COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING 

SUPPORTING EFFORTS TO FIGHT WASTE, FRAUD AND ABUSE IN ALL FEDERAL PROGRAMS

WHEREAS, Congress funded and directed HUD’s Inspector General to target criminal investigations directed at selected cities to root out fraud and abuse in the full range of HUD programs, such as CDBG, homeless, public housing, Section 8, HOME and FHA insurance; and

WHEREAS, HUD’s Inspector General, in collaboration with Members of Congress, selected and began investigations in three cities, all with Democratic and African-American mayors; and

WHEREAS, there was no credible or objective basis presented by the Inspector General or Congress for selecting these cities; and

WHEREAS, as it has been almost three months since the selection of San Francisco, Baltimore and New Orleans, but no criteria have since been presented which in any way justify the selection of these three cities; and

WHEREAS, subsequent newspaper articles indicated that the final list of a dozen potential target cities was compiled and that virtually every city on that list was led by a minority mayor; and

WHEREAS, the credibility of this initiative has been undermined by the false statements of Congress, claiming before one Congressional Committee that the selection of the three cities was final but stating before another that they were not, and also illegally hiding a report that found Inspector General abuses in the current Inspector General program that found Inspector General abuses in the current Inspector General program that conducts targeted fraud investigations; and

WHEREAS, despite commitments to resolve these issues in a fair and expeditious manner, deeply troubling questions remain unanswered, such as: Why did Congress design and fund investigations targeted only at cities? Why not investigations targeted also at states and counties that receive significant HUD funding? Why were no legitimate criteria for selection presented? Why is this type of investigation targeted only at housing and community development funds but not at other federal programs? Why did this Urban Fraud Initiative then target only Democratic and African-American mayors? and

WHEREAS, this Fraud Initiative, while sound and important in concept, has been tainted by race and politics,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors commends the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for terminating the illegitimately-conceived investigation in Baltimore, San Francisco, and New Orleans; and

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors strongly supports a new and more comprehensive, unbiased and sound selection process; and

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors commends the FBI and the Department of Justice for agreeing to jointly manage any future HUD fraud initiatives to assure fairness and legitimacy; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors urges the Congress, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Inspector General not to move forward with any new selections unless and until DOJ and the FBI develop legitimate criteria to combat waste, fraud and abuse in all federal programs. Those criteria are to be presented to Congress in an open forum for public review and those criteria are then applied fairly to all HUD grantees – states, counties as well as cities.