SMITHTOWN, NY — Chris Cox (R), candidate for Congress in New York's First Congressional District, issued the following statement:

“Four months ago, long before the House Ethics Committee cited Congressman Charles Rangel with ethics violations, I called on Rep. Timothy Bishop to return the contributions he had received from Rep. Rangel, as many of his other Democratic colleagues have already done.  In fact, some $574,000 in tainted campaign contributions has been sent back to Mr. Rangel.  Mr. Bishop has ignored me, just as he has ignored the concerns of the hard-working taxpayers of Suffolk County on numerous issues,” declared Cox.

“It was Bishop’s partner in poor policymaking, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who bragged in 2006 that she was going to ‘drain the swamp’ and make this ‘the most honest and open Congress in history.’  Here we are four years later, with example after example of abuse of the public trust and disregard for the public pocketbook.  It’s time for Pelosi and Rangel and Bishop to go.  The residents of the First Congressional District deserve no less.”