Gerlach seeks audit of ACORN

U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach is one of 28 members of Congress who signed a letter sent to the Inspector General of the Housing and Urban Development asking for a review of how the liberal activist group ACORN used taxpayer funds.

Gerlach (PA-6th District) wants HUD officials to make sure ACORN is held accountable for every dollar of taxpayer funding it has received, according to a press release issued Monday.

From Gerlach's press release:

In a letter to HUD Inspector General Kenneth M. Donohue, Gerlach requested a comprehensive audit of ACORN's finances to give the public some peace of mind that their hard-earned tax dollars have not subsidized corrupt or illegal activity.

"In the wake of new, but not unfamiliar, reports of criminal and illicit activity involving ACORN, I believe it is imperative that this organization’s finances be reviewed and investigated by your Department to determine whether improper and illegal use of federal dollars has occurred since ACORN first began receiving federal funds in 1994," Gerlach wrote.

The letter signed by 26 Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee and GOP Congressmen Mike Pence of Indiana and Pete Sessions of Texas.

Video of ACORN employees in New York and Maryland giving illegal advice to two filmmakers posing as a prostitute and a pimp prompted the U.S. Census Bureau to end its partnership with ACORN on Friday. The Senate voted 83-7 on Monday to cut off Housing and Urban Development funding slated for ACORN.

ACORN – which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- has been the focus of voter-registration fraud investigations in recent years.

Locally, two ACORN workers in March 2008 pleaded guilty in Berks County Court and were sentenced to jail for creating phony voter-registration forms in order to collect cash from the organization, according to the Reading Eagle.

In July, Dauphin County election officials have investigated over 100 suspicious voter-registration applications submitted by ACORN

And In September 2006, nearly 100 fraudulent voter registration applications were filed in Delaware County, prompting the District Attorney’s Office to issue an identity theft alert. All 100 applications were filled out by four individuals working for ACORN.