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Census did right thing dumping ACORN

Guest Commentary

By U.S. Rep. PATRICK McHENRY

Published: September 18, 2009

WASHINGTON — When ACORN was announced as a national partner with the Census Bureau, I had grave concerns that the accuracy and integrity of the 2010 census would be jeopardized.

One of ACORN's responsibilities would have been to recruit census workers. Given ACORN's propensity for falsifying government documents, it seemed illogical that their employees would now be handling census forms. The Census Bureau was, in effect, inviting fraud in the 2010 census.

As the Ranking Republican on the Census Oversight Subcommittee, I privately encouraged the Bureau to reconsider. Subsequently, the Bureau and I engaged in a confrontational public dispute over their relationship with ACORN.

The Bureau would eventually listen to reason and agreed that ACORN could not be trusted to recruit census workers, but they continued to defend their partnership with this criminal enterprise. When the despicable conduct of ACORN was caught on tape and broadcast on BigGoverment.com, the Bureau officially got out of the business of apologizing for ACORN.

New Census Bureau Director Robert Groves deserves our respect for doing the right thing.

Immediately following his confirmation, Director Groves pledged to me that he would seriously review ACORN's partnership status. It is clear to me that Director Groves had ACORN on a short leash.

Director Groves' decision is particularly remarkable considering that he was appointed by a Democratic President with close ties to the group. ACORN has essentially become the political field staff of the Democratic Party. Without question, there are many people in the Obama Administration who are unhappy with Groves' decision.

Being dropped by the Census Bureau is proving to be a tipping point for ACORN, which has received at least $53 million in taxpayer funding. In March, Senator David Vitter offered an amendment that would have prevented ACORN from receiving additional federal funding. That amendment failed 53-43. On Monday, a similar amendment passed 83-7.

The floodgates have opened. Today, the Los Angeles Times offered harsh words for ACORN in a scathing editorial and Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is questioning ACORN's federal funding.

Now, every federal agency and every elected official must seriously reconsider their relationship with ACORN.

Patrick McHenry represents North Carolina's 10th Congressional District.

ABOUT ACORN: Here is a synopsis of ACORN according to Wikipedia:

"The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is a community-based organization in the USA that advocates for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues. ACORN has over 400,000 members and more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in over 100 cities across the United States, as well as in Argentina, Canada, Mexico, and Peru. ACORN was founded in 1970 by Wade Rathke and Gary Delgado. Maude Hurd has been National President of ACORN since 1990.

"ACORN's priorities have included: better housing and wages for the poor, more community development investment from banks and governments, better public schools, and other social justice issues.

"ACORN pursues these goals through demonstration, negotiation, lobbying for legislation, and voter participation. ACORN is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that typically champions liberal and progressive causes. It is made up of numerous legally distinct parts including local non-profits, a national lobbying organization, and the ACORN Housing Corporation.

"ACORN has been the subject of public controversy and has been accused of actions including embezzlement, management fights, voter registration fraud and other misconduct committed by its workers.

For more, go to
www.en.wikipedia.org
www.acorn.org
www.mchenry.house.gov
or simply use ACORN in a Web search for pro and con views.