The House of Representatives voted to censure Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) on Thursday, the first such rebuke for a sitting lawmaker in 27 years.
The 333-79 vote matches the recommendation of the House Ethics Committee, which found in its investigation that Rangel was guilty of 11 violations of House rules, including failure to declare rental income from a Dominican Republic villa, improper solicitation of donations on congressional letterhead and misuse of a rent-controlled Harlem apartment as a campaign office.
An earlier vote to reduce the penalty to a reprimand failed by a vote of 267-146, though a majority of Democrats supported the motion.
During a brief speech to his colleagues before that vote, Rangel made the case that the committee's investigation found no evidence of corruption.
"I have made serious mistakes. I do believe rules are made to be enforced. I do believe that we in Congress have a higher responsibility than most people," he said. "But if you're breaking new ground, I ask for fairness."
Censure is the stiffest penalty a member can face short of expulsion. Other Democrats argued that Republicans had been reprimanded for more severe violations, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Even a Republican, fellow New York Rep. Peter King, said the House was breaking from precedent.
"Let us apply the same standard of justice to Charlie Rangel that has been applied to everyone else and that we would want applied to us," he said.
But Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), chair of the Ethics Committee, said that censure was indeed the appropriate sanction and in keeping with members' promises in recent campaigns to uphold a higher standard of ethics.
"The decision to recommend [censure] was not made lightly," Lofgren said prior to Rangel's speech, but "it brought discredit to the House when this member, with great responsibility for tax policy, did not pay his taxes for many years."
Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), ranking member of the Ethics Committee, also noted that Rangel had earlier been offered several opportunities to settle his case that would have resulted in a lesser sanction.
The last time the House voted for censure was in 1983, when two lawmakers were charged with inappropriate sexual behavior with congressional pages.
After the vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was expected to read the resolution of censure from the speaker's rostrum, while Rangel listened on the floor. The resolution also calls for Rangel to pay restitution for any unpaid taxes.
Despite the Ethics Committee's investigation, Rangel was reelected to a 21st term in November.
The trial that resulted in Thursday's action was the first of its kind in the House since Rep. James Traficant (D- Ohio), convicted of a felony in criminal court, was ultimately expelled from the House in 2002.
A second Democrat is awaiting trial before an adjudicatory subcommittee. Rep. Maxine Waters (D- Los Angeles) is accused of intervening improperly on behalf of OneUnited Bank. Her husband served on the board of OneUnited and owned stock in the bank. The Ethics Committee has put off Waters' trial to investigate new evidence.
Waters may face a more hostile hearing in January after Republicans take control of the House and the Ethics Committee chairmanship.
latimes.com