May 11, 2016, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) for his legislation, H.R. 5063, the “Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016”:
“House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte’s unrelenting work to stop the Obama Administration from using mortgage company settlements stemming from the housing crisis to fund left wing advocacy groups to the tune of millions of dollars is an example for the rest of the GOP Conference in fighting Obama’s incessant overreaches.
“The slush fund issue came to light during Bank of America’s enormous $17 billion settlement when it was revealed that as much as $490 million was slated to go to radical groups like The National Council of La Raza for community outreach. It makes these lawsuits look like little more than extortion to shake down corporations to make donations to Obama-favored political causes.
“Last year, it was Chairman Goodlatte who led the effort to encourage Speaker Paul Ryan to include language in the Omnibus Spending bill prohibiting the establishment of far left slush funds as a condition of settling mortgage cases. Unfortunately, the Obama, Ryan, McConnell spending bill failed to rein in this abuse of power by the Administration.
“Undeterred, Chairman Goodlatte has again taken the lead this year to try to prevent the Justice Department from using the legal settlements as a cudgel to compel mortgage companies to fund third party groups, instead preferring that those monies be directed to the aggrieved homeowners. All of Congress should join him in supporting passage of HR 5063.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.
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