All Articles Tagged "charles rangel"
Rangel Censured for Ethics Violations
(Wall Street Journal) — The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to censure New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel for ethics violations, in a rarely applied punishment to publicly shame a fellow lawmaker. The vote for censure—the most severe form of punishment short of expulsion from Congress—was 333 to 79. Mr. Rangel was the first lawmaker to be censured in nearly three decades. After the vote, Mr. Rangel stood on the House floor as Speaker Nancy Pelosi read a short statement decrying his conduct.
Rangel Asks Supporters to Make a Call on His Behalf
(New York Times) — With the hour of his reckoning drawing near, RepresentativeCharles B. Rangel on Wednesday morning asked thousands of his supporters to call the Capitol switchboard and ask their congressmen to vote against a measure that would censure him for an assortment of ethical violations. The last-minute appeal, e-mailed to 25,000 people on the congressman’s campaign mailing list, includes an apology for his transgressions, but asserts that “censure is excessive and that my lapses do not rise to the level of transgressions of those censured in the past.” Invoking his decorated service in the Korean War and half a century as a prosecutor and elected official, Mr. Rangel, a Democrat from Harlem, said he hoped his supporters would show similar resolve toward him during this dark moment.
Leaders Say Black Caucus Is Still a Powerhouse
(Roll Call) — Top Congressional Black Caucus members are rejecting suggestions that an unprecedented number of public embarrassments in recent months have diminished the group’s clout. CBC veterans have dominated the news lately, but not for their successes. Monday was supposed to mark the start of the ethics trial of Rep. Maxine Waters, but the House ethics committee opted 10 days ago to return the case to investigators, citing “materials discovered that may have had an effect” on the case, according to a statement.
House Censure: Humbling to Some, but Not All
(New York Times) — One threatened fellow lawmakers with a pistol. Two others assaulted their colleagues with canes, an old weapon of choice on Capitol Hill. In the heat of slavery and secession debates, some raised insults to an art form. A few took bribes or flirted with treason. Two offenders had sex with Congressional pages. In the genteel parliamentary history of the House of Representatives there lurk rowdy days of rough-and-tumble brawls, beatings, chokings, fistfights, upended hairpieces, stentorian demands for apologies unheeded and a lot of sneaky conduct and foul-mouth talk. Some did nothing bad, or almost nothing.
Rangel Seeks Less Serious Punishment from House
(New York Times) — Hoping to avoid the lasting stain of Congressional censure and the indignity of the public scolding that accompanies it, Representative Charles B. Rangel has embarked on a last-ditch campaign to convince colleagues that he deserves the far less serious punishment of a reprimand for his ethics violations, according to two people close to Mr. Rangel. Mr. Rangel, 80, who may face censure in front of the full House as early as this week, is arguing that the punishment — a move short of expulsion — is reserved for violations more grave than those he committed. To make that case, his staff has prepared a 10-point chart to distribute to other members of Congress, along with a history of punishments meted out before.
Rangel’s Supporters Urge ‘No’ Vote on Censure
(AP) — Supporters of Rep. Charles Rangel said Sunday that the Democratic lawmaker has been punished enough by the House ethics committee’s two-year investigation and should not by censured by the full Congress. ”Charlie Rangel is a giant,” said former Mayor David Dinkins. “He’s a man who has served not only the 15th Congressional District but this city. He’s served this nation. …. There’s nothing to be gained by seeking to further humiliate this great man.” The House ethics committee voted 9-1 on Thursday to recommend censure for Rangel after the same panel convicted him of 11 violations, including failure to pay taxes on rental income from a villa in the Dominican Republic. Censure is the most serious congressional discipline short of expulsion.
African-Americans Under Fire in Washington
(New American Media) — In 2010, African-American politicians find themselves under siege. Black political power and influence appears strafed and demolished in less than two weeks time. Even President Barack Obama is not immune as he fends off assaults from both left and right, including a Washington Post column by two prominent Democratic strategists recommending he pass on re-election in 2012. A combination of scandal, Republican electoral tsunamis and lack of a coordinated response to the new political climate have left Black politicos trapped in a smoky wilderness of uncertainty.
Ethics Committee Recommends Censure for Rangel
(New York Times) — The bipartisan House Ethics Committee recommended Thursday that embattled New York Democrat Charles B. Rangel be censured by the full House of Representatives for ethics violations, the stiffest penalty a member can face short of expulsion. The House will probably take up the matter after Thanksgiving. Rangel would be the first congressman censured in almost 30 years. The Harlem representative had sought a lighter sanction. Before the vote, he asked the committee for leniency, pointing to his 40 years of service on Capitol Hill and saying “there was not even the suggestion of corruption” in the allegations against him.
For Rangel, a Downward Path, With Destination Uncertain
(New York Times) — For the last eight months, Representative Charles B. Rangel has been circling in an ever-descending spiral. In March, he relinquished the chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, the job of his career. In July, after two years of internal investigation, the House ethics panel accused him of violating Congressional rules. This week, a jury of his peers decided he was guilty of most of the accusations, concluding he had wrongfully had access to a subsidized apartment and had failed to pay taxes on the rental income on his Caribbean vacation home.
Rangel Found Guilty of Ethics Violations
(Wall Street Journal) — A House panel found Rep. Charles Rangel guilty of 11 ethics violations Tuesday, saying the senior Democrat’s failure to report assets and misuse of congressional privileges tarnished his reputation and that of the entire House. The 80-year-old New York congressman wasn’t in the hearing room when the announcement was made, having walked out in protest Monday after insisting the proceedings should be delayed until he could raise funds to hire a lawyer.
