Cong. Rangel Demands Investigation of Rangel Center Document

Press Release

CONG. RANGEL DEMANDS INVESTIGATION OF RANGEL CENTER DOCUMENT

Upper Manhattan Congressman Urges Prompt Ethics Committee Review in Order to Clear Up Misunderstanding

I am calling for an Ethics Committee investigation into my office's purported violation of the rules of the House governing the use of Congressional letterhead to promote private sector involvement in an important educational initiative at City College in my Congressional district, as alleged by some members of the press.

The review should be done as soon as possible so as to clear up any misunderstandings regarding my efforts to convene meetings to discuss partnerships between educational institutions and the private sector.

It's abundantly clear to me that there have been no violations of the rules. As you can see in the samples I've distributed, the letters to private sector foundations as well as prominent business leaders were invitations to discuss ideas for the education of the next generation of leaders who will be trained at the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service. They are not requests for donations, which would violate the rules.

I am so proud and optimistic about the prospects for the Rangel Center. It will fulfill my dream of recruiting and training a new cadre of public servants who will not only be highly educated but will reflect the diversity of our great country.

The Rangel Center may be among the most ambitious, but it is only one of a series of initiatives in which I've sought the support of the business community to boost the educational prospects and competitiveness of young people in my Congressional district.

For several years I've been meeting with leaders of major foundations, business executives and educators seeking ways to raise our high school graduation rates, to improve the usable skill level of those graduates and to promote higher education. Leaders such as David Rockefeller, Jeff Immelt and the General Electric Foundation; Vartan Gregorian of the Carnegie Corporation of New York; Jeff Kindler, CEO of Pfizer; James McNemey, CEO of Boeing; members of the New York Partnership and Business Roundtable; and others have come forward with suggestions and offers of support.
The results have been encouraging. Working with these and other executives, I have promoted the establishment of partnerships to arm students with skills necessary to compete in the global economy. These are some examples:

* The Rangel Center, under the leadership City College President Gregory Williams, has been awarded more than $12 million of the $30 million needed to build the center, including $1.9 in federal funds.

The Center will prepare students from under-served communities for careers in government and the non-profit sector. It will support the university's graduate degree programs, providing internships, seminars and instructional services, as well as access to the Center's research facilities.

* Just last week, the GE Foundation announced $11 million in grants to four Harlem based educational organizations, including Upper Manhattan's Columbia University Teachers College, the Council for Opportunity in Education, the Harlem Children's Zone and the College for Every Student program.

* The GE Foundation also awarded New York City's public school system with a five-year grant of $17.9 million to better prepare the city's middle school students for post-secondary college and career opportunities.

* The Beaumont Foundation of America awarded a grant of $1.5 million to provide state-of-the-art computer hardware to public schools in Upper Manhattan.

* The Boeing Company, in an effort to interest minority students in careers in engineering, donated $900,000 to Columbia University and the Center for Technology, Innovation and Community Engagement.

* In cooperation with Columbia University, Pfizer Science Academy provided $500,000 to create a replicable urban education model designed to prepare students interested in careers in science.

As someone who overcame failure as a high school dropout, to become educated as a lawyer under the GI Bill, and ultimately election to Congress, I have been concerned with disparities in education all of my life. If my critics took the time to visit my district, and others like it, even for a day, they would know that education is not just a problem, it is an issue of national security.

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