Rangel allies hopeful they’ll win vote on lighter punishment

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) is hopeful Democratic
leaders will allow Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and his allies a vote on a resolution
downgrading the New York lawmaker’s punishment.

“I’m optimistic,” Butterfield said Thursday when asked
whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would allow the alternative vote on a
reprimand for Rangel instead of censure.

Reprimand is a lesser penalty than censure and would not
require Rangel to stand in the well of the House while Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
reads the charges and committee’s findings for C-SPAN cameras and the world to
see.

{mosads}Rangel faces the censure vote for a string of ethics
violations.

In anticipation of a late afternoon vote on a censure
resolution, Butterfield and Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), both members of the
Congressional Black Caucus, told reporters Thursday evening that one of
Rangel’s allies would offer an alternative if given the chance.

But Butterfield said he was not exactly sure what
parliamentary tactic Rangel and his allies would use despite multiple
conversations with the House parliamentarian, whom he called “brilliant.”

After whipping the votes in the last 48 hours, Butterfield
also said there was “a lot of support” for a reprimand among the Democratic caucus.

“You sentence a person for life who took a life, you don’t
sentence a person to life who stole a bike,” said Cleaver.

“The punishment does not meet the crime,” he added. “We just
think this is all way out of line.”

Butterfield also said the last four censures leveled in the
last 100 years were for “despicable conduct” or acts of “dishonesty.”

“These are not acts of dishonesty,” he said. “What Rangel
did was reckless and sloppy.”

Butterfield said Rangel will take a backseat on the House
floor to a team of defenders, led by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), who will
speak on the House floor to argue for leniency on his behalf.

Butterfield also said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) would make
an “interesting” argument on Rangel’s behalf, although he didn’t say whether
Frank’s argument would be made on the House floor.

Frank was reprimanded 20 years ago after it was revealed
that Steve Gobie, a household employee he had hired in 1985, was running a prostitution
business out of his apartment. Attempts to expel or censure Frank failed;
instead the House voted 408-18 to reprimand him.