High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Charles Bernard "Charlie" Rangel (born June 11, 1930) is an American politician. He has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1971, representing the Fifteenth Congressional District of New York, and is the most senior member of that state's congressional delegation. He is a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. In January 2007, Rangel became chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, the first African-American to do so.