Free Republic

The House ethics committee has recommended censure for Representative Charles B. Rangel for ethics violations. It was the committee’s counsel, R. Blake Chisam, who acted as prosecutor in the case, who recommended that Mr. Rangel be censured, a stronger punishment than a reprimand but well short of expulsion. Shortly before the committee of five Democrats and five Republicans began deliberations, Mr. Rangel, his voice cracking, pleaded for his colleagues to keep in mind that whatever his misdeeds, he was not corrupt. Mr. Rangel, 80, a Democrat who has represented Harlem since 1970, was found guilty on Tuesday of 11 breaches...

This is why we keep close watch on Congress.  In a bipartisan effort accomplished quickly and virtually under the table, Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) -- in Senate Appropriations markup of the War Supplemental bill -- obtained approval of an amendment that would create an amnesty for illegal alien farm workers.  The measure, called the Emergency Agriculture Relief Act, was added to the War Supplemental bill in a 17-12 vote last Thursday. Known as the AgJob amendment, the Feinstein-Craig measure revived instantaneously the controversy that caused conservatives to lash out at the White House and Congress last summer. ...