Rangel’s portrait to be unveiled on Capitol Hill

He may have been censured by his House colleagues, but Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) will have his visage permanently displayed on Capitol Hill.

The House Ways and Means Committee, which Rangel chaired until he lost his gavel following accusations of ethics violations, is hosting a ceremony and reception Thursday to unveil Rangel’s official portrait in Longworth House Office Building.

House leaders including Speaker John Boehner, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer will speak at the ceremony. New York Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer will also give remarks.

The ceremony comes less than a year after the full House voted 333-79 in a public rebuke after Rangel was found guilty by a House ethics panel of 11 counts of ethics violations. Allegations included charges that he improperly solicited money from corporate officials and lobbyists for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York, did not disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars of income, kept a rent-stabilized apartment in New York as a campaign office, and did not pay income taxes on a villa in the Dominican Republic.

Rangel’s office on Wednesday couldn’t confirm how much the portrait cost nor how it was being paid for. A spokeswoman instead pointed a reporter to a 2007 Washington Post article that listed the cost of the artwork as $64,500 and that Rangel’s lawyer had asked the Federal Election Commission if the congressman could use his campaign funds to pay for it.

The FEC sided with Rangel later that year, noting that the House generally commemorates committee chairs with portraits in their respective hearing rooms and that neither Rangel nor his family would financially profit from the payment of the portrait.

“The House Committee on Ways and Means will commission the portrait for donation to the U.S. House of Representatives,” the FEC wrote in the advisory opinion. “Representative Rangel’s principal campaign committee or the National Leadership PAC will pay for $64,500 for the cost of the portrait and will not solicit or receive funds to pay for the portrait.”

Apparently, this portrait has been an issue dear to Rangel’s heart. The Post wrote that the congressman consulted an art broker and considered eight portrait artists, and ultimately chose an elaborate option that included a “three-quarter body length size, important details and a custom frame.”