Waterbury, CT - In the wake of the news that Representative Charlie Rangel will temporarily step down from his Chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee due to alleged ethics violations, Sam Caligiuri argued that Rangel is a poster child for the meaningful government reform he has been advocating on the campaign trail.

"As Chairman of a powerful Committee, it appears that Rangel used his position to accept gifts from a company that was trying to get legislation through his committee. This latest Rangel debacle is a prime example of the problems that come with the typical career politician, and why we must fight for real government reform. I have been a strong advocate of government reform because the American people deserve better than this tired model of corrupt politics." said Caligiuri.

Caligiuri has made government reform a hallmark of his Congressional campaign, outlining three core reforms he will fight for as a member of Congress:

1. Prohibiting committee chairs and ranking members from accepting campaign contributions from the industries they regulate;
2. Enacting term limit legislation that would apply to the entire Congress;
3. Banning earmarks and forcing members to use existing competitive processes to fund qualifying projects in their districts.

As acting mayor of Waterbury, Caligiuri dismantled corrupt systems that awarded city contracts to politically connected service providers.