>
Article snippet: BALTIMORE — The city of Baltimore, joined by the leading luminaries of the Democratic Party, said goodbye Friday to the late Rep. MORE, a towering native son who ascended from the impoverished streets of Charm City to the highest echelons of Congress. In a three-hour service at Baltimore's New Psalmist Baptist Church, where thousands of mourners lined up well before dawn to ensure a coveted seat, a long list of preeminent Democrats, friends and family members praised Cummings as a dogged defender of constitutional justice and an earnest warrior for the powerless and disadvantaged. What emerged was a portrait of a larger-than-life lawyer, lawmaker and civil-rights trailblazer who rose from poverty in south Baltimore to become chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee — a perch from which he played a central role in the Democrats' hard-charging impeachment inquiry into MORE. He was, by all accounts, an iron-willed figure who led by example; bore no tolerance for intolerance; and possessed a moral compass, they said, that always seemed to point north. "From the state house to the House of Representatives, his commitment to justice and the rights of others would never ever waiver," said former President Obama. "[He was] a public servant who toiled to guarantee the least of us have the same opportunities that he had earned. "His life validates the things we tell ourselves about what's possible in this country — not guaranteed, but possible." Former... Link to the full article to read more