Rangel Speaks As CBC Pays Tribute To Tubbs Jones

DENVER- It may not have been primetime, but Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) took his turn at the podium Tuesday afternoon at the Democratic National Convention.

An ardent supporter of fellow New Yorker Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, some felt Rangel’s outspoken support of Clinton cost him a primetime speaking slot.

Rangel delivered his remarks at approximately 4:15 pm Mountain Time to a half-empty arena, as part of a tribute to the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones by the Congressional Black Caucus.

A gracious Rangel predicted that an Obama victory in November would “change the course of this great nation” and said point blank; “thank you Barack Obama.”

After Rangel, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) honored Tubbs-Jones by leading the crowd in a chant of “never again” in reference to civil rights abuses against African-Americans.

Finally, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi led a moment of silence in Tubbs Jones’ memory, before a video tribute to prominent Democrats who passed away over the last four years.