H.R. 2379 - Glaucoma Bill - to ensure that the health benefits program for
Federal employees covers screening for glaucoma
H.R. 2523 - Federal Employees' Benefits Equity Act - to eliminate
certain inequities in the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal
Employees' Retirement System with respect to the computation of members of the
Supreme Court and Capitol police, and their survivors
H.Res. 139, expressing the sense of Congress regarding commitment to the
Voting Rights Act of1965
H.Con.Res. 426, expressing the sense of Congress regarding the awareness of and treatment for kidney disease\
OPERATING
ROOM OF THE FUTURE - $7 Million/(Defense
- collaboration between the UMMC and the US Army to develop advanced
state-of-the-art operating room of the future /transferrable technology for
battlefield treatment of soldiers
BALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS - $3.5 million/LHHSED & $3.0 million
VA/HUD
- Dropout Recovery
- Capital Improvements
DOWNTOWN
PARTNERSHIP - $2 million/Transportation
- reconstruction of Center Plaza
WEST ARLINGTON IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION - $1.566 million /VA-HUD
- to construct a Youth Center and Planetarium (West Arlington Water Tower
Project)
REV. IRVIN POPE/GRACE MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH - $250,000/LHHSED
- to expand facility for a child daycare program and afterschool program -Alice
in Wonderland Daycare
SANKOFA -- NEW PSALMIST BAPTIST CHURCH - $260,000/VA-HUD
-to develop a business center to operate a youth business education camp
CENTER
FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACCESS - $2 million/ CJS
-to establish the Center for Information Technology Access which would offer IT
training and technical assistance to inner city minorities and minority
businesses to diminish the digital divide
CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN MEDICATION - $1 million/VA-HUD
-to develop a center for excellence in medicine to reduce drug therapy errors -
school of pharmacy
DNA LABORATORY - $2 million/CJS
- enhance the identification of violent offenders through DNA testing
DRUG TREATMENT ON DEMAND - $5million/L-HHS-ED
- to continue to reduce Baltimore’s drug addiction numbers
EAST BALTIMORE’S FUTURE ( EAST BALTIMORE REVITALIZATION AND BIOTECH PARK) -
$10 M and bill language/VA-HUD
-- 1) convert a former manufacturing plant into a state-of-the-art biotech
facility; 2) to alter streets necessary to transform east Baltimore area; 3)
redevelop a crime-infested community to an attractive mixed-income community
anchored by the biotech facility
LIFEBRIDGE HEALTH - $10 million/L-HHS-ED
- to construct a labor and delivery, postpartum, and neonatal intensive care
unit
LEADERSHIP
INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS - MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY - $200,000/L-HHS-ED
- to develop a summer residential leadership training program for public school
teachers - MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
BALTIMORE CHILD DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY POLICING - $230,000/LHHS/ED
- to continue and expand innovative program to help children deal with violence
KENNEDY-KRIEGER - $2 million /CJS
- to create a juvenile delinquency program at its behavioral center
MEDSTAR
HEALTH – CURTIS NATIONAL HAND CENTER - $1 million/Treasury- Postal
- to conduct a study on carpal tunnel syndrome
RESTORE DAVIDGE HALL - $2 million/ Interior
- to help restore the University of MD Medical School
CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY - $3 million/Department of Energy
- to create a Center for Environmental Toxicology – focus on diseases that
affect African-Americans
SPECIALIZED GLOVES TEST AND EVALUATION PROGRAM - BIG BANG PRODUCTS - $3 million
Defense-to test a new exhale glove - with flexible bladder system that can be
sewn into any glove to increase heat levels - uses wearer’s own breath
-
Requested, with Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph
Lieberman, that the U.S. General Accounting Office study the implementation of
"charitable choice" legislative provisions and examine evidence of
the performance-accountability of faith-based organizations; released last
month, the study found that faith-based organizations have received a small
percentage of government contracts; that limited awareness and capacity and
inexperience in government-contracting place faith-based organizations at
competitive disadvantage in obtaining contracts; and that adequate performance
measures for faith based organizations do not exist;
-
Requested hearing of the full House Government Reform Committee addressing
measures to combat racial profiling by federal, state, and local law
enforcement;
-
Oversaw
consideration of the Drug-Free Communities Reauthorization Act of 2001 in the
House Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and
Human Resources and authored amendments prioritizing grants and assistance for
community anti-drug coalition-applicants from disadvantaged areas;
-
Participated
in meetings in Rome, Italy, with U.S. and Italian officials concerning
U.S.-Italy cooperation in counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism efforts and
with former Afghan King Mohammed Zahir Shah concerning efforts to establish a
post-Taliban government in Afghanistan.
HIDTA/Baltimore
City
Working
with the City of Baltimore, Baltimore City Police, Baltimore/Washington HIDTA
to increase funding for law enforcement and coerced, supervised drug
treatment. Goals are to: 1)
reduce drug trafficking, drug-related violence and drug addiction through
enhanced drug testing, drug treatment and surveillance; and 2) restore order
to targeted communities through concentrated law enforcement, prosecution,
treatment and sanctions
-Invited
Office of National Drug Control Policy Director John Walters to tour
Baltimore's Tuerk House alcohol and drug treatment clinic and open-air
drug-distribution areas;
-Congressman Cummings
offered an amendment before the Rules Committee to the Homeland Security Bill
(Congressman Cummings’s amendment not accepted) Amendment would have allowed
pharmacists to administer medicine during a national emergency.
-Requested
a field hearing of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal
Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources in Baltimore, MD, addressing
benefits of "on-demand" drug treatment as found by the Baltimore
Substance Abuse Systems, Inc.-commissioned report, Steps to Success:
Baltimore Alcohol and Drug Treatment Outcomes Study;
-Requested
hearing of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug
Policy, and Human Resources addressing the findings and recommendations of the
Institute of Medicine report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care,
which concluded that racial and ethnic minorities experience inferior care and
less favorable treatment outcomes in the U.S. health care system;
-Requested
joint hearing of three House Government Reform subcommittees addressing
barriers to counter-terrorism coordination and information-sharing between
federal law enforcement agencies and state and local agencies;
-Authored
letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson
urging reconsideration of several Bush Administration policies and funding
decisions that directly contradict expert recommendations by the Institute of
Medicine for reducing pervasive racial disparities in health care delivery and
outcomes;
-Co-authored
an amendment to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 establishing a high-level
officer to coordinate counter-narcotics functions within the new department;
-Secured
a commitment from Office of National Drug Control Policy Director John Walters
to redirect $2 million in existing Washington-Baltimore HIDTA funds, and to
secure a long-term funding stream, for the purpose of improving neighborhood
safety conditions and disrupting drug-gang activity in the most drug-infested
Baltimore neighborhoods;
-Invited
Office of National Drug Control Policy Deputy Director Mary Ann Solberg to
address a community forum in Baltimore concerning grant opportunities for
community anti-drug coalitions under the Drug-Free Communities Support
Program;
-Invited
numerous Baltimore-based witnesses to testify before hearings of the
Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources addressing
a range of subjects related to U.S. domestic and international drug-control
policy, homeland security, government funding of social services provided by
faith-based organizations, and public health.
(Note: this item applies to both first and second sessions.)
Congressman Cummings wrote letter to Speaker Hastert requesting that the House bring a stimulus bill in the wake of September 11th that included unemployment benefits.
Supported
Working Families - Raising Minimum Wage
Supported
a raise in the minimum wage by one dollar an hour, from $5.15 to $6.15 over a
two-year period. The Department
of Labor estimates that nearly 12 million minimum-wage workers would get a
$2000-a-year raise under the proposal. (GOP
proposal was $1 over 3 years)
Federal
Employees: Raise
Signed
onto a letter to President George Bush objected to the decision to cut the pay
of federal workers because of the cost of the war on terrorism.
The Administration stated that the
government cannot afford to proceed with a scheduled locality pay increase for
civilian federal employees.
Federal
Employees: Collective Bargaining Rights
Opposed
the proposal in the Homeland Security bill that took away the collective
bargaining rights of 130,000 federal employees who will work on homeland
security. Submitted statements
for the record relating to this issue.
Implementation of H.R. 4040 - Long-Term Care Security Act
Congressman Cummings is an original cosponsor. This bill establishes a program under which
Federal civilian employees, members of the uniformed services, and civilian and
military retirees can purchase private long-term care insurance for themselves
and certain qualified relatives at a discount.
Federal Employee Health Benefit Program
The Civil Service Subcommittee held hearings on this subject at Congressman Cummings’s request.
Given the sharply rising costs of prescription drugs, new approaches may need to
be developed to reduce prescription drug costs and contain FEHB premium
increases. Office of Personnel Management attributed the increase in premiums to
the rising costs of prescription drugs, greater use of medical services, and
aging enrollees.
Higher Education
Kidney
Disease Health Fair
Congressman Cummings
sponsored two Health Fair for Members of Congress, staff and visitors was held
on June 27, 2001 and June 26, 2002 on Hill to educate public on diseases, such
as renal disease. The fair also
offered blood screenings, cholesterol and blood pressure readings and available
on-site medical counseling.
Minority
Health Hearing
The
Government Reform Committee held a hearing on May 21, at the request of Congressman Cummings, to
discuss and examine the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) report entitled, Unequal
Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care which
was released in March. The IOM's central conclusions are that:
Americans of color tend to receive lower-quality health care even when the patients' incomes and insurance plans are the same; and that
these disparities contribute to our higher death rates and poorer health
outcomes from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other
life-endangering conditions.
The IOM report demonstrates that racial biases and stereotypes on the quality of medical care received does exist, and that America's medical establishment must come to terms with the impact of race as an independent factor.
The Nation's goal should be to end racial
disparities in health care. The IOM report also offers a series of
recommendations to combat these problems including cultural education programs
for both patients and providers, increased funding for the Office of Civil
Rights, improved data collection and monitoring, increasing the proportion of
minority health professionals, and increasing the number of minorities who
attend medical schools and graduate.
- Requested a study on attrition and diversity in the Senior Executive Service and various Executive Candidate Development Programs for the SES conducted by agencies and departments. Representatives Ed Towns, Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Danny Davis are also on the request
- Request for GAO study on transporting hazardous waste
- A GAO report was released October 10, 2002 by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman raises key questions about the understanding of charitable choice rules and whether state and local government officials and Faith Based Organization (FBO) officials are fully aware of rights and responsibilities under these provisions. Specifically GAO recommended that the Secretary of Health and Human Service (HHS) issue guidance to agencies administering these programs on charitable choice safeguards, including the safeguard prohibiting the use of federal funds for religious worship, instruction, or proselytizing and the safeguard concerning a client’’s right to an alternative nonreligious provider.
-
Requested and was provided a Maryland Ergonomics Report/Study
by Government Reform Committee to estimate the impact of a repeal of the
ergonomics rule on Maryland workers and on the state’s economy.
-
Adjusted Census Data was released On December 5, 2001, the
Census Department released adjusted results from the 2000 Census in response
to a lawsuit filed by Congressman Cummings and 15 other members of the
Committee on Government Reform. This
data shows that millions of Americans were not counted in the 2000 Census and
that blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities were disproportionately affected
by the undercount.
-
Offered
amendment during homeland security debate to allow pharmacists nationwide to
administer medications through injections in case of national emergency
(defeated in the Rules Committee) – voted against homeland security bill
because lacked federal civil service protections H.R. 5005