Congressman Rangel Still Defiant After Censure by Roger Caldwell

On Thursday, December 2, 2010, Congressman Rangel from New York received a formal censure from the House of Representatives. A censure is a formal statement of disapproval of the practices and ethics of a member of the body. The member must give up any committee chair they hold, but they do not lose their elected position.


Congressman Rangel

  Congressman Rangel was the chairman of the Way and Means Committee and he is a 20-term Member of the House. The House found that the congressman had failed to pay taxes on a vacation villa, filed misleading financial disclosure forms, and improperly solicited donations for a college center from a corporation with business before his committee.

 

Rangel acknowledged some mistakes, calling himself sloppy, but he felt that the sub-committee had gone too far with censure. He admitted that at times he was overzealous, but said he never enriched himself while trying to help minority college students at City University of New York.

 

"I was not found guilty of corruption, I did not steal any money, I did not take any bribes, and that is abundantly clear." Nevertheless the House sub-committee found Rangel guilty of 11 ethics charges.

 It is really ironic that the chairman of the committee that sets up the procedures for taxes has problems paying his own taxes. After 20 terms in Congress and being eighty years old, maybe it is time to move over or find better accountants who can help the congressman with filing his taxes and tax preparation.



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