymen. More. In other words, i love what leads me to this moment. Let me tell you something. From sharecropping parents to the congress of the United States of america to a soldout press club event, that is coming a long way. But only in america and only because of democracy. I get that. [applause] indicated during your remarks between the time you agreed to come here and today, the president made your fromrance a bit more newsy his remarks targeting your district. But your own governor has recently said, larry hogan, that he cant put all the blame on Baltimore City on the president. Rep. Cummings remind them that he is a republican. Jeff republican and he reminds himself prides himself love being a son of a congressman who helped impeach nixon. But he did say that you could do more to help. And everything you have been trying to do at the state level, you would love to have more help from the white house and from Congress Delta state help the city. What more do you think can be done . Rep. Cummings a lot can be done. All the cutbacks that would affect the city have been significant. What, i want President Trump to come to my district. God, i want him to come so bad. Jeff have you asked him . Rep. Cummings no, i cant get to him. You are all doing a good job of it, put that in your editorials. I want him to come. I want him to come. I want him to, and look at my entire city. I will ride with him for hours. Then i want him to go to Baltimore County where the richest of the rich are. Then i want him to go to howard county. Then i want him to see all of the wonderful things that are happening. On know, when you beat up people who have had difficulties and challenges in their lives, it doesnt help them. No one in this room would do that. Wenvite him to do that, and can, again there are many things i would talk to him about when he comes. Again, we are talking about seets then you need to when he comes. I want you all to be there. Jeff we will be there. Rep. Cummings baltimore is a beautiful city. Our former mayor, Debbie Rollins blake is here with us. We work hard every day and she knows. We work hard every day, but when you have the poorest of the poor, it is difficult. We havehe same time, done wonderful things for you jeff speaking we have done wonderful things. Speaking of wonderful things, our good colleagues at the Washington Post did an interesting piece on efforts underway including yours but one thing that jumped out of the had michaelou tapped as one of his deputy said, all of these wonderful things but theyre moving in Different Directions and not a lot is getting done. How do you get all of the oars to row in the same direction to get things done not just in baltimore, but take it up about a few thousand feet about urban challenges nationwide . Sure. We all have to be rowing together. You are right. One thing, i challenged all of our organizations, Michael Bloomberg has been phenomenal for baltimore. I could go down the list. What i have encouraged them to philanthropists and people who want to help us, but ring act in silos us together, the resources, so they are made readily available to people. Ive also said theres nothing like an opportunity you dont know about. I would encourage our true leaders to continue to urge folks to come together to work hard. You know, when you have people in your district who are drug addicted, it is tough. I would ask people, since you all are here, i want you to look mulvaneys mick former district. Look at the stats on that. And you willt it see an interesting comparison. We have to take people to higher ground. One thing i agree with with regard to President Trump, he said it is no time to be politically correct. Hes right. This is no time, because we are trying to save our nation. With regard to drug addictions. We need funds to build up our community. , there aree thousands of people in baltimore who are working hard every day. Operate onm did not a shoestring because they dont have a string. But they are coaching the basketball team, they are tutoring children after school, they are doing everything in their power to allow children to reach their destinies. Them to theke outreach center, something i worked on for 20 years, and he will see little children in a very depressed community sitting there, learning code with computers. All theo take them to Different Things that we need and perhaps, people will help us. But we need someone at the top making our city and by the way, rural areas, dont forget them. Do not forget the rural areas. Veryare very, very, important. Every time statements are made about the city, they forget. There are many suffering in appalachia which i will be going in a week or so. They have a serious drug problem in west virginia. Serious. Guess what, i am just as concerned about them as my nextdoor neighbor. Jeff we have about four minutes left. I am going to run through some quickies. Since you talked about appellation opioids, and any prospects or further legislation on opioid abuse . Rep. Cummings if the congress, and again, all of your editorial boards all of them, i want them to look at the care act which senator Elizabeth Warren and i cosponsored because it makes sense. Instead of spending the 10 billion we are now spending, it would give us 100 billion. This drug problem is serious everywhere. It would allow local organizations working on this issue to have access to those funds. It will work on making sure doctors are trained to be sensitive to drug addicted people. It will again bring a very important and lifesaving drug, we want to make sure that we get them to the people who need it. Lone, theem with nalox supplier of the Drug Companies went up on the price. Big time. So we are trying to get that in the hands of people who need it. Jeff on Prescription Drugs, that caughtposal canada off in terms of reducing perception drug prices. That is something you talked about before your committee and conservatives are bucking it calling it socialism. How are you going to get a deal done if it is something the president says he wants to get done . Rep. Cummings if the president , remember what i said a few minutes ago . Hide and seek. If the president wants to get it done, it will get done. Hello . Understand that. This hocuspocus stuff does not work when people are dying. It does not work. And let me say this, i have got to say this. I know we have a minute. Be clear to our president ial candidates. Dont get it twisted. Do not get it twisted. You must read the article i referred you to. I am hoping that in the next debate, it will be a part of the discussion. It is so important that you go for higher ground. I must tell you that barack obama was a phenomenal president. A phenomenal president. [applause] rep. Cummings i got 15 seconds. A lot of people may think that i did not cooperate with republicans when i was chairman. Nthoperate to the degree. I signed letters with republicans investigating the obama administration. Questions, and before that, i will present you with our National Press club mug. Rep. Cummings oh wow, just what i needed. Jeff any closer to impeachment and are your ravens going to be my steelers this year . Rep. Cummings let me start with the second question. [laughter] jeff you want to wage something on it . Rep. Cummings i will wage. We are going to beat you, man. We are going to hurt you. What was the other question . Jeff impeachment . Rep. Cummings i have said over and over again that time for impeachment may come, and i take the guidance of the phenomenal i am on the because inside. Administrationy disobeys a court order, than i am for impeachment. By that time, we are in trouble. We are in big trouble. What that says is that the laws do not matter. I want you to understand that the guys on my block, the regular, everyday guys, they asked me the question is there two forms of justice. Is there two forms of justice . I am going to do everything in my power to lift up our nation to make it the very best. May god bless you all. [applause] u,ff thank yo chairman cummings. Thank each of the staff of the National Press club. We are adjourned. Rep. Cummings thank you. [indiscernible chatter was indiscernible chatter] a little over a half hour ago, President Trump and the first lady landed in el paso, texas where one of the two Mass Shootings occurred over the weekend. Earlier today, they visited dayton, ohio to visit with hospital workers, victims, and family members of the shooting. In texas, they were greeted by two senators, the governor, and the mayor of el paso. [indiscernible yelling] today, former Vice President joe biden talked about the