Charlie Rangel censured by House of Representatives (Veteran Democrat found guilty of financial violations is the first member to be censured for 27 years) Do you think It's because of his skin color?

The House of Representatives yesterday voted overwhelmingly to censure one of its veteran members, Charlie Rangel, over allegations of unpaid taxes and other financial violations.

Rangel, a Democrat from New York, is the first member to be censured for 27 years, the second highest punishment available to the House after expulsion.

Although it is publicly embar****ing for the 80-year-old, there are no other consequences unless he chooses to resign, which he shows no sign of doing.

The House voted by 333 to 79 in favour of censure, ignoring a plea by Rangel for a less embar****ing punishment. The censure meant he had to attend the House and stand in front of his colleagues while the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, rebuked him.

Rangel, who has been in Congress since 1971, denied he had sought financial gain.

The censure was recommended last month by the House ethics committee, which found him guilty of 11 violations, including failing to declare rental income from a villa in the Dominican Republic and improperly soliciting donations for a centre for disadvantaged youth to be named after him.

Rangel, a Korean war veteran and a prominent figure in the civil rights movement, represents Harlem. He said after the vote: "In my heart I truly feel good A lot of it has to do with the fact that I know in my heart that I am not going to be judged by this Congress, but I am going to be judged by my life."

A censure is only used rarely, 23 times in the nation's history, the last time was a sex scandal in 1983 involving two Congressmen and Congressional pages.

The allegations around Rangel first arose two years ago when the media reported he had accepted rent-controlled flats in New York from a real estate mogul at below market price. Rangel denied the charges. Other allegations followed.

The ethics committee investigation lasted two years.

Zoe Lofgren, Democratic chairwoman of the ethics committee, said: "We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Mr Rangel himself has acknowledged that."

Rangel argued censure was reserved for the worst forms of corruption and his violations did not meet that standard.