September 21, 2016 The Skanner Page 9
News
Rep. Charles Rangel Relects on Stellar Political Career
Longtime member of New York’s congressional delegation will retire at end of this Congressional year
By D. Kevin McNeir
The Washington
Informer, NNPA Member
C
harles B. Rangel,
the celebrated dean
of New York’s con-
gressional delega-
tion currently serving
as a member of the U.S.
House of Representa-
tives, has always been
one who stepped to the
front of the line on behalf
of his fellow Americans.
Now, the 86-year-old
attorney, a founding
member of the Congres-
sional Black Caucus, the
irst Black chair of the
highly-inluential House
Ways and Means Com-
mittee, the recipient of
both a Purple Heart and
Bronze Star for service
in the U.S. Army, and the
former New York State
Assembly member who
successfully
defeated
long-time
incumbent
Rep. Adam Clayton Pow-
ell, Jr. in his 1971 quest
for election to the House,
will retire from oice at
the end of the congres-
sional year.
But, have no fear – the
Harlem-born
stalwart
for “the least of these”
says he plans to continue
to serve his community,
his Democratic Party and
his fellow Americans.
However, his primary
focus will be enjoying
life with his wife, Alma,
and spending more time
with their children and
grandchildren.
“Ater 46 years in po-
litical oice, it’s going
to be strange when the
new Congress takes over
in January and I’m not
among the members,”
Rangel said.
“The emotional impact
hasn’t hit me yet. I’m
just grateful for enjoy-
ing a career that has giv-
en me the opportunity
to improve the lives of
working people, defend
veterans, contribute to
President Obama’s his-
toric health care legisla-
tion, and rehabilitate our
nation’s public schools,”
he said.
Looking at the upcom-
ing presidential election,
Rangel said he hopes his
fellow Democrats will
follow the example of
former President Frank-
lin Delano Roosevelt and
make a signiicant invest-
ment in education and
America’s
infrastruc-
ture while tackling ongo-
ing social problems and
issues related to world
“
remove the political cat-
aracts from my eyes,” he
said. “I now see my wife
and family in a much
clearer light. Fortunate-
ly, my wife and I are both
in good health, and so
we’ll be able to enjoy this
new phase in our lives.”
“A career in politics
tends to blind you from
so much because you
have to be so committed,
maintain so much ener-
‘We’ll have to wait and see what happens to the
Republican Party, but I think the party of Lin-
coln has become a coalition of very sick peo-
ple – Ku Klux Klan members, Dixiecrats and
those who hate immigrants and are opposed
to gay rights. And, they’re able to hide behind
Donald Trump whose rhetoric resonates with
a large number of uneducated whites’
trade.
“We’ll have to wait and
see what happens to the
Republican Party, but I
think the party of Lin-
coln has become a coali-
tion of very sick people –
Ku Klux Klan members,
Dixiecrats and those who
hate immigrants and are
opposed to gay rights.
And, they’re able to hide
behind Donald Trump
whose rhetoric resonates
with a large number of
uneducated whites,” Ran-
gel said.
As for family matters
and his retirement plans,
the wily New Yorker said
he and his wife are excit-
ed about the future.
“We have a very long
list of things we want to
do, and we’ll need to cut
it down. It will deinitely
include traveling, speak-
ing engagements from
time to time, and raising
funds for City College,”
said Rangel. He earned
high praise for his lead-
ership in persuading U.S.
investors to pull out of
apartheid-based South
Africa in 1986, and for
his founding of an inter-
national afairs program
in the State Department
in cooperation with
Howard University. As
of 2015, the program has
trained over 200 “Rangel
Fellows” for positions as
Foreign Service oicers
in U.S. embassies around
the world.
And, while he admits
that saying “goodbye”
won’t be easy, he wel-
comes the change.
“Just talking about re-
tirement has helped me
Make The Skanner
part of your daily routine
gy, and are
constantly
working to
succeed on
behalf
of
your con-
stituents. It
takes a lot
out of you.
Soon that
will be be-
hind me.”
Rangel
continued:
“I can’t wait
to simply
wake up ev-
ery day and
spend more
time with
my wife.”
Rep. Charles Rangel was a founding member of the
Congressional Black Caucus, the irst Black chair
of the highly-inluential House Ways and Means
Committee and the recipient of both a Purple
Heart and Bronze Star for service in the U.S. Army.