Rangel Fights House Censure

Charlie Rangel thinks the House is being just a little too harsh on him. The 80-year-old Democratic representative, who was found guilty of 11 ethics violations by a House panel, is fighting against the censure which the committee recommended as punishment. In a handy document to be passed around by his staff, “10 Reasons Why Charles B. Rangel Should Not Receive Censure,” the congressman argues that censure, in which a guilty House member is made to stand up in front of the entire assembly and receive a verbal rebuke from the speaker of the House, is too serious for the types of infractions he has been found guilty of. Instead, he wants a less serious reprimand to be issued—and the chance to address the full House beforehand.