Rangel Could Be Released From Hospital Today

WASHINGTON — The dean of New York's congressional delegation and the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Rangel of Harlem, was taken to the hospital Tuesday with what an aide described as "flu symptoms."

Mr. Rangel, 77, was feeling ill at his Manhattan home and summoned a doctor, a spokesman for the congressman, Emile Milne, told The New York Sun. He said Mr. Rangel's condition was not serious and that he could be released by today. "They wanted to hydrate him," Mr. Milne said. "The doctor came to his house and thought it would be a good idea."

The congressman was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University, Mr. Milne said.

First elected to Congress in 1970, Mr. Rangel became chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee in 2006.