[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 805 Referred to Committee House (RTH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 805
Raising a question of the privileges of the House.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 7, 2009
Mr. Carter submitted the following resolution
October 7, 2009
By motion of the House, referred to the Committee on Standards of
Official Conduct
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Raising a question of the privileges of the House.
Whereas the gentleman from New York, Charles B. Rangel, the fourth most senior
Member of the House of Representatives, serves as chairman of the House
Ways and Means Committee, a position of considerable power and influence
within the House of Representatives;
Whereas clause one of rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives
provides, ``A Member, Delegate, Resident Commission, officer, or
employee of the House shall conduct himself at all times in a manner
that shall reflect creditably on the House.'';
Whereas The New York Times reported on September 5, 2008, that, ``Representative
Charles B. Rangel has earned more than $75,000 in rental income from a
villa he has owned in the Dominican Republic since 1988, but never
reported it on his federal or state tax returns, according to a lawyer
for the congressman and documents from the resort.'';
Whereas in an article in the September 5, 2008, edition of The New York Times,
his attorney confirmed that Representative Rangel's annual congressional
Financial Disclosure statements failed to disclose the rental income
from his resort villa;
Whereas The New York Times reported on September 6, 2008, that, ``Representative
Charles B. Rangel paid no interest for more than a decade on a mortgage
extended to him to buy a villa at a beachfront resort in the Dominican
Republic, according to Mr. Rangel's lawyer and records from the resort.
The loan, which was extended to Mr. Rangel in 1988, was originally to be
paid back over seven years at a rate of 10.5 percent. But within two
years, interest on the loan was waived for Mr. Rangel.'';
Whereas clause 5(a)(2)(A) of House Rule 25 defines a gift as, ``. . . a
gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan,
forbearance, or other item having monetary value'' and prohibits the
acceptance of such gifts except in limited circumstances;
Whereas Representative Rangel's acceptance of thousands of dollars in interest
forgiveness is a violation of the House gift ban;
Whereas Representative Rangel's failure to disclose the aforementioned gifts and
income on his Personal Financial Disclosure Statements violates House
rules and federal law;
Whereas Representative Rangel's failure to report the aforementioned gifts and
income on federal, state and local tax returns is a violation of the tax
laws of those jurisdictions;
Whereas the Committee on Ways and Means, which Representative Rangel chairs, has
jurisdiction over the United States Tax Code;
Whereas the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct first announced on
July 31, 2008, that it was reviewing allegations of misconduct by
Representative Rangel;
Whereas Roll Call newspaper reported on September 15, 2008, that, ``The
inconsistent reports are among myriad errors, discrepancies and
unexplained entries on Rangel's personal disclosure forms over the past
eight years that make it almost impossible to get a clear picture of the
Ways and Means chairman's financial dealings.'';
Whereas the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct announced on
September 24, 2008, that it had established an investigative
subcommittee in the matter of Representative Rangel;
Whereas after the Ethics Committee probe was underway, The New York Times
reported on November 24, 2008, that, ``Congressional records and
interviews show that Mr. Rangel was instrumental in preserving a
lucrative tax loophole that benefitted Nabors Industries, an oil
drilling company last year, while at the same time its chief executive
was pledging $1 million to the Charles B. Rangel School of Public
Service at C.C.N.Y.'';
Whereas the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct announced on
December 9, 2008, that it had expanded the jurisdiction of the
aforementioned investigative subcommittee to examine the allegations
related to Representative Rangel's involvement with Nabors Industries;
Whereas since then, further serious allegations of improper and potentially
illegal conduct by Representative Rangel have surfaced;
Whereas during the recently completed August district work period,
Representative Rangel acknowledged his failure to publicly disclose at
least half a million dollars in cash assets, tens of thousands of
dollars in investment income, and his ownership of two pieces of
property in New Jersey;
Whereas corrected financial disclosure statements filed by Representative Rangel
on August 12, 2009, now reveal his net worth to be nearly twice as much
as he had previously revealed;
Whereas The New York Times newspaper reported on August 26, 2009, that, ``United
States Representative Charles B. Rangel, whose personal finances and
fund raising are the subject of two House ethics investigations, failed
to report at least $500,000 in assets on his 2007 Congressional
disclosure form, according to an amended report he filed this month.
Among the dozen newly disclosed holdings revealed in the amended forms
are a checking account at a federal credit union with a balance between
$250,000 and $500,000; three vacant lots in Glassboro, N.J., valued at a
total of $1,000 to $15,000; and stock in PepsiCo worth between $15,000
and $50,000.'';
Whereas Roll Call newspaper reported on August 25, 2009, that Representative
Rangel's corrected filings also revealed ``at least $250,001 in a fund
called ML Allianz Global Investors Consults Diversified Port III.'';
Whereas the aforementioned Roll Call story reported that ``Rangel also
originally misreported that his investments in 2007 netted him $6,511-
$17,950 in dividends, capital gains and rental income. In his revised
filing, that range jumped to between $29,220 and $81,200.'';
Whereas these most recent revelations by Representative Rangel have resulted in
heightened national news media coverage of alleged impropriety and
potentially criminal conduct by one of the most senior Members of the
House;
Whereas an editorial in The Washington Times newspaper on September 1, 2009,
noted, ``Charlie Rangel is one lucky guy. The Democratic congressman
from Harlem, N.Y., just discovered that his net wealth is twice what he
thought. That's a pretty good day at the office for a public servant.
Mr. Rangel also realized that he made tens of thousands of dollars more
than he reported in many different years over the past decade. This is
the most recent string in a series of financial bonanzas for Mr. Rangel,
who last year admitted he had forgotten about $75,000 in rental income
on his Caribbean resort property.'';
Whereas the same editorial also noted, ``The congressman has failed to pay
property taxes on two lots in New Jersey, according to the New York
Post. That's not all. In order to avoid taxes and get lower mortgage
rates, Mr. Rangel simultaneously claimed three `primary residences'.'';
Whereas an editorial in the September 17, 2009, edition of the New Haven
Register stated, ``The ethics and tax complaints keep piling up against
U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel, who as chairman of the House Ways and Means
Committee controls writing of the nation's tax laws. The New York
Democrat may write those laws, but he apparently feels no obligation to
obey them. The investigation appears to have a long way to go. The man
who is in charge of writing the nation's tax laws doesn't pay his
federal income or local property taxes. He has such a poor grasp of his
own finances that he neglects to list half his assets on a disclosure
form intended to keep members of Congress accountable and honest. We can
already hear the defense of the next tax deadbeat called into court. If
Charlie Rangel doesn't have to pay his taxes, why should I?'';
Whereas an article in The Washington Post on September 15, 2009, stated,
``Rangel is now the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and a
man of immense importance in Washington. Nonetheless, he has been busy
of late revising and amending the record, backing and filling, using
buckets of Wite-Out as he discovers or remembers properties he has owned
in New York, New Jersey, Florida, the Dominican Republic and God only
knows where else. Rangel recently even discovered bank accounts that no
one in the world, apparently including him, knew he had. One was with
the Congressional Federal Credit Union; another was with Merrill Lynch--
each valued between $250,000 and $500,000. He somehow neglected to
mention these accounts on his congressional disclosure forms, which
means, if you can believe it, that when he signed the forms, he did not
notice that maybe $1 million was missing. Someone ought to check the
lighting in his office.'';
Whereas the same article in The Washington Post stated, ``There is something
wrong with Charlie Rangel. Either he did not notice that he was worth
about twice as much as he said he was--which is downright worrisome in a
congressional leader--or he thinks he's above the law, which is
downright worrisome in a congressional leader.'';
Whereas it has been more than one year since an editorial in The New York Times
on September 15, 2008, stated, ``Mounting embarrassment for taxpayers
and Congress makes it imperative that Representative Charles Rangel step
aside as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee while his ethical
problems are investigated.'';
Whereas at various times during the past twelve months Representative Rangel and
Speaker Pelosi have made public statements asserting that the ongoing
investigation of Representative Rangel by the Committee on Standards of
Official Conduct would soon be concluded;
Whereas the Committee has to date issued no public statements concerning any
expected time line for conducting or concluding its investigation of
Representative Rangel;
Whereas major daily newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington
Post, and The New York Post have called for Representative Rangel's
removal from his powerful position at least until the House Ethics
Committee has completed its ongoing probes of allegations against him;
Whereas Representative Rangel's powerful position as chairman permits him to
participate in high level decisions about critically important issues
such as reform of the Nation's health care system;
Whereas an October 1, 2009, story in The New York Times stated, ``Mr. Rangel is
one of a small group of House leaders now meeting almost daily behind
closed doors with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to distill from the three bills
produced in separate committees the one package that will go to the
House floor.'';
Whereas an Associated Press story on September 20, 2009, stated, ``The ethics
committee's investigation of Rangel is almost a year old. It's as much a
problem for House Democratic leaders as for Rangel himself. Later this
year, when Rangel's committee considers estate tax legislation that
could expand into other matters, the headlines will be a version of this
message: `Tax scofflaw presiding over tax changes.''';
Whereas the New York Post newspaper reported on September 2, 2009, that, ``A
review of property records for the borough of Glassboro revealed at
least six tax liens levied against Rangel's property during the past 16
years. Just last year, two separate liens were levied against both
properties owned by Rangel.'';
Whereas, on May 24, 2006, then Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi cited ``high ethical
standards'' in a letter to former Representative William Jefferson
asking that he resign his seat on the Committee on Ways and Means in
light of ongoing investigations into alleged financial impropriety by
Representative Jefferson;
Whereas Speaker Pelosi took the aforementioned action while Representative
Jefferson was under investigation and the subject of considerable
controversy in the news media, but prior to any indictment;
Whereas in April of 2007, Republican Leader John Boehner successfully urged
several Republican Members to relinquish their committee assignments
after learning that each had become the subject of investigations into
possible criminal activity;
Whereas Leader Boehner took the aforementioned actions while the Members in
question were under investigation and the subjects of widespread media
controversy, but prior to any indictments; and
Whereas in the wake of the most recent allegations against Representative Rangel
various editorials and articles in major national newspapers criticizing
Speaker Pelosi's continued refusal to remove Representative Rangel as
chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means after promising she would
preside over ``the most ethical Congress in history'' have held the
House up to public ridicule: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution and pending
completion of the investigation into his affairs by the Committee on
Standards of Official Conduct, Representative Rangel is hereby removed
as chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means.
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