Latest Articles from Charles B. Rangel

Memphis-born �Red Tails� Airman buried with honors

2012-01-27T23:04:16Z

The following article was originally posted online at the Tri-State Defender Online on January 27, 2012:

By: Dorothy Bracy Alston

The last wish of 90-year-old Retired Lt. Col. Luke Weathers Jr. – a native Memphian and one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen pilots known as the Red Tails – was to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

“It took an act of Congress to make it happen,” Weathers’ daughter, Trina Weathers-Boyce, told The New Tri-State Defender.

On Friday, January 20, three months after his death (October 15), it happened. Lt. Col. Weathers was buried with full military honors, including an F-16 Fighting Falcon flyover.

Through the tireless and continual mounds of government red tape, and completing some 90 documents, Weathers-Boyce said, “We made it happen. He deserved to be there, as well as any other militant. This would give him full military status.”

The U.S. Military’s Exceptions for Burial is a long and tedious process, said Weathers-Boyce.

“They don’t have any more burial ground, due to the large number of Iraqi war veterans. As a result, it was cremation instead of burial. So we went to Congressional Rep. Steve Cohen for help. Now, we finally have some closure.”

Lt. Col. Weathers was one of the original pilots of the all-black Tuskegee Airmen’s 332nd Fighter Group (1942-1945), the squadron featured in the movie ‘Red Tails,’ which began playing nationwide last Friday, the day Lt. Weathers was buried. The pilots painted the tails of their P-47 Thunderbolts red to identify each other. In honor of his hometown, Lt. Col. Weathers named his plane “The Spirit of Beale Street.”

Lt. Col. Weathers’ roots are deeply embedded in fighting for racial equality. He not only tore down racial walls in the U.S. Army, but back home, as well, where he was the first black air traffic controller in Memphis.

Along with some 1000 fighter pilots, he fought for the right to fight in a war where you were considered “stupid,” or “lacksidasical,” reported Retired Lt. Col Herbert Carter. They returned home to find that as African-American men they still had to fight for the right to be recognized as men.

“Even the Nazis asked why African-American men would fight for a country that treated them so unfairly,” said President George W. Bush in March 2007, the day the Congressional Medal of Honor was awarded to Tuskegee Airmen, including Lt. Col. Weathers.

The success of the six-decade effort to get the prestigious award for Lt. Col. Weathers and the other surviving Tuskegee Airmen largely is attributable largely to the legislative efforts of New York Rep. Charles Rangel.

“The Congressional Gold Medal is a tribute to their victories over there and their suffering over here,” said Rangel at the time.

Historical records document that there were about 1,000 black fighter pilots in the group. During the war, they flew more than 16,000 times, won more than 900 medals, and not one of the bombers they were protecting was ever shot down.

The U.S. Air Force’s website acknowledges that Lt. Col. Weathers was a decorated pilot. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroic actions after he shot down two German planes in November 1944.

Dr. Sheila Chamberlain, a retired pilot and a cousin of Lt. Col. Weathers, made it her mission to contact the media about Weathers’ funeral honors, and the corresponding national premiere of the movie, “Red Tails.”

“This movie has been in the making since 1983. There is so much more that needs to be and should have been told,” she said.

“Lieutenant Weathers and so many other Tuskegee Airmen collaborated on this film. The public needs to know that not all of the Tuskegee Airmen were pilots; some had other jobs other than pilots. There is a difference in the Tuskegee Airmen and the Red Tails. The film is a tribute to the pilots, known as the Red Tails,” said Chamberlain.

“Luke said he would be there,” said Chamberlain, speaking of the movie’s premier.

He got his wish by way of the funeral occurring simultaneously with the movie’s national debut.

After the ceremony (January 20) for Lt. Col. Weathers, about 100 members of his family attended a private showing of the movie at AMC Georgetown, in Washington, D.C.

Behind the Curtain; The Black Congressional Caucus and �Out on the Hill� sponsored by the National Black Justice Coalition

2011-10-13T19:53:31Z

The following article was originally posted online at the Harlem World Blog on October 1, 2011:

By: Todd Roulette, constituent of the 15th District of New York

In a reception room packed with politicos, constituents from Harlem, lobbyists no doubt and press, an important national African-American thing occurred. The highest ranking and longest political survivalist African-American in American Congressional history had his official portrait unveiled at the Longworth building in Washington D.C. Chairman of the powerhouse Ways and Means committee, Charlie Rangel, despite his public censure in 2010, Rangel has survived to this moment. Something his predecessor did not, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. who Rangel unseated in 1970. There is no official portrait of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. despite his brilliant and agitating career on behalf of all negroes in the U.S Powell was the lone Congressional negro insider voice for Civil Rights in the halls of the national capitol during one of our most modern day social justice eras of the riotous 1960’s. A period where the KKK and national regional governments across the U.S. openly sought to keep Negroes segregated and disenfranchised. Rangel unseated Powell.

September 20-25th, 2011 was Black Congressional Caucus week in D.C. and 2nd annual “Out on the Hill” sponsored by National Black Justice Coalition, a national black LGBT advocacy group whose panels, lobbying and social networking opportunities were designed to intersect with their straight black brothers and sisters. I attended both.

Stephanie Baez, Legislative Correspondent/Press Assistant in Rangel’s office was incredibly accommodating to this unknown constituent by getting me on the White House self-guided tour Thursday morning, 9 AM. After the tour I was off to Rangel’s office to thank her. The halls of the East Side of the White House, the only ones a visitor can tour were lined were photos of President Obama and family and all of his most recent predecessors. Dishes and furnishings chosen by the first ladies over the decades and centuries, the untouched Rose Garden where the Americas Jobs Act was recently announced. Two large (larger than a coffee table) sculptures by John Remington of Native Americans killing buffalo and Cowboys galloping on horses to stake a claim to God knows where. I waited patiently outside the doors as black men moved large leather chairs into the reception room where those closest to Rangel would be seated for the presentation.

“My life is a story that anyone can make it, from high school dropout to…chairman of this great committee,” said Charlie Rangel, on Thursday September 23rd. to a packed room of over 300 persons. The opening remarks were kicked off by none other than Tea Party dogged House Majority leader, John Boehner (R-Ohio) followed by Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) Alma Rangel, Charlie’s wife unveiled the portrait, which was painted by African-American artist, Simmi Knox.

Knox also painted the official portrait of Nancy Pelosi, President Clinton, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Colin Powell and other heavy weights of the national scene.

Ms. Baez in the office even gave my many nieces and nephews official Senate passes with Rangel’s signature stamped at the bottom. The buzz among groups I talked with in the general Congressional Black Caucus and the National Black Justice Coalition attendees was, Rangel may be retiring. Hmmm, well even more reason for my nieces and nephews (the youngest being 2 years old) to treasure their keepsakes of this modern-day African-American political reformer. As Boehner said in his remarks at the unveiling if you live in Harlem and in one of the 30,000 units of rent-controlled housing today-you have Charlie to thank for it.

Tod Roulette’s Masters thesis is being rewritten as a book and examines four generations of female members of his Mid West family 1795-1908, “Rowing, Not Drifting-Bryant Women in Kansas, 1795-1908: The Expansion of the West and the Participation by Women of Color”.

Congress: Apple Founder Steve Jobs Changed our Lives

2011-10-07T16:00:02Z

The following article was originally published in The Hill on October 6, 2011.

BY: Peter Sullivan

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle honored Apple founder Steve Jobs Thursday morning after learning the news of his death Wednesday night, many emphasizing Jobs’s impact on their own lives.

Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) both celebrated the iPad, one of Apple’s more recent products.

Wasserman Schultz tweeted, "#SteveJobs helped me better balance work & family. FaceTime w/ my kids on my iPad from anywhere, even 35K ft. #bestgiftforworkingmom. RIP.”

Rangel wrote, "The iPad has opened a whole new world for me at age 81.”

According to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Jobs “brought joy to millions.” She tweeted shortly after the news broke Wednesday night: "Steve Jobs was a visionary, a risktaker, an entrepreneur, and a creative genius who brought joy to millions."

One of several White House tweets following up on President Obama's press release noting Jobs's death raised a common theme of Jobs as a bold, quintessentially American risk-taker. Obama called Jobs "brave," "bold," and "talented."

Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.), who represents Silicon Valley, pointed to risk-taking by invoking another American, tweeting, "In #SteveJobs, we lost a titan of innovation. He embodied the spirit of Silicon Valley. Our region will miss ‘the Thomas Edison of our time.’"

Jobs “changed the world,” wrote Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.).   

"Steve Jobs turned a vision of the future into reality for millions. He was an icon of American innovation. #SteveJobsLegacy," tweeted House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

 A more philosophical take came from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who reflected in a tweet on Jobs's impact on humanity: "Jobs' life is a testament to the value of the individual, living in freedom, seeking to improve the human condition."

Jobs died at age 56 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He had stepped down as head of Apple in August.

Foster Children with Incarcerated Parents a Murky Subject for States, Report Finds

2011-09-29T15:05:34Z

The following article was originally published on Youth Today on September 28, 2011.

By: JOHN KELLY

States child welfare agencies are resistant to pursuing reunification with parents – 30,000 or more – who are incarcerated while their child is in foster care, according to a report issued by the Government Accountability Office this week. The study was requested by U.S. Reps. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), both members of the House Ways and Means Committee.

At the same time, the main federal instrument for measuring the performance of child welfare agencies – Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), is limited in its ability to depict an accurate number on how many foster children have a parent behind bars.

AFCARS only reveals cases in which a child was removed “at least partly due to the incarceration of a parent”; it does not capture any child removed from a parent well after the other parent was locked up, or cases in which the parent was incarcerated after a child was removed from the home.

Of the 420,971 open foster care cases in 2009, AFCARS figures show 30,038 cases (7 percent) in which the child’s removal was in part or entirely based on the incarceration of a parent.

But estimates from two federal surveys of inmates suggest that the AFCARS figure might capture most of the total. A 2004 survey of federal and state prison inmates found an estimated 19,300 inmates who had at least one child in state care. A 2002 federal survey identified in the GAO report, this one of adults in jail, found 12,000 with children in foster care.

Combined, the jail and prison survey estimates are in line with the 30,038 AFCARS figure from 2009.

The 2004 federal and state prison survey found 13,700 men and 5,600 women who had a child in foster care. Based on a 2007 estimate that there were 809,800 parents in prison, that means 9 percent of female parent inmates had a child in foster care compared with 2 percent of male parent inmates.

The report authors also studied state legislation related to incarceration as a factor in the termination of parental rights. Most states had some legislation that enabled its child welfare agency to use incarceration as a determining factor for termination, and a number of the states allowed the system to forgo reasonable efforts at reunification with a parent who was incarcerated.

Nebraska was the only one of the 10 states studied where “a petition to terminate parental rights shall not be filed on behalf of the state if the sole factual basis is that the parent or parents are incarcerated.”

GAO’s recommendations include the idea that states always include incarceration status in a youth’s AFCARS information, not just when it is a factor in removal, and that the incarceration information get updated periodically throughout a youth’s stay in foster care.

The Administration for Children and Families, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently solicited comments on how to redesign its Child and Family Services Review process, which could include changes to what AFCARS measures and how often it measures those entries.

According to GAO, “Officials [have] not yet determined whether the new proposed rule would include the same requirements on gathering additional information on a caretaker’s incarceration at multiple times throughout the foster care case as had been included in the 2008 proposal. Officials also said that they did not know when a final set of reporting requirements would be issued.”

The total number of children under 18 with a parent in prison rose to 1.7 million by 2007, a 20 percent increase from 1997 and nearly double the number in 1991.

U.S. lawmaker: Palestinians must return to peace talks or suffer possible divestment

2011-09-27T15:01:40Z

The following article was originally published on Hareetz.com on September 26, 2011.

By: NATASHA MOZGOVAYA

A U.S. Congressmen said Monday that the Palestinians should think twice about their bid to gain recognition at the United Nations, urging the Palestinian Authority to "reverse course" and get back to the negotiation table.

Speaking at a gathering of Congressmen and leaders of Jewish organizations outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, Rep. Gary Ackerman, member of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, stressed that "There may need to be a total cutoff of all aid to the Palestinians for pursuing this course of action which is very dangerous and ill advised."

"If they’re willing to consider putting their future in the hands of the United Nations, perhaps they should think about how much aid their friends at the United Nations will provide to accompany whatever meaningless, one-sided UN resolution they might pass," said Ackerman.

"They should think twice, reverse course and get back to the negotiating table where Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu awaits them,” he concluded.

Congresswoman Nita Lowey called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' actions a counter-productive publicity stunt, saying he is not interested in peace. "They [the Palestinians] have not been forced into this position, and the circumstances are not beyond their control. They have chosen to discontinue negotiations with Israel and pursue a counter-productive publicity stunt." she said.

"Abu Mazen’s [Abbas] speech made clear he’s not interested in peace. Peacemakers are not obstinate, cynical, incendiary, and inflammatory. Peacemakers take constructive – not destructive – actions toward the goal of peace."

Lowey suggested Abbas' actions warrant a strong U.S. response. "His action cross a line and should lead to a reevaluation of U.S. assistance for the Palestinian Authority," she said.

U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. Administration is still waiting for the Palestinians' "official response", despite comments made by members of the Palestinian delegation that suggest the Quartet's proposal does not meet their demands.

In a statement on Friday, the Quartet - the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia - said it wanted to see comprehensive proposals within three months on territory and security, and substantial progress within six months, with a goal of a deal by the end of 2012.

The statement followed a day of high-stakes diplomacy over the Middle East which saw Abbas submit a formal application to the UN Security Council for recognition of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki rejected on Saturday the Quartet's proposal to renew peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking to a Palestinian radio station, al-Malki said that the Quartet's proposal does not call for a settlement freeze and an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines, and therefore isn't sufficient.

Other U.S. Congressmen expressed disappointment with the Palestinian president. Bob Turner, who won the recent special elections for the Congress at NY-9 district, said that the Palestinian Authority "continues to pay - with U.S. dollars - terrorists in Israeli prisons convicted of murdering Israeli civilians, and it has done nothing to stop the incessant shelling of Israeli towns. If the United Nations truly wants to stand up against terrorism, it has a moral obligation to deny this request.”

Charlie Rangel, Maxine Waters and more praise Obama's rallying of troops at Black Caucus

2011-09-27T14:32:53Z

The following article was originally published in New York Daily News on September 26, 2011.

By: ALISON GENDAR

President Obama was only rallying the troops, not picking on the Congressional Black Caucus when he told a recent audience to "stop complaining. stop crying," said New York's Rep. Charles Rangel.

"We're not crying - we're fighting. Fighting to protect the people who are hurting, who need jobs," Rangel said today.

Obama ran through his administration's wins and how they had helped African-Americans during a weekend speech at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Phoenix awards.

But he ended with a blunt message.

"I expect all of you to march with me and press on. Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. Shake it off. Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. We are going to press on. We've got work to do, CBC," Obama told Saturday's crowd at the Washington Convention Center.

"I didn't think he was lecturing the CBC, (Congressional Black Caucus) He's not in a position to lecture to members of his own party," Rangel (D-Harlem) told the Daily News.

Some Obama supporters argued the president's comments were aimed squarely at critics within the Congressional Black Caucus, many of whom supported Hilary Clinton in 2008.

"The feeling is some of their criticism of Obama is really "I told you so," a Congressional staffer said.

Rangel, who backed Hillary Clinton in the primary, said that was a misread.

"I don't know where that Hillary Clinton stuff comes from," Rangel said.

"I don't know what his purpose was in telling people to stop crying. It certainly was not persuasive to me. People are entitled to cry when they lose their job," he said.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who attended the speech, said the message was directed at those in the audience who might be comparing Obama "to the Almighty, instead of the alternative."

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) today told CBS' "The Early Show" that she was surprised by the president's choice of words.

"I don't know who he was talking to, because we're certainly not complaining," Waters said.

"Some of his words were not, I think, appropriate and surprised me a little bit. I was curious about him. But he certainly heard us," she said.

Waters said she and others hosted job fairs to make sure the economic pain in the black community was acknowledged.

"When we had these jobs fairs, they stood in line by the thousands, circling the blocks, to get a chance to talk to employers. In Los Angeles, 10,000 people showed up," she said.

The jobless rate for African-Americans is at 16.7% compared to the national rate of 9.1%.

A recent Washington Post-ABC News showed Obama's "strongly favorable" ratings among African-Americans dropped to 58 percent, down from 83 percent five months ago.

Redemption For Rangel With Unveiling Of Official Portrait

2011-09-23T18:31:45Z

The following article was originally published in NewsOne on September 23, 2011:

Written by Bobby Marvin

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) was honored with the unveiling of his official portrait commemorating his tenure as the 62nd Chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means committee.

A small bi-partisan group of congressional lawmakers including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, House Speaker (D-MD), John Boehner (R-OH) and Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) were on hand to congratulate Rangel, who made history when he became the first African-American appointed chair of the committee in 2007.

Rangel made history again in 2010 when he stepped down from the Ways & Means chairmanship amid ethics allegations. Rangel was later censured for ethics violations by his congressional peers.

Yesterday, however, Rangel’s comrades focused on the positive.

“You are the one who is a champion for those who need it most,” said New York’s Democratic junior Senator Katherine Gillibrand.

Rangel was the first New Yorker in 140 years to Chair the powerful Ways and Means committee, which oversees federal funding for Social Security, trade, Medicare, Medicaid, and unemployment benefits. Rangel currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Ways and Means Committee. He is also a founding member and former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“My life is a story that [says] anyone can make it, from a high school drop-out [to being] the chair of this committee,” said Rangel during a speech after the unveiling.

Hundreds traveled on coach buses from the congressman’s district in New York’s to see the ceremony. L. Ann Rocker, a community activist from Harlem, said she voted for Rangel when he first ran against and defeated Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in 1970.

“I was really pleased to see such a magnificent portrait of our esteemed congressman who has really worked for 40 years, not just for Harlem but for America,” said Rocker.

Following the ceremony, Rangel hugged and shook hands with constituents as he made his way around the Ways and Means Committee room. Right behind him was his wife Alma, who did the honors of drawing back the curtain to reveal the painting of her husband.

“He worked very hard over the years, he’s been a good congressman,” said Alma Rangel. “The portrait is an example of his dedication to public service.”

The unveiling coincided with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference taking place this weekend in Washington, D.C.

�Stop The Violence� Message Pervades African American Day Parade

2011-09-19T23:39:41Z

The following article was originally published in NewsOne on September 19, 2011:

Written by Gerren Keith Gaynor

HARLEM — New York public leaders, community organizations and residents gathered Sunday to celebrate the 42nd annual African American Day Parade in Harlem. One focal point of the march was to attenuate the looming violence in neighboring and citywide communities.

The march took place on Adam Clayton Powell Blvd., extending from 111th St. to 135th St., summoning New York dignitaries such as Rev. Al Sharpton, U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel, New York Police Department Commissioner Kelly Raymond, city council members Robert Jackson, Inez Dickens, and assemblyman Keith Wright. The NAACP, the National Action Network, and other organizations joined leaders in celebrating the achievements of the African American community, and reflect on its culture in the 21st century America.

Residents enthusiastically cheered as parade participants marched up the barricaded street. The atmosphere was exuberant, as thousands of people gathered to celebrate a rich tradition in the Harlem community.

The first African American Day Parade took place in 1969. Thirteen visionaries, who sought to create a special day when African Americans could band together in promoting unity, dignity and pride, founded the parade. Harlem was chosen as its locale because of its large representation of African Americans. On Sunday, that objective was no different.

Sharpton addressed a crowd of spectators with his founded organization, the National Action Network.

“This is a day to show what our community would look like if we had the resources and jobs,” Sharpton said outside the Adam Clayton Powell State Building near 125th St. “We are walking every step of the way.”

City Council Member Inez Dickens praised Abe Snyder, the last surviving founder and current chairman of the parade, for his work in keeping the tradition alive.

“The parade is a part of our culture and heritage,” Dickens said. “It brings the families out together. We’re showing the world that we are proud to be African Americans.”

Dickens also recognized that the day was more than a celebratory occasion.

“Because of the proliferation of gang activities in our communities, because our youth are killing each other—this is an opportunity for all our young people to see positive role models,” she told NewsOne.

New York City experienced alarming gun violent activities over recent weeks. On the day of the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn two weeks ago, 46 people were shot throughout the city. Last week, 18-year-old high school basketball star Tayshana Murphy was shot and killed in her Harlem Morningside Heights building stairwell.

Both incidents sparked outrage among local residents and community leaders.

The stream of consciousness regarding violence in the community permeated the street. A banner from State Senator Bill Perkins read, “Drop The Guns! Stop The Violence”—which evoked passionate responses from onlookers.

Tamika Mallory, Executive Director of National Action Network joined Sharpton and others in the march to condemn the violence in the African American community. The economy and lack of positive enforcement among youth, Mallory said, is to blame for some of the motivations of violent behavior in the community.

“Whenever people are poor and struggling, they turn to drugs and violence and different things to try to deal with what they are going through,” she told NewsOne. “But they’re not really focused on the right areas.”

However, Mallory said it’s important to use the parade as a way to highlight the positive things happening in the community. “[We should] continue to lift the positivity because it can get lost in all the negative information and all of the bad things going on with the violence and the poor economy,” she said. “You still have people who want to be connected to the community and folks who just want to sit out, and have a good time.”

Pols: Zadroga Health Bill Should Cover Cancer

2011-09-13T18:43:59Z

The following article was originally published in The New York Daily News on September 7, 2011.

BY CELESTE KATZ

A bipartisan group of lawmakers today demanded the Zadroga Act be expanded to include first-responders who developed cancer at Ground Zero... before it’s too late.

Our Jonathan Lemire reports:

A sweeping FDNY study released last week indicated that firefighters who worked at the smoldering World Trade Center site had a 19% greater likelihood of developing cancer of those who did not.

The politicians are using that data as the heart of their appeal to the 9/11 Health Czar to reverse his original decision and include cancer as a disease covered by the $4.3 billion fund.

“It is alarming evidence and it calls for action,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan) as she stood with other pols who sponsored the legislation at the PATH train station just steps from the World Trade Center site.

“It is our moral responsibility to reauthorize the bill."

A study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ruled in July that cancer could not be linked to Twin Tower toxins - and therefore would not be covered by the Zadroga Act. But the Zadroga law includes a requirement that its czar, Dr. John Howard, review his ruling every year - or at the request of elected officials.

“It would be inhumane to wait,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan), who was joined by Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-Manhattan), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Brooklyn) and Rep. Michael Grimm (R-S.I.) and Sept. 11th activists.

“We believe the evidence is now clear that cancer was caused by time spent at Ground Zero - something we always suspected,” said Nadler. “The evidence is compelling.”

Doctors in the FDNY study examined more than 9,800 firefighters, including 8,927 men who spent time at Ground Zero between 9/11 and the day the site closed in July 2002.

Of those firefighters exposed to the toxic site, 263 developed cancer - which is a 19% uptick over their unexposed colleagues — and a 10% jump over what doctors would find in the general public.

“I worked on The Pile,” said Grimm, a former FBI agent. “On 9/11, our first-responders selflessly rushed into the toxic dust cloud to save the lives of others and now we have a responsibility to save theirs.”

By law, Howard has 60 days to take action after receiving the lawmakers’ petition, which was also signed by Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

The FDNY report - which will be published in The Lancet medical journal - tracked firefighters from 2001 to 2008 and revealed an uptick in certain types of cancer among the firefighters, including melanoma, leukemia and cancers of the stomach, colon and prostate.

Surprisingly, firefighters did not demonstrate an increase in lung cancer - but the FDNY’s chief medical officer, Dr. David Prezant, cautioned that it can often take more than a decade for lung cancer to develop.

Jeff Stier, a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, told the Daily Politics that the delegation, amidst the high-running emotions surrounding the 9/11 anniversary, is simply rejecting the research.

"They're trying to inject politics into an issue that should be scientific. They're rejecting the very scientists they hired to do it -- because they didn't like the results."

Charlie Rangel on the Obama speech and being 'embarrassed' by the 2012 Republicans

2011-09-09T13:07:00Z

The following article was originally published in The Capital New York on September 9, 2011.

By: REID PILLIFANT

On Thursday evening, shortly after President Obama implored a joint session of Congress to pass a new $447 billion dollar jobs bill, Representative Charlie Rangel said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the speech.

“The thing that impressed me the most was that instead of talking about Republicans and Democrats, he talked about American values,” Rangel said in a phone interview shortly after the address.

The president began his speech by trying to transcend the “political circus” of the last few months, which had culminated the previous week in an unprecedented request from House Speaker John Boehner that the president re-schedule his address so as not to conflict with a Republican presidential debate. Obama grudgingly obliged, which only furthered the notion among liberals in his own party that the president is a serial surrenderer of his prerogatives to the opposition.

It’s unclear whether Obama’s $447 billion request will be enough to quell those intra-party grumblings, especially since the speech was comprised of large-scale but ideologically moderate policy proposals—many purposefully borrowed from past Republican bills—and included “modest adjustments” to sacred Democratic programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

But there seemed to be enough there, in the aggregate, to encourage the Paul Krugman wing of the party and the political commentariat.

Obama did his best to elevate infrastructure spending to the level of “rugged individualism” in the narrative arc of America, recalling Abraham Lincoln and the transcontinental railroad, and he did it without ever actually mentioning the word “infrastructure.”

For his part, Rangel didn’t attach much importance to the actual dollar figure being sought by the president, and he refused to entertain a question about whether the amount, which exceeded some smaller estimates that were bandied about earlier in the day, would serve as a welcome sign to his fellow liberals.

“That is subjective,” he said. “No matter how big or small it would be, without the cooperation of Republicans, it doesn’t really make any difference. It my opinion, most of the speech that the president was talking about was the strength and values of the United States of America. How are you going to have a small program for that? Or a big program?”

Rangel said Americans don’t really care about the pricetag anyway.

“They don’t want to hear about costs, they don’t want to hear about what Republicans did or what Democrats didn’t do," he said. "They want to know, can I depend on the government to help me out in a financial situation that I and my family are not responsible for? They want to know, not just do we feel their pain, but what the hell are we doing about it?”

And, without prompting, Rangel said he rejected some recent Republican rhetoric—first advanced by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor—that Congress should find dollar-for-dollar savings commensurate with any disaster relief, just as a family would have to make cuts in its own budget in the event of some personal catastrophe.

“When any member of Congress says, ‘we will help during this horrific earthquake or flood, but we have to first find the money,’ hey, that’s not what people do to their family,” Rangel said. “They run to the rescue and they know we’ll find a way to recover.”

Referring to what was a lack of Republican applause for the president's speech to Congress, Rangel said, “The president may not have impressed many Republicans in the House, or the Senate for that matter, and I saw that they sat down on many of the issues that we were applauding. But I do know one thing, the ones sitting down did not represent the values of the United States of America.”

He said politicians had been given too much responsibility in the recent budget debates, and called on the private sector—particularly business and religious groups—to involve themselves more.

“I think that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce should be calling up their longtime Republican friends who have left them in terms of encouraging tax reform, trade, and assistance to small business, and they should say, ‘We don’t like these Democrats, we don’t like Obama, but these are programs that we’ve been screaming for. Let’s still fight in November of next year, but let’s not let businesses suffer more and people be on unemployment longer, let’s come in there and do what’s best for the country,’” he said.

“I would think that some priests and rabbis will take enough time away from studying the religious virtues of same-sex marriage and what a woman does with her own body and to just include in that agenda poverty, sickness, education, homes, hope, trust, government responsibility,” he said.

Asked whether he heard anything in the speech that spoke to the specific complaints of African-Americans, Rangel said “No.”

After a period of silence, I asked whether he was bothered by that.

“Well, not in the sense that I truly believe that once the president says he’s going to target the resources to the people and the community that are most in need, I don’t really have to be reminded of my color,” he said.

Rangel has not been as conspicuously critical of the president as some other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who conducted a "jobs tour" to counter Obama's bus tour, but Rangel said he was sympathetic to them.

“Well, when you’re feeling pain, you don’t want to feel that you’re ignored because you’re the same color as the president," he said. "And so, sometimes, those of us who are the victims have to prove that we—just because we like you—doesn’t mean we’re satisfied with the condition of the country.”

“I think the newspapers are so shocked and surprised that blacks can independently judge the conduct of a president regardless of whether he’s white or black,” he said. “Maxine [Waters] gives anybody hell, and that’s what her constituents expect her to do, and we respect her for it.”

Rangel expressed considerably less respect for the Republican field vying to succeed Obama, when asked if he had seen Wednesday’s presidential debate.

“My staff always tells me that I am too candid in discussing these. What paper are you with?” he said, before taking another long pause.

“Let me say this: As an American, I really feel embarrassed that the world is seeing who we are entertaining for president and leader of the free world. I really think that the high standards that have been expected of America was shattered for those people who didn’t look at them as Republicans, but looked at them as candidates to be not only our leader, but the symbol of justice and fairness all over the world.

“There may be some political advantage to my president and my party, but to foreigners, we all are Americans, and so … ”

At that Mr. Rangel abruptly interrupted himself and said he had to go.

Lawmakers, National Urban League push for job opportunities for at-risk youth

2011-08-18T18:06:52Z

The following article was originally published in the New York Amsterdam News on August 18, 2011.

By: CRAIG D. FRAZIER

Lengthy periods of unemployment for our youth in New York City have a negative effect on their future employment opportunities. This week, elected officials, community leaders and a group of young people met at the Urban League in Harlem to announce legislation aimed at increasing employment among at-risk New York City youth.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Charles Rangel, Assemblyman Keith Wright, National Urban League President Marc Morial and New York Urban League President Arva Rice took to the podium in support of the Urban Jobs Act.

The Urban Jobs Act would grant federal funding to nonprofit organizations in order to provide job training and employment opportunities for young people, including those who have dropped out of high school or have been involved in the criminal justice process.

Gillibrand said that if passed, the legislation would allocate $20 million the first year then increase each year for four years to $10 million dollars. "I can't think of a more valuable piece of legislation that can really tackle this very tough challenge of high unemployment. It will help us give our youth a chance for a very good future," she said. "This is not a Democratic or a Republican idea-this is a good idea."

Youth ages 18 through 24 would be able to engage in the Urban Jobs Program and be offered an array of job readiness preparation, including support services, housing assistance, transportation, child care, clothing and other assistance as needed.

"This legislation could have a big impact," said Toyibat Oridami, a Curtis High School student. "I'm getting to the point where I'll be graduating from high school and then college. A lot of people graduate from college and can't find a job. I think that the money used for the Urban Jobs Act will give me a better chance for employment."

According to statistics issued by Gillibrand's office, the average unemployment rate for minority youths in urban communities nationwide is approximately 39 percent for African-Americans and 36 percent for Latinos. The city's African-American and Latino youth are twice as likely to drop out of school, and they make up more than 80 percent of the city's detention center population.

"America can't succeed in the future when our children aren't given the tools and chances necessary to thrive in today's global economy," said Rangel. "Education is the pathway out of poverty, crime and violence. Young people have been hit the hardest in the current financial downturn, and the minority communities are disproportionately affected.

"I'm proud to join Gillibrand, the National Urban League and my colleagues in their efforts to combat youth unemployment, which demands a long-term investment in our children's education and job training."

NY Pols Tout Bill Targeting Jobless Youth

2011-08-17T18:19:22Z

The following article was originally published in City Limits newsroom blog on August 17, 2011.

By: Kiera Feldman

From a makeshift stage in Harlem on Tuesday, Representative Charlie Rangel, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Assemblyman Keith Wright, and leaders from the National Urban League, a nonprofit social services provider, touted proposed legislation to combat youth unemployment. Termed the Urban Jobs Act, during its first year the legislation would provide $20 million in grants to national nonprofits like the National Urban League. The funding would be used in targeted areas by local affiliates like the New York Urban League, whose offices hosted the assemblage.

"This is not a Democratic or Republican idea," Sen. Gillilbrand proclaimed, flanked by Democrats. "This is a good idea."

The Urban Jobs Act would provide 18- to 24-year-olds with case management, GED preparation, job skills training, internships, support services like childcare and housing and more. According to Sen. Gillibrand's office, 39 percent of young African-Americans were unemployed in July, while 36 percent of young Latinos were unemployed.

Facing such a dire situation, $20 million might seem paltry. "It's a start," said 17-year-old Curtis High School student Toyibat Oridami, who had trekked to Harlem from Staten Island with her peers in a New York Urban League college readiness class. Their teacher, Quincy Dunlap, said the Urban Jobs Act would serve his students well. Dunlap explained that the funding would help New York Urban League youth get internships and part-time jobs after school. "We could couple those two components [of school and work] for students during the hours of 3-8 p.m., which is when they get into the trouble, right?" Dunlap said with a laugh.

Others were less hopeful about the proposed legislation, saying job skills aren't the cause of youth unemployment. "The biggest problem is there's just a massive job shortage," Northeastern University professor Andrew Sum told the Huffington Post.

Despite the climate of the current Congress, Rep. Rangel predicted the chances of the Urban Jobs Act passing at "very good," saying one shouldn't read too much into Tuesday's lackluster Republican attendance in Harlem. He noted there are currently no Republicans in his district. "I'm certain [Rep.] Peter King--who's my buddy from New York--would be a co-sponsor" of the Urban Jobs Act, Rep. Rangel said after the event. (A spokesman for Rep. King did not return a call for comment Tuesday afternoon.)

Facing Rising Youth Unemployment, a Push for Urban Jobs Act

2011-08-16T17:46:09Z

The following article was originally published in the Epoch Times on August 16, 2011:

By: Zack Stieber

NEW YORK—Young people in New York City are increasingly unable to find employment, resulting in long-term negative effects contributing to a range of consequences; including dropping out of school and engaging in acts of violence.

U.S Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand promoted the Urban Jobs Act legislation that would help provide job training, educational programming, and support services, in three separate stops on Tuesday, in Harlem, the Bronx, and Queens.

“Supporting education and training for our city’s youth is a smart investment that will help rebuild our local economy and pay dividends over the long term,” Gillibrand stated in a prepared release. “Helping our youth compete in this difficult economy will have a lasting positive impact on our community,” added Gillibrand.

In Harlem, Congressman Charles Rangel, and Assemblyman Keith Wright, along with representatives from both the National Urban League (NUL) and the New York Urban League (NYUL) spoke about the legislation.

More than one-third of the nation’s minority youth are currently unemployed.

Sen. Gillibrand was joined by Assemblyman Carl Heastie and Bronx clergy leaders at a roundtable discussion in the Bronx to discuss the need for legislation that would assist at risk Bronx youth in finding jobs.

Make the Road New York, a nonprofit that helps the Latino community, was represented by Executive Director Ana Maria Archila, and is an organization that would qualify for a grant under the UJA. Assemblyman Fransisco Moya, Sen. Jose Peralta, and City Council members also attended the event in Queens.

“It is one thing to lose your job, and another to never have had one at all,” said Arva Rice, president and CEO of the NYUL at the press conference in Harlem “For young New Yorkers with few skills, contacts, and options hope can be lost.”

The UJA would provide funding for nonprofit organizations that have job training programs for youth, with an eye on second-chance youth; those who have had a child, an interaction with the criminal justice system, or have dropped out of school.

The Community Service Society of New York December 2010 report about unemployment found that young black males were particularly hard hit, only one in four in the 16–24 age group held a job during the period from January 2009 to June 2010, while unemployment jumped to 52 percent for those without a high school or equivalent diploma.

“The Urban Jobs Act creates opportunities for youth to receive job training, placement, and opportunities that will ensure that they become successful and contributing members of the community,” said Rice.

The legislation would award competitive grants to national nonprofits that would train youth ages 18-24 in partnership with local affiliates.

“If you want to create jobs in Harlem, you've got to plant seeds in Harlem,” said Marc Morial, president of NUL. “The Urban Jobs Act is all about planting seeds, not only in Harlem, but in major urban communities throughout New York, whether it’s Buffalo, or Utica, or Rochester.”

As federal legislation it will have the potential to impact urban communities like Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Portland, and L.A., added Morial.

Rangel: Bring Congress Back

2011-08-09T15:49:15Z

The following article was originally published in Politico on August 9, 2011:

By Jennifer Epstein

A prominent liberal House Democrat is calling on President Barack Obama to bring Congress back from its August recess, joining a growing list asking the president to put lawmakers to work now to fix the economy.

“There’s no question in my mind” that lawmakers need to return to Washington, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) said on MSNBC on Tuesday.

“The president should call us back and to recognize that as important as re-elections are in the House and the Senate, the integrity of our country is far more important,” he said. “Just him bringing us together, saying that we are going to work to get jobs for the people and training for people.”

While skeptics are arguing that Congress won’t get anything done if it comes back from its vacation, Rangel said that the very fact that there’s skepticism underscores why his colleagues need to return to Washington before the end of the summer.

“If there’s no hope that we can do it, we’ve got to change our way of thinking about our country. Our country is not Obama, is not Pelosi, is not Boehner. It is a country with hope and vision,” Rangel said.

“We are the actors, the tools, that are supposed to present us as to what people are proud of, and when you lose confidence, you can’t buy it, you can’t elect it. Confidence is something that you feel.”

Making progress on efforts to cut costs and revenues would “give so much hope to people who have been without work for months and for some years,” he said.

Rangel joins a growing chorus that wants to see Congress return, including presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), former Gov. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) and former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe.

White House press secretary Jay Carney ducked multiple questions Monday afternoon about whether the president would call Congress back.

“I think there is … a great sense of urgency here about the need to continue to work to get our fiscal house in order, create jobs and grow the economy,” Carney said. “The reality that we live in is that this is — as set up by the founders — is a government that has different branches with different amounts of power, and we need to work together to get significant things done, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Tuesday’s briefing, along with a presidential trip to northern Virginia to talk about fuel efficiency standards, were cancelled just before 9 a.m. ET. Obama is, though, meeting privately with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and business leaders.

At this point, Rangel said, Americans want reassurance that the president and lawmakers are taking action. “People don’t want to know how we got there, they want to know how the heck we’re going to get out of it,” he said. “The country’s more important than who wins and who loses.”

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Big Mandate, Low Expectations Greet 'Super Committee' on Debt Reduction

2011-08-07T19:52:53Z

The following article was originally published on Fox News on August 7, 2011:

Members haven't been named yet, but appointees to the new congressional "super committee" tasked with achieving at least $1.2 trillion in debt reduction by the end of the year will find their colleagues hopeful but not necessarily optimistic about the outcome.

"I'm not putting all my stock in this committee," Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told "Fox News Sunday," adding that he would be willing to serve on the committee if House Speaker John Boehner named him to it.

"I think people are overemphasizing what this committee is going to achieve," he said.

"Whether I have confidence in the committee depends on who the committee is," said Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y. "Having 12 people that you and I don't even know who they are from the House and Senate determine the economic destiny of the United States of America, to me, is a complete forfeiture of our responsibilities as members of Congress. I am awkwardly embarrassed."

The select committee will be named this month by the four Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate. Each leader will choose three members of the caucus and task them with getting about $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion in savings to accompany a $1.2 trillion hike in the debt ceiling.

The committee's recommendations will be due in November and voted on by Dec. 23. They can not be amended and will be passed with a simple majority -- no filibusters or other parliamentary maneuvering is allowed. President Obama will have the ability to veto the legislation but the administration will not be directly involved in the negotiations.

"This select committee, I believe, can really do what we haven't had the courage to do in the past. ... I think that a lot of us would have the courage to vote for what the most experienced people in Congress come up with," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Coming up with a deal that could pass both houses of Congress is the ultimate trick, however. Republicans do not want tax rates to go up and will oppose any deal that includes tax hikes. Democrats are loathe to touch any aspect of entitlement spending that could impact recipients. Both sides' intransigence led Standard and Poor's to downgrade the U.S. credit rating over the weekend.

"The elephant in the room as we all know is Medicare and Social Security. And unless we are ready to reform those entitlements, we are not going to have a long-term fix for our physical problems," McCain said.on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"When you ask the public if they believe a balanced approach is required, almost 50 percent of registered Republicans agree that a balanced approach is required," said Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley. "Millionaires and billionaires should be playing their fair share. We all need to pull together and create jobs and to make this new economy ours."

Even if the committee is successful, $2.1 trillion is not enough to satisfy S&P, especially as the debt is still set to increase by as much as $13 trillion over the next 10 years.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., suggested going back to the "grand bargain" negotiated by President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner before it blew up last month.

"At the end of the day this joint committee should look at what President Obama and Speaker Boehner tried to do to cut $4 trillion in deficits and get their ideas and try to see if we can find a bipartisan way forward," Graham told CBS' "Face the Nation."

"I don't think a grand bargain is going to come out of this because they're not putting health care reform on the table," Ryan said. "And that's why I'm hoping for just a decent down payment on debt out of this select committee."