Marathon Pundit: Boehner on GOP call for removing Rangel as Ways & Means chief

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Boehner on GOP call for removing Rangel as Ways & Means chief

Here is what Rep. John Boehner is talking about, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:

Among other issues, Mr. Rangel is currently under investigation regarding his use of four rent-stabilized apartments at New York City's tony Lenox Terrace and soliciting donations with his official letterhead for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York, which was itself built with a $1.9 million earmark. Yet another part of the probe is his failure to report $75,000 in income from a rental villa at the beachfront Punta Cana Yacht Club, in the Dominican Republic.

From a Boehner press release:

WASHINGTON, DC – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement after Rep. John Carter (R-TX) announced his intention to offer a privileged resolution next week to force a vote on removing Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) as Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee, pending completion of the Ethics Committee investigation that is now in its second year:

Working families across America are struggling in today’s economy, and they need to have confidence that the individual in charge of the House’s tax-writing panel is following the laws the committee is charged with crafting and overseeing. It is improper for Rep. Rangel to remain in a position with such vast power and influence while serious questions about his official conduct continue to multiply and go unanswered. Several weeks ago I wrote a letter to Rep. Rangel asking him to step aside while the Ethics Committee conducts its investigation. He has not done so, and his fellow Democrats have voted to protect him every step of the way.

When Democrats took the majority, Speaker Pelosi promised the most "open and ethical" Congress in history. Given the nature and severity of the charges against Rep. Rangel, I would urge all my colleagues, Democrat and Republican, to do the right thing and support the Carter resolution next week.