Congress in 1987 approved the "Rangel Amendment" that he championed to revise the U.S. tax code to bar foreign tax credits for U.S. companies that invested in apartheid-era South Africa. Rangel was one of the key lawmakers who wrote legislation in 2000 to normalize trade relations with China and pushed for years to lift the U.S. trade ban on Cuba.

Rangel in 2010 was censured by the House after failing to pay taxes on rent he earned from a property in the Dominican Republic and misusing his office to secure fundraising. He was forced to step down as chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

Rangel dropped out of high school to work at age 16 and was later wounded in U.S. Army service during the Korean War. He later graduated from New York University and received a law degree from St. John’s University Law School.

He began his congressional career in 1971 after defeating Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and was the 10th longest-serving U.S. House member in history. Rangel helped steer billions of dollars in federal spending to New York.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on Monday Rangel was "someone who never stopped fighting for his constituents and the best of America."