Breaking: Bi-Partisan Senate Bill to Defund ACORN

From the office of U.S. Senator Mike Johanns:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ann Marie Hauser (202) 224-4796

October 5, 2009 Chris Hunt (402) 476-1400

Jake Thompson (202) 224-8795

JOHANNS, NELSON INTRODUCE BILL TO BAN FRAUDULENT ORGANIZATIONS FROM RECEIVING FEDERAL MONEY

WASHINGTON – Senators Mike Johanns and Ben Nelson today introduced a bill to cut off all federal funding for any organization whose employees have been convicted of voter fraud. The bill comes after Senator Johanns successfully barred the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), whose employees have been convicted on 70 counts of voter fraud, from receiving funding via three spending bills recently passed by the Senate.

“Senator Nelson and I strongly believe in the protection of taxpayer dollars, and this bill is a clear way of working towards that goal,” Johanns said. “Let the message be clear: Americans should not be helping to fund any organization whose employees use the money to commit fraud or any other reprehensible practices.”

“This legislation builds on actions taken to cut off federal funding for ACORN,” Nelson said. “To further protect taxpayers’ money, this bill extends that prohibition to all forms of federal assistance, and all groups who violate our election laws. And we require a report, so Congress can know exactly which organizations we need to watch out for.”

Full text of the legislation can be found here.