REPUBLICAN LEADER OFFICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 17, 2009 | PERMALINK
CONTACT: Michael Steel, Antonia Ferrier, Kevin Smith - (202) 225-4000
Boehner: House Passage of Defund ACORN Act “A Victory for American Taxpayer
Washington, DC - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives voted 345-75 to pass the Defund ACORN Act:

“Today’s overwhelming bipartisan vote to stop all federal funding of ACORN is a victory for American taxpayers. Of course, it is only the beginning. We need to keep up the fight to end taxpayer funding for this troubled organization.

“House Republicans have worked tirelessly to sever ACORN’s ties to the federal government. Those efforts began to bear fruit late last week when the Census Bureau ended its relationship with ACORN under steady pressure from Republican lawmakers. Though today’s vote indicates that the writing’s on the wall for ACORN, President Obama must indicate whether he will join the Congress in taking decisive action to break all government ties with this corrupt organization.

“I’d like to applaud Oversight & Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA), Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) for the great work they and other House Republicans have done to hold ACORN accountable for its abuse of taxpayer dollars and the public trust.”


NOTE: Earlier this week, Leader Boehner introduced H.R. 3571, the Defund ACORN Act, which has now been adopted as part of H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009. An analysis of federal data by the Office of the Republican Leader staff determined that ACORN has received more than $53 million in direct funding from the federal government since 1994, and has likely received substantially more indirectly through states and localities that receive federal block grants. House Republicans have also sent a letter to President Obama asking him to use his authority to end all funding to and break all government ties with ACORN.