WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Although the Congressional Black Caucus has publicly presented a united front in its support of embattled U. S. Rep. Bill Jefferson’s right to maintain his committee memberships, some CBC members – including civil rights icon John Lewis (D-Ga.) – have assumed behind-the-scene roles in getting Jefferson ousted from his coveted position on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
“Mr. [Mel] Watt certainly ably and with great distinction, speaks for the Congressional Black Caucus,” says House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who spearheaded the movement to force Jefferson from the committee after he refused to voluntarily step down. “But, quite frankly, a number of members of the Black Caucus have given me moral support on this.”
Some have provided more than that.
Among Pelosi’s chief allies in the attempted ousting is Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.)., sources have confirmed. In a closed door meeting of the 50-member Democratic Caucus Steering Committee last Thursday, sources say that Lewis made the motion to have Jefferson stripped from his seat on the House Ways and Means, which has oversight on key fiscal matters, such as tax hikes, the minimum wage and military spending.
Because the session was private, some of those present agreed to discuss the meeting with the NNPA News Service on condition that they be granted anonymity.
The sources say former CBC Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) also spoke against Jefferson in the committee meeting. In addition, they said, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), ranking member on the Ways and Means Committee, accepted an earlier assignment from Pelosi to try to talk Jefferson into stepping down on his own, an overture rejected by Jefferson.
Ironically, Rangel first won his seat in the House when he defeated the late U. S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, who was under fire for alleged financial improprieties. The House leadership had stripped Powell of his powerful Education and Labor Committee chairmanship and Rangel defeated him in the 1970 Democratic Primary.
Lewis’ motion, seconded by Pelosi, passed by secret ballot.
The motion stated: “The Committee moves that Congressman William Jefferson’s appointment to the Committee on Ways & Means be suspended, with his seniority intact, until such time as a further recommendation to restore him to the Committee is made by the Steering and Policy Committee under the rules of the Democratic Caucus.”
