Washington, Sep 18, 2008 - House Conference Secretary John Carter (TX-31) issued the following statement today after House Democrats voted to table a privileged resolution, introduced by Minority Leader John Boehner that would have requested an investigation by the House Ethics Committee into apparent misconduct on the part of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY).
“Democrats today turned a blind eye to the glaring evidence of misconduct and misuse of power by Chairman Rangel”, Carter said.  “To preserve the trust of the American taxpayer, Chairman Rangel must step down from his post on the Ways & Means Committee until he resolves the ethical questions surrounding him.  It is hypocrisy to raise taxes on struggling families while supposedly accepting a no interest mortgage on property, and repeatedly failing to disclose accurate information on House financial disclosure forms.  This is just one more example that the Democrats were not serious when they pledged to run the most open and ethical Congress in history.”
In addition, the privileged resolution would have required Rep. Rangel to step down as Chairman of the powerful House Committee on Ways & Means until the completion of the investigation.