Tags : charles rangel, controversies, corruption, gop, house of representatives, New York, NYC, scandals
GOP To Force Vote On Whether To Remove Rangel As Committee Chair
House Republicans on Wednesday introduce a measure calling for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) to step down as the nation’s top tax-law writer. Democrats are expected to easily block the measure just as they have done so in previous efforts to sanction Rangel during the more than one year that he has been embroiled in tax and ethics controversies.
House Republican Conference Secretary John Carter (R-TX) will offer a privileged resolution calling for Rangel to resign as chairman of the Ways and Means panel until an Ethics Committee probe, now on its 16th month, is concluded.
“To allow Mr. Rangel to continue to serve as Chairman of the very committee with IRS oversight, without paying a nickel in penalties, and with no end in sight to his ethics investigation, sends a clear message to the American public that this government refuses to abide by the same laws they impose on the working people of this country,” Carter said.
“With this vote, those people can see exactly where their representative stands on the issue of equality under the law,” he added.
Rangel has been facing calls to step down from his chairmanship since July last year, when Democrats successfully voted down a resolution from Republicans publicly censuring him for “dishonor[ing] himself and [bringing] discredit to the House.”
The House Ethics panel has been investigating his failure to report in tax returns more than $75,000 in income from a villa at the Punta Cana Yacht Club in the Dominican Republic, for allegedly using rent-controlled apartments for below-market rates, and inappropriately storing his car, a 1972 Mercedes Benz with an expired license plate, in the Congressional parking garage.
The 79-year-old congressman last year issued six checks worth $10,800 in total to the Internal Revenue Service and the state of New York to pay back taxes from his Dominican Republic villa. He also hired a forensic accountant after admitting to discovering more inaccuracies in his tax returns from as far back as decades ago.
In August, he amended his 2007 disclosure form to include a $250,000 account at the Congressional Federal Credit Union, a Merrill Lynch Allianz portfolio fund worth at least $250,000. He also declared that he owns land in New Jersey worth $3,000, and shares of PepsiCo and Yum! Brands, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Long John Silver’s.
The vote on Carter’s resolution comes nearly a year after the Democratic Caucus voted to keep Rangel as Ways and Means chairman. Several publications, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, have called for his resignation from the panel.
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