Rep. Charles Rangel made it clear Saturday: He's running this year for a 21st term as Harlem's congressman.Rangel, under fire for alleged ethics violations, acknowledged he was aware of calls for his retirement or resignation.
His response?
"Run for reelection," the 79-year-old Democrat told the Daily News after a Harlem meeting of city leaders.
The powerful head of the Ways and Means Committee was rebuked this week by a House ethics committee for accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008.
He's also facing charges of failure to pay taxes on a villa in the Dominican Republic, hiding a half-million dollars in income and reaping a sweetheart deal on four rent-stabilized apartments.
Rangel was first elected to the House in 1970.