HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL (NY-13)
Charles B. Rangel, war hero, history-making congressman, master lawmaker. A founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, he made history as the first African American member of Congress to lead the powerful Ways and Means Committee. He served for 23 terms in the House of Representatives and was cited as the most effective lawmaker in Congress, leading all of his colleagues in passing legislation. He was the primary sponsor to President Obama’s historic health care reform law.
Recognized as one of the hardest working legislators in Congress, Congressman Rangel sponsored 40 bills and resolutions that become law throughout his tenure. Among his greatest legislative accomplishments are: championing the national Empowerment Zone program, Affordable Care Act, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Work Opportunity Tax Credit, Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, and the ‘Rangel Amendment’ which sounded the death knoll apartheid in South Africa.
Congressman Rangel is currently Statesman in Residence at The City College of New York for the City University of New York. Demonstrating his commitment to education, he created financial mechanisms to construct and rehabilitate public schools across the country. Following Saint Matthew’s teaching, he has been a stalwart champion for the “least among us,” dedicated to improving the lives of working families, fighting for jobs and education, and advocating for equality and justice.
He was first elected to Congress in 1970, after serving in the New York State Assembly and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Congressman Rangel retired from the United States Congress in 2016. He is a veteran of the Korean War, where he earned a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. He and his wife, Alma, reside in Harlem where he was born. They have two adult children and three grandchildren.