Vitter Urges Homeland Security to Rescind ACORN Firefighters Grant
The Dead Pelican (excerpt)

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urging that she rescind an Assistance to Firefighters Grant awarded to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. “With fire departments all over Louisiana – and the rest of the country – struggling to make ends meet and get the equipment and training they need to protect their local communities, the idea of a million dollar grant going to ACORN is unsettling, to say the least,” said Vitter. “ACORN’s continued contempt for state and federal laws has placed their entire organization under a cloud of serious scrutiny, and this grant should be rescinded and awarded to a more deserving group of first responders.”

A grant in the amount of $997,402 was awarded to ACORN under the FY 2008 Fire Prevention and Safety Program. In his letter, Vitter questions the logic behind awarding such a large sum to an organization with no clear expertise in fire safety and prevention. “I’ve had grave reservations about ACORN for some time, and over the past year, we’ve seen numerous examples of serious allegations of wrongdoing on the part of this organization and its employees across the country,” Vitter said. “I simply can’t see the logic behind diverting much needed funding from worthy fire departments to this organization.”

(To read the letter click on story title link above,)