Excerpt:
Two Republican lawmakers are raising questions about a decision to lease office space for the Census Bureau in a building owned by a Falls Church mosque.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Rep. Darrell Issa of California each sent letters this week to the General Services Administration asking for details about a two-year lease for an office on the second floor of a building on Edsall Road in Alexandria. The building is owned by the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center, one of the largest Muslim congregations on the East Coast.
The lease has been criticized by many conservative bloggers after an article about it appeared last week on a Web site run by Steven Emerson, who specializes in investigating Islamic extremists. The Web site's report, headlined "Government Pays Mosque it Considers Radical," was based on brief, intragovernmental messages about the mosque. The blogosphere's reaction prompted Collins and Issa to inquire whether taxpayer funds were helping to finance an organization with ties to terrorists, according to their aides. They also sought clarification on how GSA vets potential government contractors.