Quotes By Charles Rangel

The challenges African-Americans are facing today are rooted in the system of slavery.

Full participation in government and society has been a basic right of the country symbolizing the full citizenship and equal protection of all.

Hurricane season routinely strikes the Caribbean harder than the U.S.

We don't windsurf in Harlem.

I've been beat up pretty badly. Pretty badly. Yet at the end of the day, everyone says I'm doing a pretty good job.

Now is the time for the U.S. and the nations of Western Europe who engaged in the slave trade throughout this hemisphere to come forward in a positive way to assist in undoing the harm that was caused by their past colonial policies in the hemisphere.

We love the ability of the people to influence the actions of decision-makers, of lawmakers and presidents to be removed from or elevated to office by the will of voters, and of the community to connect amongst diverse populations through the ballot box.

I feel terrific.

I am running for re-election no matter who runs.

Regardless of the nature of their crime or any rehabilitation that may have occurred, these ex-felons cannot participate in the decision-making process of this great Nation.

I don't want to respond to rumors that have no basis at all... But I am willing to respond to questions that the public and the press should know.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was indeed a vital instrument of democracy, ensuring the integrity and reliability of a democratic process that we as a Country hold so dear.

If you are spending too much, you cut back on spending and you raise your revenues. And that's it.

I am struck by how casually we as a nation react to the carnage in Iraq.

Meanwhile, our young men and women whose economic circumstances make military service a viable career choice are dying bravely in a war with no end in sight.

Reapportionment is not friendly to a lot of communities and it hasn't been too friendly to mine.

The Klan had used fear, intimidation and murder to brutally oppress over African-Americans who sought justice and equality and it sought to respond to the young workers of the civil rights movement in Mississippi in the same way.

I don't know whether the number of any particular Latino group has made or will make any particular difference in the issues that I am concerned with.

As a nation we should commit ourselves not only to the fight against terrorism, but to economic justice, defeat of the AIDS epidemic and vestiges of discriminatory policies of all kinds.

If we believe in our current penal process, then the penalties imposed by judges and juries should be the only sanctions for one's crime, not the invisible sanctions of the legislature.

For a member to say, 'I'm a lame duck' violates political science 101.

Today many Caribbean workers can be found in the hospital, construction, service and hotel industries, but there is also a growing professional sector.

I'm in the kitchen and I'm not walking out.

The United States is historically a nation of immigrants.

At least 23,000 civilians have also died in the Iraqi killing field and the U.S. is stuck in a quagmire.

The Iraq war took priority over domestic disaster prevention.

I have a record that I'm so very, very proud of, and no campaign is going to take that away.

I'm just glad that my community has faith and confidence in me.

We owe it to the flood victims of New Orleans to give them truthful answers as to why this event took place and to assure our citizens that tragedies like this will never happen again.

Thousands of people may have been killed by hurricane Katrina and many more could die in its aftermath because of the President's refusal to heed the calls of governors for help in repairing the infrastructure in their states.