Charles Rangel

Guide Note

Democrat Charlie Rangel represents New York's 15th Congressional District in the House and is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. (This committee is responsible for legislation concerning taxes and many social services, and its members are not allowed to serve in any other committees). Rangel's district, which includes Upper Manhattan and some of Queens, is the smallest, geographically, in the nation.¹

Fast Facts

1. Born: January 3, 1971
2. Birth place: New York City, New York
3. Representative from New York's 15th District
4. Wife: Alma Rangel
5. First African-American to chair the Ways and Means Committee
6. Fourth longest-serving Democrat in the House
7. Earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with Valor in the Korean War
8. Religion: Roman Catholic

Rangel dropped out of high school at age 16 and soon after joined the U.S. Army. He served as a Sergeant during the Korean War, from 1948 to 1952, in the all-black 503rd Field Artillery Battalion. After leaving the Army, he completed high school and then went on to study law at St. John's University. He worked for a time as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York.¹

Rangel served for four years in the New York State Assembly before being elected to the House in 1970, where he has worked ever since. In that time, he participated in the impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon, co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus, encouraged Hillary Rodham Clinton to run for the Senate in New York and has repeatedly fought for the reinstatement of the military draft.

Rangel has been arrested while taking part in a variety of protests, including an anti-apartheid rally in the 1980s and a March 15, 1999 incident at an event in memory of Amadou Diallo, a black man who was shot to death by four white police officers.²

Rangel's somewhat outspoken demeanor has caused controversy in recent years. His targets have ranged from Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, Vice President Dick Cheney (whom Rangel suggested could benefit from treatment for "mental defects") and presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, whom Rangel mocked in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.³

In January of 2008, Rangel apologized to Barack Obama for misquoting the candidate's discussion of the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Civil Rights Movement.⁴

On July 15, 2008 it was reported that Charles Rangel was allegedly soliciting up to $30 million in donations to fund his own academic center. Reports indicate that this type of fundraising exhibits the potential for companies and investors to feel coerced into donating money due to Rangel's position. The story comes on the heels of a report stating that Rangel rents four apartments and uses one as a campaign office, when the city of New York requires that rent-controlled apartments be used as a primary residence only.⁵