Posted by
Defend America on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 12:29:28 PM
Senator
Roland Burris is claiming credit for a provision in Harry Reid's
"manager's amendment," unveiled Saturday morning, that could funnel
money to ACORN through the health care bill.
On December 9, Burris, an Illinois Democrat, pledged that he would
filibuster a health care bill without a public option. "If we have to
get 60 and it comes back and it does not have a public option in it, I
will not vote for it," he said. Then early last week he said
he could vote for the bill if there were changes made to achieve the
goals of the public option: "until this bill addresses cost,
competition, and accountability in a meaningful way—it will not win [my
vote]."
Asked last night before the Senate voted why he was planning to
support a bill without a public option, Burris said: "We have a great
bill--the best we could get. And it also covers most of our concerns:
competition, cost, and accountability." But had anything specifically
changed in the text of the bill that helped him change his mind? Burris
told THE WEEKLY STANDARD: "It was the disparity provision that was put
in, which we had something to do with, in terms of making sure that
diabetes and the other diseases that are affecting minorities are
really studied by HHS in all of these pilot programs."
The provision he cites, found on pages 240 through 248 of the manager's amendment,
requires that six different agencies each establish an “Office of
Minority Health.” The agencies are the “Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Food and Drug Administration,
and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.”
...
According to a Senate legislative aide, the scandal-plagued Association
of Community Organizations for Reform Now could qualify for grants
under this provision. ACORN would also qualify for funding on page 150
of the underlying Reid bill,
which says that "community and consumer-focused nonprofit groups" may
receive grants to "conduct public education activities to raise
awareness of the availability of qualified health plans."
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/12/exclusive_acorn_qualifies_for_1.asp