Excerpts from Rep. Charles Rangel’s statement yesterday before the House ethics committee voted to censure him:
I was gratified when I heard the ethics committee’s own counsel agree with me and say he found no evidence of corruption or personal gain in my investigation.
I am surprised, however, that the language the Adjudicatory Subcommittee used in rendering its decision does not coincide with what the counsel stated orally . . .
I was and am disappointed that the committee reached its decision without affording me the right to adequately defend myself with the aid of counsel.
I truly believe public officials have a higher responsibility than most Americans to obey the rules because we write them.
There can be no excuse for my acts of omission.
I’ve failed in carrying out my responsibilities.
I made numerous mistakes.
But corruption and personal enrichment are certainly not part of my mistakes . . .
Not too long ago, I wrote a book titled, “And I Haven’t Had a Bad Day Since.”
This was my attempt to remind myself that there will never be another day in my life like November 30, 1950. I was an infantryman, 20 years old, fighting for my country in North Korea, surrounded by tens of thousands of Communist Chinese, wounded, left for dead, and making a plea to God to spare my life.
My prayers were heard and my life spared.
I left the military a decorated hero but I was still a high-school dropout. Thanks to the GI Bill, I was given an opportunity to walk a road that took me back to school, and eventually to the chairmanship of what is considered the most distinguished committee in the Congress — the Ways and Means Committee . . .
I walked with Rev. Martin Luther King in the civil-rights movement . . .
I passed historic legislation to end apartheid in South Africa . . .
And then the sky fell down. The nightmare began.
Soon after I took the gavel at Ways and Means, I have been smeared with allegations of corruption and personal gain . . .
I referred these media allegations to the ethics committee . . .
How can 40 witnesses, 30,000 pages of transcripts, over 550 exhibits measure against my 40 years of service and commitment to this body I love so much? . . .
I hope my four decades of service merit a sanction that is in keeping with and no greater than House precedents and also contains a drop of fairness and mercy.