Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel held a news conference Wednesday morning to address the controversy over his vacation home in the Dominican Republic, for which he owes thousands of dollars in back taxes.

Rangel said he has not received any personal cash from the rental of the unit. But he said he did make money as a result of a reduction in mortgage and he should have reported it.

During the more than an hour long conference, Rangel admitted he was not diligent enough with reporting the income, and said he will make necessary corrections and file amended tax returns, but he said he does not believe he did anything morally wrong.

Rangel said he will not ask for a Congressional ethics committee inquiry, after already asking the panel to look into his use of a rent-stabilized apartment as a campaign office, and his use of congressional letterhead to elicit support for a center at City College named for him.

The congressman said he has no intention of stepping down.

"If you're asking should I step aside as a member of Congress, a member of Ways and Means Committee, chairman of the committee, the answer is no," Rangel said. "I really don't believe that making mistakes means that you have to give up your career."

Republicans are calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to strip Rangel of his chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, the committee that oversees the tax code.

Wednesday evening on the House floor, House Minority Leader John Boehner said the Democrat’s tax situation, combined with questions about Rangel's Harlem apartments, raised serious questions.

"You could conjure up that fact that because it was rent-subsidized that it was in fact a campaign gift,” said Boehner.

"Rent-subsidized! If you lived a million years you could not tell where one subsidy came from!" answered Rangel. "Stabilization and subsidy are entirely two different things. There's no subsidy involved. It's a cap!"

In July it was revealed Rangel rented three rent-stabilized apartments in his district. He has since given up one which was used as a campaign office.

A House ethics panel is looking into that situation.