WASHINGTON -
- The Senate voted Monday to block the Department of Housing and Urban Development from giving grants to ACORN, a community organization under fire most recently after workers in Baltimore were videotaped giving advice on evading tax laws to a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute.
The 83-7 vote would deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin voted for the measure; Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski was not present for the voting. Both are Democrats.
Before the videotaping incidents, ACORN had been under fire for voter registration irregularities during the 2008 presidential campaign, but recent disclosures about the type of advice handed out by the group's workers has further angered lawmakers.
The Senate vote came days after the release of videotapes on BigGovernment.com, showing ACORN employees in Baltimore giving advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman's income.
Two other videos, aired frequently on media outlets such as the Fox News Channel, depict similar situations in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.
The two Baltimore ACORN employees were fired immediately after the videos aired.
Stuart Katzenberg, lead organizer for the group's Maryland chapter, said the pair's conduct "did not meet ACORN's standards of professionalism."
The Senate's move, which adds an amendment to a House bill that must go back to that chamber before taking effect, would make ACORN ineligible to win HUD grants for programs such as counseling low-income people on how to get mortgages and for fair housing education and outreach.
Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., said that ACORN has received $53 million in taxpayer funds since 1994 and that the group was eligible for a wider set of funding in the pending legislation, which pays for housing and transportation programs.
Just last week, the Census Bureau severed its ties with ACORN, saying it does not want the group's help in outreach efforts on the decennial count.
After the Baltimore videotape surfaced, Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, Maryland's lone Republican in Washington, called on the Democratic majority to launch a congressional investigation to "justify any further taxpayer funding of ACORN."
Mikulski was one of nine senators who did not vote on the ACORN amendment. She was receiving physical therapy for her ankle, which she broke in July, her spokeswoman said.
Mikulski had been informed that there would be no Senate votes on Monday. The ACORN amendment, which took place about 5:30 p.m., was the only roll call vote of the day.
She later placed a statement in the Congressional Record, indicating that she would have voted in favor of the funding cutoff amendment had she been present at the time of the vote, said her communications director, Rachel MacKnight.
Cardin spokeswoman Susan Sullam said the "vote speaks for itself" about the senator's views on the group's actions.
In recent months, Republicans have become increasingly critical of the census' ties with ACORN.
The group, which advocates for poor people, conducted a massive voter registration effort last year and became a target of conservatives when some employees were accused of submitting false registration forms with names such as "Mickey Mouse."
Just last week, prosecutors in Miami-Dade County, Fla., arrested 11 people for falsifying hundreds of voter applications during a registration drive last year. ACORN tipped the authorities off to the problem. On the hidden camera controversy, ACORN says it has fired the employees involved but has lashed out at Fox for pumping up the scandal. In a statement, Bertha Lewis, ACORN's chief organizer, said the tapes had been doctored and violated Maryland's wiretapping laws. She promised to sue Fox.
Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia A. Jessamy has said the apparently secret taping or its online dissemination may have violated the state's two-party consent laws for recording conversations.
The Associated Press and Baltimore Sun reporters Paul West and Frank D. Roylance contributed to this article.
The 83-7 vote would deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin voted for the measure; Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski was not present for the voting. Both are Democrats.
Before the videotaping incidents, ACORN had been under fire for voter registration irregularities during the 2008 presidential campaign, but recent disclosures about the type of advice handed out by the group's workers has further angered lawmakers.
The Senate vote came days after the release of videotapes on BigGovernment.com, showing ACORN employees in Baltimore giving advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman's income.
Two other videos, aired frequently on media outlets such as the Fox News Channel, depict similar situations in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.
The two Baltimore ACORN employees were fired immediately after the videos aired.
Stuart Katzenberg, lead organizer for the group's Maryland chapter, said the pair's conduct "did not meet ACORN's standards of professionalism."
The Senate's move, which adds an amendment to a House bill that must go back to that chamber before taking effect, would make ACORN ineligible to win HUD grants for programs such as counseling low-income people on how to get mortgages and for fair housing education and outreach.
Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., said that ACORN has received $53 million in taxpayer funds since 1994 and that the group was eligible for a wider set of funding in the pending legislation, which pays for housing and transportation programs.
Just last week, the Census Bureau severed its ties with ACORN, saying it does not want the group's help in outreach efforts on the decennial count.
After the Baltimore videotape surfaced, Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, Maryland's lone Republican in Washington, called on the Democratic majority to launch a congressional investigation to "justify any further taxpayer funding of ACORN."
Mikulski was one of nine senators who did not vote on the ACORN amendment. She was receiving physical therapy for her ankle, which she broke in July, her spokeswoman said.
Mikulski had been informed that there would be no Senate votes on Monday. The ACORN amendment, which took place about 5:30 p.m., was the only roll call vote of the day.
She later placed a statement in the Congressional Record, indicating that she would have voted in favor of the funding cutoff amendment had she been present at the time of the vote, said her communications director, Rachel MacKnight.
Cardin spokeswoman Susan Sullam said the "vote speaks for itself" about the senator's views on the group's actions.
In recent months, Republicans have become increasingly critical of the census' ties with ACORN.
The group, which advocates for poor people, conducted a massive voter registration effort last year and became a target of conservatives when some employees were accused of submitting false registration forms with names such as "Mickey Mouse."
Just last week, prosecutors in Miami-Dade County, Fla., arrested 11 people for falsifying hundreds of voter applications during a registration drive last year. ACORN tipped the authorities off to the problem. On the hidden camera controversy, ACORN says it has fired the employees involved but has lashed out at Fox for pumping up the scandal. In a statement, Bertha Lewis, ACORN's chief organizer, said the tapes had been doctored and violated Maryland's wiretapping laws. She promised to sue Fox.
Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia A. Jessamy has said the apparently secret taping or its online dissemination may have violated the state's two-party consent laws for recording conversations.
The Associated Press and Baltimore Sun reporters Paul West and Frank D. Roylance contributed to this article.
