Majority Leader Denies Cornyn Request For Investigations Into Acorn Illegal Activities, Says They Would Be A Distraction
Statement
Sen. Cornyn Responds: "For Majority Leader Reid, it seems that oversight' is a selective responsibility"
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today issued the following statement in response to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's refusal to instruct committee chairmen to investigate ACORN's criminal activities and the sources of all federal funds that ACORN and its affiliates receive. Sen. Cornyn originally made this request September 17 in a letter to the Majority Leader with the signatures of 27 fellow Republican Senators.
"In light of ACORN's long and growing list of flagrant misuse of taxpayer dollars, I, along with 27 Republican Senators, recently asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to instruct pertinent Senate committee chairmen to investigate ACORN's offenses and identify the sources of all federal funds that ACORN and its affiliates receive. Despite the fact that the U.S. Senate has at its disposal 20 committees, 68 subcommittees, and 4 joint committees, the Majority Leader has denied our request, stating he will not instruct Senate leaders to do anything that would detract from efforts to address the issues currently before Congress.
"Yet under the direction of this same Majority Leader, in conjunction with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congress has held more than 150 oversight hearings on Bush-era practices and activities - transcribing more than 3,200 pages of witness testimony and printing more than 17,000 pages of unclassified, publicly available reports. For Majority Leader Reid, it seems that oversight' is a selective responsibility, and the misuse of taxpayer dollars by a fraud-ridden organization does not qualify as a priority in his purview as the Leader of the U.S. Senate.
"If the Majority Leader refuses to investigate ACORN, I am at a loss as to what recourse my colleagues and I have to put a stop to federal funding of this organization, and I have serious concerns with the precedent his decision sets for the future."
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