Former US Representative Charles Rangel, a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and chair of the powerful tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, died on Monday, New York lawmakers said. Rangel, 94, an African American who had been the face of Harlem politics for decades and an influential lawmaker, stepped down from Congress in 2016 after more than 45 years in office. The Democratic lawmaker was a key player in efforts to help President Barack Obama pass legislation in 2010 to revamp US healthcare and make other major tax changes. Congress in 1987 approved the "Rangel Amendment" that he championed to revise the US tax code to bar foreign tax credits for US companies that invested in apartheid-era South Africa. Rangel was one of the key lawmakers who wrote legislation in 2000 to normalise trade relations with China and pushed for years to lift the US trade ban on Cuba. - Reuters
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