Baltimore's Rep. Elijah Cummings: "We Have to Invest in Our Cities and Our Children"

— -- Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, whose district includes parts of Baltimore, said today that the unrest in his city after the death of a black man who was injured while in police custody should be a lesson to city leaders around the country.

"We have to invest in our cities and our children. A lot of young people feel that they have been disconnected and we have to have what I call an 'inclusion revolution,' and address issues such as joblessness and training for young people," Cummings told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week."

"Just the other day a young man told me, 'Mr. Cummings, I feel like I'm in my coffin trying to claw out of it.' And that is not the way that we want our children to feel," he said.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, the only African American Republican in the Senate, agreed with Cummings, saying on "This Week" that he was once a struggling African-American high school student himself. Scott said that the large number of high school dropouts in distressed areas lead to unemployment and ultimately, hopelessness.

"There is a trend that can be broken at its foundation if we focus first on education and then second on work skills," Scott said. He pointed to a bipartisan bill he introduced last year with Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, which would provide tax credits to employers who offer apprenticeships.

On the charges announced Friday against six members of the Baltimore police force in the death of Freddie Gray, Cummings said he agreed with the decision by the city's state attorney Marilyn Mosby.

"I feel very comfortable with regard to what Ms. Mosby has done," Cummings said. "She looked at all of the evidence and did what she had to do."

The police union has called the decision to file charges a rush to judgment.