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Thursday September 9, 2010
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Clarke says C’bean should stand solidly with Rangel
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
 | | | Rangel...says he was ‘inappropriately’singled out and admonished. | |
NEW YORK:
Former NYC councilwoman Una Clarke says the Caribbean should throw its support solidly behind embattled 79-year-old Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), who she called a true friend of the Caribbean and diaspora.
Last week, the congressman who currently serves as Chair of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, acknowledged that an ethics panel has accused him of accepting Caribbean trips from a corporation in violation of House rules.
While the committee did not issue formal charges that could lead to a severe reprimand, the findings could certainly jeopardize Rep. Rangel’s role as Chair of House Ways and Means committee.
His committee is scheduled to take the lead as Congress determines the ending of the former President Bush’s expiring tax cuts.
findings unfair and wrong
Rangel contends that he did nothing wrong and claims the committee’s findings to be, “unfair and wrong on the facts and the law.” He says he will not resign his post and further states that, it was inappropriate for the panel to single out and admonish him for a mistake his staff made.
Clarke meanwhile has accused his Republican party detractors of simply being jealous of his extremely powerful position in the Congress and maintains that Rangel has instead used the event at issue - Carib News conference - as a way of ‘enlightening’ his fellow congressmen and women on what the issues are that Caribbean nations face in terms of trade and other crucial matters.
Four other members of the Congressional Black Caucus were also on the trips in 2007 and 2008; however they have been exonerated by the panel.
But support among his Harlem constituents may not be so easy to come by.
Says Harlem resident, James Townsend: “I think it’s time for Charlie Rangel to step down, he’s been in there long enough, but it’s very unfair for the ethics committee to hold him alone accountable when there were four other members of congress on both trips. Didn’t they all know that the trip was sponsored by corporate donors?”
Rep. Rangel claimed that he didn’t want to be critical of the committee, but “common sense dictates that members of Congress shouldn’t be held responsible for what could be mistakes by staff unless there’s reason to believe the member knew or should have known.”
Sources close to the investigation say the ethics committee did not find actual evidence to show that Rangel personally knew about the corporate funding. However, he is responsible for the knowledge and actions of his staff in the performance of their official duties.
“This is like deja vu,” says Patricia Douglas, a retired nurse of Jamaican origin living in Brooklyn. She remembers when it was the ‘beloved’ Adam Clayton Powell who was disgraced and removed from the Congress because of tax issues he faced with regards to property he held in the Bahamas.
“Charlie won Adam Powell’s seat in Harlem and replaced him in CongressÉnow forty years later, we’re seeing the same thing happen to him.” Shaking her head, she added, “History sure has a way of repeating itself.” This certainly presents an election year dilemma for Democrats.
Further, the ethics committee rips its former counsel Dawn Kelly Mobley as being responsible for providing confidential information to employees at Carib News about the probe. According to an elected official who requested anonymity, “Charlie and the Rodneys are very close. They should have been more careful, he of all people should know the climate we are operating in.” Interestingly, the committee claims that, Carib News “submitted false and misleading information” to them before it approved the trips and as a result the ethics committee has made a criminal recommendation to the Justice Department against, Karl Rodney, Faye Rodney and Patricia Louis of Carib News.
Many in the Caribbean community are outraged and others are curious as to how this investigation will all play out in a year when the Democrats are doing everything in their power to hold on to every seat they have in the House. Jeff Adams, a Jamaican businessman and political activists confided that “the entire investigation to be based on race politics.” He cautiously stated that, “This is a very crucial year for the Democrats, make no mistake, the Republicans are pressuring Speaker Pelosi to remove Rep. Rangel. He is a very powerful man in the Congress and the Republicans don’t like that one bit. They will do anything to disgrace him and remove his chairmanship.” But it’s not only Republicans who want Rangel out; there are Democrats who have also come out against him. This is a no win situation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who finds herself facing some very difficult challenges.
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