[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 113 (Friday, July 24, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H8713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOTICE OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING A QUESTION OF THE 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, 
I hereby notify the House of my intention to offer a resolution as a 
question of the privileges of the House.
  The form of my resolution is as follows:

       Whereas the gentleman from Iowa, Mr. King submitted an 
     amendment to the Committee on Rules to H.R. 3293, the 
     Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and 
     Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010;
       Whereas the said gentleman's amendment would have required 
     that none of the funds made available in this Act be made 
     available to ACORN or any of its 174 known affiliates;
       Whereas, since 1994, ACORN, the Association of Community 
     Organizations for Reform Now, and its affiliates have 
     received $53,643,444.58 in taxpayer funding from the federal 
     government;
       Whereas despite the trust placed in ACORN by taxpayers to 
     act as a responsible steward of the funding provided to it, 
     ACORN has proven itself to be an organization committed to 
     breaking our laws and undermining our democratic political 
     process;
       Whereas during the 2008 federal election cycle, ACORN 
     mobilized its nationwide, grassroots organization in an 
     effort to affect the outcomes of elections nationwide through 
     voter registration campaigns; and
       Whereas ACORN is now under investigation in at least 14 
     states regarding allegations of fraudulent activities that 
     were undertaken by the organization as part of its voter 
     registration campaigns;
       Whereas ACORN was charged with voter fraud in Nevada;
       Whereas ACORN has admitted to submitting over 400,000 
     fraudulent voter registrations in the 2008 election cycle;
       Whereas, because of its alleged fraudulent behavior during 
     the 2008 election cycle, it is important that ACORN be 
     prohibited from receiving any additional taxpayer funding;
       Whereas the need to prohibit additional funding to ACORN 
     led the Gentleman to submit his amendment to the Committee on 
     Rules;
       Whereas the gentleman's amendment complied with all 
     applicable Rules of the House for amendments to 
     appropriations measures and would have been in order under an 
     open amendment process, but regrettably the House Democratic 
     leadership has dramatically and historically reduced the 
     opportunity for open debate on this Floor; and
       Whereas the Speaker, Mrs. Pelosi, the Democrat leadership, 
     and the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, Mr. 
     Obey, prevented the House from voting on the amendment by 
     excluding it from the list of amendments made in order under 
     the rule for the bill: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That H. Res. 673, the rule to accompany H.R. 
     3293, be amended to allow the gentleman from Iowa's amendment 
     be considered and voted on in the House.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under rule IX, the resolution offered from 
the floor by a Member other than the majority leader or the minority 
leader as a question of the privileges of the House has immediate 
precedence only at a time designated by the Chair within 2 legislative 
days after the resolution is properly noticed.
  Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the 
gentleman from Iowa will appear in the Record at this point.
  The Chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution 
constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at 
the time designated for consideration of the resolution.

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