Charles Rangel: “this is a very exciting, historic day for me. It was an opportunity to break a deadlock of lack of civility on the Ways…”

“this is a very exciting, historic day for me. It was an opportunity to break a deadlock of lack of civility on the Ways and Means Committee, which I really, deeply appreciate being a member, as well as being Chair; to get to know Jim McCrery, not as a Republican, but as someone that we can have serious philosophical and political differences, at the same time want to do what's best for our constituents and our country; for Sandy Levin who is more than a Member of Congress, but in the marrow of his bones he understands what it is for working people to have opportunity to have self-esteem and to want to do for themselves, their community and their children; and to have a Speaker like Nancy Pelosi, who's prepared to think as to what's not best for Democrats or even the Congress, but what's best for the country and to encourage people who have different views to come together, so that nobody from any country could say that we have a trade policy that's Republican or Democrat, but we have in the United States of America a United States trade policy. This is a very historic vote. It breaks the ice and opens an opportunity. But also it brings about a lot of candid discussion.”