Elijah Cummings

[Congressional biography]

Born: January 18, 1951 in Baltimore, MD
Died: October 24, 2019 in Baltimore, MD

Education:

Career:

Elected Office:

Key House Vote Data for Elijah Cummings in 1996

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Cummings Voted
1996-05-16	Fiscal 1997 Budget Resolution [HCONRES178]	Agreed To (225-195)
Adoption of the concurrent resolution to adopt a six-year budget plan that would balance the budget by 2002 by cutting projected spending by $714 billion and cutting taxes by $124 billion, for a net deficit reduction of $592 billion. Projected spending cuts woild come from reductions of $158 billion to Medicare, $72 billion to Medicaid, and $311 billion to discretionary spending. The resolution also calls for the elimination of the Commerce and Energy Departments and more than 130 programs, including the Goals 2000 school reform program, the AmeriCorps national service program, and the Legal Services Corporation. The resolution set binding budget levels for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 1997: budget authority, $1,629.9 billion; outlays, $1,618.1 billion; revenues, $1,470.4 billion; and deficit, $147.7 billion.
1996-05-23	Employee Commuting Act [HR1227]	Agreed To (266-162)
Riggs (R-CA) amendment to increase the minimum wage by 90 cents per hour over two years, thereby raising the minimum wage from its current level of $4.25 per hour to $4.75 per hour on July 1, 1996, and to $5.15 per hour on July 1, 1997.
1996-05-23	Employee Commuting Act [HR1227]	Rejected (196-229)
Goodling (R-PA) amendment to exempt employees of businesses with annual gross sales under $500,000 from the minimum wage and overtime law. Current law exempts employees of such firms from the minimum wage, provided they are not involved in interstate commerce.
1996-06-13	Fiscal 1997 Defense Appropriations [HR3610]	Rejected (190-208)
DeFazio (D-OR) amendment, as amended by the Dicks (D-WA) amendment, to prohibit the use of funds under the National Missile Defense program to procure space-based interceptors or space-based directed-energy weapons.
1996-06-26	Fiscal 1997 VA-HUD Appropriatons [HR3666]	Rejected (183-240)
Hostettler (R-IN) amendment to eliminate the bill's $367 million for the AmeriCorps National Service program, thereby terminating the program which pays so-called "volunteers" to work.
1996-07-18	Budget Reconciliation [HR3734]	Passed (256-170)
Passage of the bill to save about $61.1 billion through fiscal 2002, mostly by cutting aid to legal immigrants and scaling back food stamp benefits. The bill would end the federal guarantee of welfare benefits, give states broad discretion over their own programs through block grants, require welfare recipients to work within two years of receiving benefits and generally limit recipients to five years of welfare benefits. The bill would also make it harder for disabled children to qualify for Supplemental Security Income, restrict food stamp benefits and deny most legal aliens Supplemental Security Income, food stamps and Medicaid benefits.
1996-07-23	Fiscal 1997 Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations [HR3814]	Agreed To (247-179)
Mollohan (D-WV) amendment to increase by $109 million the $141 million provided in the bill for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). The amendment would offset this increase by reducing funding for several programs, including the assets forfeiture fund, the federal prison system, the Patent and Trademark Office, judicial services, diplomatic and consular programs, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. This breaks the budget agreement reached just last year, which called for a two-year phaseout of the LSC.
1996-07-25	Campaign Finance Overhaul [HR3820]	Rejected (177-243)
Fazio (D-CA) amendment to establish a voluntary spending limit of $600,000 in each election cycle. Candidtaes who adhere to the voluntary limits would get discounted rates for broadcast time and postage. The bill also would limit contributions from PACs to $8,000 each two-year election cycle and allow PACs to give no more than $5,000 per election. It would limit contributions to a candidate from large individual donors to no more than $200,000 in an election cycle, eliminate "bundling" except for independent PACs that do not lobby, eliminate the use of "soft money" contributions to parties by individuals or corporations and create a new state-level fund for party-building activities. Candidates could use no more than $50,000 of their own money, including loans, during an election.
1996-08-01	English as the Official Language of the U.S. Government [HR123]	Passed (259-169)
Passage of the bill to declare English as the official language of the U.S. government and to require the federal government to conduct most of its official business in English. The bill also eliminates the current requirement that bilingual voting ballots be provided in areas populated by large numbers of voters whose first language is not English.
1996-09-05	U.N. Commanders [HR3308]	Agreed To (276-130)
Bartlett (R-MD) amendment to prohibit members of the U.S. armed forces from being forced to wear a United Nations uniform or insignia unless specifically authorized by Congress.
1996-09-19	Abortion Procedure Ban [HR1833]	Veto Overridden (285-137)
Passage, over President Clinton's April 10 veto, of the bill banning a late-term abortion procedure, where the physician partially delivers the fetus before completing the abortion. Anyone convicted of performing such an abortion would be subject to a fine and up to two years in prison. An exception would be granted when the procedure is necessary to save the life of the woman, provided no other medical procedure can be used.
1996-09-25	Illegal Immigrant Education Restrictions [HR4134]	Passed (254-175)
Passage of the bill to permit states to bar illegal immigrants from public education, beginning with enrollments after July 1, 1997. States would not be permitted to prevent previously enrolled students from completing their schooling.
1996-09-26	U.N. Conservation Restrictions [HR3752]	Failed (246-178)
Young (R-AK) motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill to prohibit federal officials from nominating U.S. lands for "protection" under United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conservation programs without previous congressional approval.

Represents a "Yes" vote.   Represents a "No" vote.   Indicates that this member voted against the conservative position on a particular vote. "No vote" means that this member did not cast a vote (or voted 'Present' instead of Yes or No).