Letters to the Editor
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‘Rangel Earns a “Narcissist Award” From Pork Barrel Critics’
The criticism of Rep. Charlie Rangel, reported in the Sun, for directing $1.95 million in federal funds to the Center for Public Service at the City College of New York is way off the mark [National, “Rangel Earns a ‘Narcissist Award’ From Pork Barrel Critics,” April 3, 2008].
To be sure, many earmarks serve only to burnish the reputations of their congressional sponsors and are a complete waste of taxpayer dollars. The City College appropriation is nothing of the sort.
The new center was not Rep. Charles Rangel’s idea. It was Gregory Williams, the president of City College, who first made the proposal for a national center for public service, to be funded in part by government allocations and in part by private donations.
To date, nearly $11 million in private funds has been raised for the project. It was also Mr. Williams who proposed that the center be named for the congressman, in light of his long and distinguished career in public service.
The Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service will enhance one of New York’s great institutions. For more than 160 years, City College has been the place where students from all walks of life, many from minority and immigrant families, got their start in life.
In fact, my own grandfather, who came to this country at ten years of age, speaking no English, was able six years later to enter City College. Appropriately, the stated mission of the new center is to recruit, encourage, and prepare students, particularly from underserved and underprivileged communities, to pursue careers in public service.
The center could not be more aptly named. Charlie Rangel, a decorated veteran of the Korean War, began his career in public service as an Assistant United States Attorney in Manhattan, later served as a New York State Assemblyman, and is now in his 19th term as the representative of the 15th congressional district, which includes City College.
He now chairs the important House Ways and Means Committee. One of the most highly respected members of Congress, Charlie Rangel has always stood for integrity and good government. As Mr. Williams has said, “He is a wonderful role model for our students.”
Rep. Charles Rangel made only one mistake. He should have allocated $5 million to City College to match the $11 million already provided by private sources. I hope his colleagues in the New York Congressional Delegation will correct this error.
ROBERT M. MORGENTHAU
District Attorney
County of New York
New York, N.Y.
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