It is both a privilege and an honor to represent you in the United States Congress. While serving you, I will continue my outreach efforts to inform you of my legislative actions. I welcome your advice. Government “by the people” is the cornerstone of my legislative philosophy.

To better serve you closer to home, I invite you to visit or contact any of my three district offices, conveniently located in Baltimore City, Catonsville and Ellicott City.

Please feel free to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Sat. March 4, 2006:  Congressman Cummings will give a presentation about the new Medicare Part D prescription drug program.  During the visit, Congressman Cummings will be joined by experts who will answer questions on how to navigate the program.  The visit will be part of the Bethel A.M.E. Community Outreach Center Community Health Fair, at 1300 Druid Hill Avenue in Baltimore.  The event, which is open to the public, takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Lunch will be provided. Congressman Cummings’ presentation will take place from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Scholarships for College: Are you a college-bound student or a parent of a college-bound student who is trying to determine how to pay for college?  If so, the Office of Congressman Cummings has an extensive list of various college scholarships.  To get your free booklet, please contact Philisha Lane at (410) 685-9199 or e-mail her at Philisha.Lane@mail.house.gov.

Congressional Black Caucus Spouses’ Scholarship:  Congressman Cummings is currently accepting applications for scholarship programs coordinated by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF). Interested students may download the application and program guidelines on the CBCF website,  http//:www.cbcfinc.org or contact Ms. Philisha Lane at (410) 685­9199 to obtain an application package. The application deadline is May 1, 2006.

Free Breast Cancer Screenings and Medical Cost Assistance: The Baltimore City Cancer Program offers free Mammograms, Pap Smears, and clinical breast exams to city residents who are uninsured and over the age of 40.  In the case of a positive diagnosis, whether it be breast or cervical, the program will pay for all treatment. The program also provides support services free of charge.  For more information, please call (410) 328-HOPE (4673). 

Congressman Cummings Calls for Improved Port Security

Under the terms of a proposed sale that became public in late February, the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), which manages terminal operations in several major East Coast ports, would be sold from its current owners in the United Kingdom to a firm owned by the government of Dubai.  P&O is currently responsible for the operations of the public container terminal at the Port of Baltimore.

Congressman Cummings opposes this sale and believes that Congress should examine whether the Coast Guard should regularly review terminal operating agreements as part of its oversight of a port’s security arrangements.

"The firm responsible for terminal operations is central to the management of any port because of its role in directing the movement of freight into and out of the port," he said. "As such, I am deeply concerned that transferring control of these operations to a firm owned by a foreign government – particularly a government singled out by the 9­11 Commission for security concerns – could put our ports and our nation at unacceptable risk.

The sale of P&O was approved after a 30­day review conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS).  CFIUS is an inter­agency committee comprised of representatives of 12 separate federal departments and agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, and Treasury.  After extensive criticism of the deal by Congressional and state leaders, the Dubai­based firm seeking to buy P&O has agreed to a more extensive 45­day review of the security risks that could be posed by the sale. 

Congressman Cummings said, "I am troubled that such an extensive review was not conducted when this deal was first considered."

According to current available data, 95 percent of the 9 million containers that enter the nation's ports on an annual basis are never physically inspected.  In addition, port security has been severely under­funded by the federal government. Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the federal government has spent more than $20 billion on aviation security, but spent just over $600 million on port security.

"Given the fact that we have so far failed to close critical security gaps at our nation's ports, it is simply unacceptable that the federal government would approve any arrangements that could increase the risks that are inherent in the international movement of freight containers," Congressman Cummings said.

Congressman Cummings is currently a co-sponsor of the Foreign Security Investment Act of 2006, H.R. 4807, which would require an extended review of the Dubai deal and give Congress the option of blocking the transaction.

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Having taken a leading role in addressing the slow response to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, Congressman Cummings called for a national bipartisan effort to correct errors made by federal, state and local governments after the House Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina and the White House released two separate assessment reports on responses to the storm.

On Feb. 15, the House Select Committee on Hurricane Katrina publicly released a 520-page report entitled "A Failure of Initiative,” while the White House released a report on Feb. 23, entitled “The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned.”

"As we learn more about what went wrong following Hurricane Katrina, each of us must keep two harsh realities in mind.  The American families who have been devastated by the monumental failure of leadership documented by the White House and House Committee reports could have been our own–and unless we are better prepared to act more decisively and more effectively, the families who die next time may well be our own.”

Congressman Cummings noted that experts have warned that a natural disaster of a scale similar to Hurricane Katrina could occur on the West Coast should a major earthquake strike that region. Anti-terrorism experts have also warned that another terrorist attack involving incidents similar in scale to those of September 11, 2001, is possible.

To correct the failings that have been uncovered, Congressman Cummings and his colleagues called for:
!       Long-term investments in homeland security systems that will save lives and minimize property damage;
!       The appointment of qualified disaster management individuals at all levels of government;
!       The development by state and local governments of comprehensive evacuation plans that would provide means of evacuation to all community members, including transit-dependent populations, the elderly, and the disabled; and

!       The implementation of proper communications to be established and maintained among disaster management workers at all levels.

"My Democratic colleagues and I would welcome bipartisan support for a true federal down payment on the President's promise to the Americans of the Gulf Coast.  Measures such as the Hurricane Katrina Recovery, Reclamation, Restoration, Reconstruction and Reunion Act of 2005 [HR 4197], which I have co-sponsored, would begin to provide the extensive federal aid that individuals displaced by Katrina need to rebuild their lives and communities,” Congressman Cummings said. "We all have a stake in meeting this challenge ­ and now is the time for us to act.”

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Congressman Cummings Examines President's Drug Budget for FY 2007

On February 16, Congressman Cummings, as the Ranking Member of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, conducted a hearing to examine President Bush's proposed drug budget for Fiscal Year 2007.  This hearing included testimony from the Director of National Drug Control Policy, John P. Walters, the President's principal adviser on drug policy matters.

"As we speak, drug abuse remains one of the nation's leading health problems.   The destructive impact of drug use, addiction, and a violent illegal drug economy continues to devastate neighborhoods and schools throughout the nation.  This year, we face the prospect of more than 20,000 American lives being taken by illegal drugs," Congressman Cummings said.

He noted that over the past year, the explosive growth of methamphetamine captured national attention, while cities such as Baltimore continued to be impacted by "traditional" killers like heroin and crack cocaine.

Congressman Cummings also observed that while the use of marijuana among young people has decreased, the use of other more harmful drugs by both youth and adults has remained constant and in some cases increased.

"Clearly, more progress needs to be made and our National Drug Control Strategy should focus squarely on making that progress," Congressman Cummings said.

Congressman Cummings noted that the President's budget for FY 2007 does not set forth a comprehensive approach to handling the nation's drug problem. In the coming fiscal year, the President proposes to devote merely 35.5 percent of his drug budget to demand reduction and 64.5 percent to supply reduction.  If the President's budget is enacted, approximately 11 percent  of the FY 2007 drug budget will support prevention programs ­­ a 2 percent decline from the FY 2006 enacted level. 

"The unfortunate reality is that the President's budget request will again force Congress to make some very difficult choices.  Last year, Congress largely rejected the President's proposed decimation of Safe and Drug Free Schools State Grants, Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, and COPS "Meth Hot Spots," as well as the vexing decision to cut the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program by more than half and move it to the Justice Department where it would face an uncertain future," Congressman Cummings said.  "But restoring funding for those programs meant cutting other programs, including the Drug Court program, which is one that I strongly support.  The ONDCP's National Youth Anti­Drug Media Campaign also lost funding despite its supposedly strategic location in the office of the Drug Czar."

He continued, "I think it is absolutely vital that we fortify, and not diminish, our commitment to expanding our children's exposure to effective drug prevention and education in school, in the community, and in the media.  It is equally vital that we support initiatives to close the persistent treatment gap.  We know from numerous studies that treatment is effective in reducing not just drug consumption, but also associated joblessness, property crime, violence, illness, and risky health behaviors–precisely the things that cause the fabric of entire communities to unravel."

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Congressman Cummings has helped secure the following grants and contracts that will benefit the residents of the 7^th Congressional district:

• $3.3 Million for emergency management: The State of Maryland will receive this $3,313,422 to support state and local disaster management efforts. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
   
• $1.7 million Department of Energy grant: This $1,749,819 grant will help Johns Hopkins University to develop energy-related material.  The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
   
• $667,934 Nursing grant: This grant will fund the Domestic Violence Enhanced Home Visitation program, which trains nursing students to treat victims of domestic violence.
   
• $182,655 National Institute of Aging grant: This funding will help the University of Maryland at Baltimore to conduct research on hip fractures.
   
• $75,000 for Coppin State University: This U.S. Department of Education grant will provide scholarships for students who wish to pursue an education in rehabilitation services.
   
• $44,887 U.S. Institute of Peace grant: This grant has been provided to Catholic Relief Services to support the organization’s “Justice for All: Strengthening Justice at the Grassroots Level through Mediation,” program.