Barney Frank: “first, as to the rule, let us be very clear. This is democracy denied squared. Substantively, this imposes restraints on…”

“first, as to the rule, let us be very clear. This is democracy denied squared. Substantively, this imposes restraints on getting lower income people to vote. One of the Members of the majority, one of the authors of this restruction, the gentleman from Florida, talked about ACORN. In fact, under provisions of the bill which are agreed upon unanimously, what ACORN proposed would have disqualified them from getting funds. There is agreement that if groups are engaging in partisan activity they should be excluded. One thing that the majority forgot to mention, one of the pieces of their amendment to which we object is the piece that says you can only participate in this program if housing is your principal purpose. The faith-based initiative, rest in peace. Apparently, it did not last very long. The primary purpose of faith-based organizations is faith. It is not housing. They would like to do housing. It is part of their mission, but it is not their primary purpose. That is why not just Catholic charities but the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States has asked that this be amended, because this provision that only if your primary purpose is housing can you participate denies any faith- based group the right to participate. Apparently, the fear of low- income people voting outweighs the support for faith-based groups. What are the substantive restrictions? We agree that there should be no partisanship.…”