WASHINGTON – The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation will investigate its scholarship program following the admission by a House member that she wrongly steered scholarships to her relatives and the children of a staff member, the longtime attorney for the tax-exempt group said Tuesday.
“I never dreamed such a thing would have occurred,” said Amy Goldson, who represents the influential foundation. While it has ties to members of the Congressional Black Caucus, it is run separately.
Goldson said in an interview that the foundation will review past awards and scholarship guidelines to ensure there’s not a repeat of the errors by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas.
The Dallas Morning News first reported that 23 scholarships Johnson handed out since 2005 violated eligibility rules.
Johnson said Monday her actions were unintentional, but Goldson pointed out that the students, the lawmaker awarding the foundation scholarships, or the lawmaker’s designee must certify that the recipients are not related to the lawmaker.
Goldson said there were false certifications in Johnson’s scholarships.
“Rest assured they are not just sitting idly by,” Goldson said of the foundation’s staff. “They are looking at this very seriously. They are going to do everything they can to see if this has occurred in the past and put in place additional guidelines to make sure it doesn’t occur again.”
