Rangel Defiant, Dares House to Expel Him
Ethics-embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) delivered a defense today on the House floor that was both fiery and weary all at once.
AP
Rangel concluded his speech with one last plea to the ethics committee.
Jill Jackson is a CBS News Capitol Hill Producer. You can read more of her posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow her on Twitter.
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. He dared members to expel him, he bemoaned the more than $2 million accrued on lawyer bills and told members he's not about to leave on his own accord.
But mostly, he told members of the ethics committee to get on with it.
"I didn't want say anything because I didn't want to offend and don't want to offend the ethics committee," Rangel said. "But the ethics committee won't even tell me when I'm going to have a hearing. Heck people are concerned about me. I'm 80-years-old I don't want to die before the hearing."
Rangel defended himself against 13 ethics charges against him by saying that maybe he acted negligently, maybe even stupidly, but that there is no evidence of any corruption or financial gain.
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As to whether there was at least some personal benefit to having a center built at New York City College in his name, Rangel invited everyone to look at it on his website. It's a "broken down building that you have to run away from if someone is going to put your name on it, but it's still there" Rangel said.
Rangel also took swipes at the handful of Democrats who've asked him to resign.
"If it's the judgment of people here for whatever reason that I resign, have the ethics committee expedite this, don't leave me hanging in the wind until November," Rangel pleaded. But he then shifted to defiance.
"Hey, if I was you I may want me to go away too. I am not going away," he added as members of the Congressional Black Caucus sitting in the front row of the House chamber applauded.
Rangel told members that he's not going to resign just to make them "feel comfortable," but he did apologize for any embarrassment that he's caused.
AP
"Maybe just maybe the members of the ethics committee might think about telling me when they think they might have a hearing so that whatever they decide I can let my constituents, my family, my friends know, that I did the best I could as an American as a patriot and someone that loves this country," he said.
House members had a mixed reaction to the speech.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said he understands why Rangel felt the need to say something publicly.
"Fees add up and the mental anguish adds up," Cummings said. "I think he reached a level of total frustration and he had to say something."
Others were more confused by the diatribe.
"I'm still processing," said Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) right after. "I'm still trying to figure out exactly what it's about."
Himes said he initially thought Rangel was announcing his resignation.
When asked if he thought Rangel should resign, Himes said he's not in the business of telling Rangel what to do, but said: "If I were in his position I think I would. I just wouldn't want to be dragged through I would want to both preserve my own sense of dignity as well as do what I could to take some of the pressure off in advance of November."
Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio), who's facing a challenging reelection campaign, already called for his resignation in a statement. When asked if his speech changed her feelings about Rangel, Sutton said nothing changed her mind.
"My statement is what my statement was," she said.
Members, including Rangel, will now head home to their districts until mid-September, when Rangel's primary will be over and the ethics trial will likely begin.
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Now the media is reporting that the Dems are "cringing" as Rangel rants, and that many Dems are "embarassed" by him and his clinging-on.
HA HA HA
It is poetic justice to see the Dems finally embarrassed by a politician that us members of the GOP, as Americans, have been embarassed by for DECADES!!
Glad you finally woke up, liberals.
by the time his problems are cleared up,
they are going to look thoroughly corrupt and useless!
Either start the proceedings against him, or drop it,
but stop wasting time and taking no positive forward action on it!
By the time it's over, any good he may have done over the years
and been remembered for, simply won't matter any more,
and he'll be recalled as a crooked, long-term politician!
Did you notice that the people have been strongly AGAINST every major initiative by the current congress and president? Did you notice that the current Democratically led congress has an 11% approval rating??
Is that what you refer to taking it back from the people? I think the people are taking the government back for themselves, not for some political party to score points with.
In case your not watching - it isn't republican vs. democrat in these primaries - it is anger and the entire political class who feel entitled, empowered and superior to the very people who elect them. A recent poll noted that 65% of the "political" class thing the country is going in the right direction and almost 70% of the people think it is going in the wrong direction.
That is who we are angry at. If you choose to follow on party religiously - you are being used to enable the political class to continue to ignore the people and do as they wish regardless of the welfare of the nation.
Wake up - party affiliations are just ways to get you to ignore the whole disaster that is Washington. They want you to say it's the "other guys" who screwed up when in fact it is BOTH and BOTH have no interest in your, mine or anybody else's welfare but their own.
Time for them and the Chicago street organizer to go. We need integrity in Washington.
or will they continue to be fooled and keep electing these elderly people that should be in a retirement home not making outdated policy for the rest of us. Give all over 60 incumbents the boot!!!
Steven, Rangel, Byrd, etc the list is long and sickening and it's time to sweep the house and senate floors clean.
This goofball has the nerve to stand there and admit negligence, and stupidity and then say he isn't stepping down without a fight - that it the height of arrogance and he needs to be thrown out with trash.