Mr. President we woke up this morning to learn with profound sadness that our friend and colleague congressman Elijah Cummings the son of sharecroppers who became the chair of the House Oversight committee passed away last night at the age of 68. It wasap the first thing i saw when i read the paper this morning and it hit me like a punch in the stomach. In his 23 years in congress elijah had a legacy that will live long after his sudden passing. He served the people of his maryland district with self is selfless compassion and grace. Since it only happens when you cant do justice to the legacy of Elijah C Cummings but id lie to share a few reflections and they know my dear friend senator cardin was closely or truthers with Elijah Cummings and they had worked on so many things for maryland and the country and i know he is here sharing our deep sadness. Truly Elijah Cummings was not just a great congressman but a great man. He had a presence, make commanding presence when he entered the
Our possession. The call for congress to start hearing yesterday. Congress has their own duty to to get to the facts. All in starts right now. It is now day 32 of the trump shutdown and with millions of americans continuing to suffer, donald trump is once again demonstrating why he has over seen the longest shutdown in u. S. History. Because it is impossible to negotiate in good faith with the president of the United States. On saturday youll remember the president offered what he billed as a compromising end to the shutdown. It was, gently, a nonstarter. Negotiated with his own Vice President s and son in law he hired to work in the white house in exchange for the billions, trump offered only temporary protections but the Trump Administration itself has put into legal limbo. So it was not good deal. In fact it would have encouraged trump to take hostages in the future. Only now we know the trump truth. It was more like a scam. Last night Senate Republicans posted the trumpapproved leg