NASHVILLE, TN – Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney today commended Tennessee U.S. House Reps. Marsha Blackburn, John J. Duncan, Phil Roe and Zach Wamp for signing a letter from U.S. House Republicans to President Obama requesting he terminate all federal funding to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and its affiliates.

“Our Senators and Congressmen are leading the fight to protect Tennesseans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” said Devaney. “It is astounding that ACORN continues to receive taxpayer funds from the federal government in spite of recurring reports that point to corruption and criminal activity within the organization. I’d like to thank our members for signing this letter to President Obama and standing up on behalf of their constituents here in the Volunteer State.”

Full text of the letter signed by Reps. Blackburn, Duncan, Roe and Wamp is available here and follows:

September 15, 2009

The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President

We write to you today in the wake of new reports of potentially criminal activity involving associates of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) to respectfully request that you use your authority to publicly disclose and terminate all federal funding to ACORN and its affiliates. It is evident that ACORN is incapable of using federal funds in a manner that is consistent with the law. Immediate action is necessary to ensure that no additional tax dollars are directed to ACORN. Simply put, ACORN should not receive another penny of American taxpayers’ money.

Congressional pressure, coupled with the impact of recent media reports, prompted the U.S. Census Bureau on September 11 to end its partnership with ACORN. We support this decision by the Census Bureau, and believe it is vital that all other federal agencies with ties to ACORN follow the Census Bureau’s example by severing all ties to ACORN and its affiliates, whether those ties consist of partnerships or the awarding of federal funds, including federal funds distributed through state and local governments from federal block grants.

This is a matter of common sense and respect for taxpayer dollars. Last year, millions of Americans were outraged to learn their tax dollars were being used to subsidize an organization linked to multiple instances of voter registration fraud and other illicit activity. An analysis of federal data by the Office of the Republican Leader 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.

The Census Bureau has made the commendable decision to sever ties with ACORN, and it is now critical that all remaining federal entities with ties to ACORN do the same. We ask that you use your authority to ensure that all federal funding of ACORN is publicly disclosed and terminated immediately. To facilitate this effort, the Republican staff of the Oversight Committee has compiled a complete list of the corporations that form the ACORN Council, and we would be pleased to share it with you and members of your administration.

We thank you for your attention to this request.

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