WHEELING - As Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito calls for hearings to hold ACORN accountable to taxpayers, Congressman Alan Mollohan remains silent concerning his vote to fund the organization.
A total of 345 U.S. House members - 172 Democrats and 173 Republicans - voted Thursday to deny federal funding to ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
Capito, R-W.Va., as well as congressmen Charles Wilson and Zack Space, both D-Ohio, joined to vote against the liberal-leaning group by supporting House Resolution 3221, the "Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009."
ACORN is an advocacy group for low-income people that focuses on voter registration and affordable housing. It has been embroiled in several controversies since before the start of the 2008 presidential campaign.
Mollohan, D-W.Va., was among the 75 members, all Democrats, who voted against the measure. The congressman did not respond to repeated phone calls and e-mails seeking comment about his vote to provide ACORN with federal funds.
On a series of hidden-camera videos released since last week, ACORN employees are seen apparently advising a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp to lie about her profession, how to launder her earnings and set up a brothel using underaged girls from Central America. The video was the latest in a series that already has led to the firing of four ACORN employees in Baltimore and Washington.
Though Mollohan remains quiet regarding his vote in support of ACORN, Capito - noting the organization has received about $53 million from U.S. taxpayers since 1994 - has made it clear that she will do as much as she can to prevent more federal money from flowing to the group.
"It is clear that serious and troubling issues have come to light regarding ACORN that logically leads to questions about whether they deserve to receive taxpayer subsidies," she said.
So Capito, who serves as ranking member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee of Housing and Community Opportunity, sent a letter to the subcommittee's chairwoman, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., requesting the congressional hearings.
"In the past few weeks, there have been numerous accounts of ACORN representatives advising a young couple on how to obtain housing assistance to set up an illicit business," Capito wrote.
"While there may be entities within ACORN that provide appropriate assistance to Americans struggling to find housing, we cannot forget that this entity is also facing investigations regarding potential voter registration fraud in Ohio, Nevada, and Florida among others," Capito said.
"It is imperative that the subcommittee hold hearings on the current and past allegations against ACORN to ensure that the taxpayer's money is not being used improperly or illegally," the congresswoman concluded.
Wilson also defended his vote against the group.
"Yesterday, I supported an amendment to stop federal funds from going to ACORN. Given the current questions surrounding their organization, I felt this was the appropriate thing to do," he said Friday.
"I am outraged at the actions of ACORN's employees and believe they should be penalized to the full extent of the law," Space said in a news release.
On Monday, the Senate voted 83-7 to deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN. The Census Bureau, meanwhile, also has severed its ties with the group for the 2010 national census.
Republicans accelerated their criticism a year ago when ACORN, in conducting a massive voter registration drive, was accused of submitting some false registration forms.