Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.

Rangel supports Neal at local fund-raiser

HUD official Raymond Jordan and Urban League President Henry Thomas met with Congressman Richard Neal and Charles Rangel after a fund-raiser conducted by Neal. Reminder Publications photo by G. Michael Dobbs
By G. Michael Dobbs, Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD Congressman Charles Rangel, the powerful chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, came to Springfield on June 5 to speak at a fund-raiser for Congressman Richard Neal out of his "love and affection for Richie," but he also seemed to have a soft spot for Springfield as well.

Rangel met with the press after the $250-a-plate luncheon at the Basketball Hall of Fame and described Springfield as "historic" and "wonderful."

Rangel said that he benefited from a scholarship fund established by the Putnam family of Springfield that assisted i African-Americans interested attending St. John's University. Rangel earned his law degree after he served with the Army during the Korean War.

Speaking of a variety of topics, Rangel said that he, like many Americans was disappointed in the compromise legislation that provided more funding for the war in Iraq.

"I wish we had done it a different way," he said, adding he did not vote for the bill.

He said that Congress has not been moving fast enough and the American people have been "way ahead of Congress" on the issue of the war.

He asserted, though that Congress has been helping in "turning around" the county on the war and creating a "dramatic change in the attitude of the American public." He expressed hope that action taken later this month on funding issues would result in a different outcome.

Although the Ways and Means Committee doesn't have jurisdiction over the federal gas tax and energy issues, he is concerned about rising gasoline prices.

"If it walks like a rip-off, smells like a rip-off and feels like a rip-off, it is a rip-off," he said referring to gas prices.

He said the nation's energy issues are tied to the war in Iraq.

"The war is all about oil, oil, oil," he said. "We have an oil president, an oil vice president and an oil cabinet."

Although he said the gas tax is "on the table" in discussion over the country's energy issues, Rangel did not want to speculate about lowering or eliminating it at this time.

When asked if Vice President Al Gore was going to enter into the 2008 presidential race, Rangel had a short answer, "Nope." He said Gore "had his chance at bat. We're moving on."

Neal, who serves as the chair of the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee, has been doing a "fantastic job," Rangel said.

Mayoral candidate questions quotes