Charles B. Rangel

Charles Bernard Rangel (born June 11, 1930) is an American politician. He has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1971, representing the Fifteenth Congressional District of New York (map) Rangel's district, the smallest in the country in geographic size, encompasses Upper Manhattan and includes such neighborhoods as Harlem, Spanish Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, and part of the Upper West Side, as well as a small portion of Queens in the neighborhood of Astoria. In January 2007 he became Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. He is the first African American to chair the Ways and Means Committee. Rangel is a decorated war veteran, earning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service in the Korean War.