Press Releases

Opening Statement of Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings

Witnesses

At today's Oversight Committee hearing on the attacks in Libya, Ranking Member Cummings asked Chairman Issa to join him in calling on House leaders to immediately consider a supplemental funding bill to restore embassy security funding that was cut by the House over the past two fiscal years.

State Department Regional Security Officer Eric Nordstrom admitted at today's Oversight Committee hearing that there were, in fact, five Diplomatic Security agents in Benghazi on the day of the attack, contrary to earlier reports.

In addition, despite Nordstrom's earlier statements to the Committee that his July cable requested five agents, a copy of the cable obtained by the Committee shows that the cable actually requested only four agents, with a minimum of three. The text of the cable reads:

Testimony today from State Department Regional Security Officer Eric Nordstrom differs sharply from press reports about inadequate security in Benghazi. Following are highlights from Nordstrom's testimony:

Washington, D.C. – Ranking Democratic Committee Members today called on GOP Committee Chairs to return to Washington to address the urgent needs of the American people to create jobs, guarantee economic certainty with the extension of middle class tax cuts, pass a bipartisan Farm bill, reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, and achieve a balanced solution to the fiscal cliff.

Washington, DC—Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Catherine Engelbrecht, President and Founder of True the Vote, requesting documents relating to the group's "horrendous record" of filing inaccurate voter registration challenges across the country.

Washington, DC—Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued a statement today after Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson struck down a narrow part of the Pennsylvania photo identification law, allowing voters to cast a ballot in the 2012 November election without having to provide a photo ID.