Charles B Rangel

Speaker Nancy Pelosi took stewardship of the House two years ago with a pledge to "drain the swamp" and clean up ethical abuses in Congress. Now an investigation of one of her party's best-known members is putting her in an uncomfortable spot. Rep. Charles B.

A prominent Democrat's call for reinstating a military draft got a cold reception Monday as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were quick to denounce any notion of a return to military conscription. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), who will become chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, pledged on CBS' "Face the Nation" to introduce legislation that would reinstate conscription.

Former New York Mayor David N. Dinkins and two congressmen were among 14 people arrested as they protested last month's fatal police shooting of an unarmed West African immigrant. Reps. Charles B. Rangel and Gregory Meeks, both Democrats, as well as the Rev. Al Sharpton, were part of those arrested at police headquarters and charged with criminal trespass. Police fired 41 shots at Amadou Diallo on Feb. 4, hitting him 19 times.

William J. Bennett, the first director of the nation's war on drugs, went out with a bang Thursday, calling one congressional critic "a gas bag" and labeling the drug-plagued District of Columbia "a basket case." President Bush, in accepting Bennett's resignation at the White House, praised his leadership in the war against drugs and said that the nation "is on the road to victory" in that war.

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Narcotics, charged that President Bush has failed to make the war on drugs a priority in the nation's foreign policy and has sown confusion among South American leaders. Fresh from a meeting in Ecuador with more than 200 officials from five Andean nations, the congressman said it was "embarrassing" to talk with his South American counterparts about the U.S. commitment to battling drugs.

The chairman and ranking Republican member of the House narcotics committee criticized Education Secretary William J. Bennett for not emphasizing the drug abuse issue in his proposal for a model high school curriculum. Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), the chairman, said in a statement that Bennett "buried the drug issue, which students themselves say is the biggest problem facing young people today."