Nancy Pelosi kicked off her weekly press conference today with a remembrance of Elijah Cummings. She said when he served in the Maryland House, he was already a powerful voice.

"When Elijah Cummings would stand up in the state legislator, in the house of delegates as it's called there, the room would fall silent," Pelosi said. "Everyone wanted to hear what Elijah has to say. "

Pelosi appeared to choke up as she announced that at a hearing this morning House members discussed naming legislation that would lower the cost of prescription drugs after Cummings, which she said was "so appropriate."

"Elijah was a fighter for low income and prescription drugs, reaching across the aisle to do so. He always chose to reach across the aisle and treat all of our colleagues with respect and even had dialogue with the President for a while on this subject."

Pelosi added that she's personally "devastated by the loss" of Cummings, and called him her "brother from Baltimore."