Rangel says he won't resign over censure

Rep. Charles Rangel said Monday he will not resign after being censured for 11 House ethics violations.

Rangel (D-N.Y.) said that voters in his Harlem district reelected him last month because of his long record of service in Congress, and that he'll continue to serve at their behest.  

Asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer if he ever thinks of resigning, the 20-term lawmaker replied, "No. Because I was elected by a constituency that has supported me all of this time.

"I think it would be wrong for me to hold myself out as wanting to do a good job as I have in the past, for me to jump up and resign," Rangel added.

The House voted 333-79 last week to sanction the 80-year-old congressman with the highest internal punishment any lawmaker can receive short of expulsion. 

Rangel has rebuffed calls to resign numerous times, but his comments Monday are one of the first times he repeated them following his censure. 

"Where would resignation take my community, the Congress and the country?" Rangel asked. "What benefits would be received if my experience and the causes that I've supported were not fought on by me?"

The former Ways and Means Committee chairman also swatted away a new Federal Election Commission investigation into alleged improper use of political action committee funds to pay for legal expenses related to his House ethics woes. 

"The group that reported that knows that that's unfounded," Rangel said.

The complaint was filed by the right-leaning National Legal and Policy Center.

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