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Federal Document Clearing House
Congressional Testimony
March 23, 2000, Thursday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 1254 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY March 23, 2000 GEORGE W. GEKAS CHAIRMAN HOUSE
APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE - JUSTICE STATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE-JUSTICE STATE
APPROPRIATIONS
BODY:
Statement of the Honorable
George W. Gekas, Chairman, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
Committee on the Judiciary Before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State,
and the Judiciary Committee on Appropriations March 23, 2000 Thank you Mr.
Chairman for allowing me to address you and your esteemed colleagues today.
First, I want to preface my remarks by acknowledging the herculean efforts that
your chair, Mr. Rogers, has expended in overseeing the operations of the
Legal Services Corporation in what is a difficult job of
ensuring that the poor of this country have the most effective legal assistance
possible within the constraints of available resources. As everyone knows, I
have always supported the right of the poor to have access to our country's
legal system. Although in previous Congresses I have suggested a somewhat
different approach, the Legal Services Corporation is with us
and we must make it the best it can be. To that end, the Subcommittee on
Commercial and Administrative Law -- which controls the Corporation's
authorization and which I chair -- held a comprehensive hearing last September
that examined into certain widely reported abuses within the Legal
Services Corporation and its grantees that cried out for examination
and reform. Specifically, we looked into the matter of case over- reporting by
the Corporation and related data reports. The hearing -- at the very least --
uncovered rampant, systemic case over- reporting problems throughout the program
that were documented by the GAO and, ultimately, acknowledged by the
Corporation's management and inspector general. Our hearing also disclosed a
potential credibility issue with respect to the Corporation's obligation to
inform Congress of these problems. The failure to account for the number of
cases reported to Congress calls into question the very credibility of the
Corporation. If we cannot rely on its case statistics, what can we believe?
While we recognize that the Corporation's appropriations are not per se
dependent on the number of cases its grantees handle, this information is very
relevant to any analysis of the Corporation's effectiveness, cost-efficiency,
administrative controls, and compliance with Congressional restrictions. If
nothing else, our hearing revealed that the Corporation and its grantees have
extensive accountability problems regarding their ability to supply accurate
case reporting statistics. We understand that the Corporation is undertaking
some ameliorative measures to address these concerns. Unfortunately, we continue
to hear of other problems, such as grantees refusing to allow the Corporation's
Inspector General to have access to their files. In fact, we've recently been
made aware that at least two grantees have denied access to their own
independent public accountants, professionals who are retained by the grantees
themselves to conduct independent audits of their operations. Without the
ability to review grantees' operations, absolutely no one can assess the
accuracy of the information the grantees provide to the Corporation and,
ultimately, to Congress. We also note that the Corporation is apparently not
subject to the Government Performance Results Act ("GPRA"). Nevertheless, a
clear statutory mandate requiring the Corporation to comply with GPRA would
ensure that it had a strategic plan with performance criteria that could
objectively be used to analyze and measure the Corporation's actual performance.
We urge you -- given the extent and gravity of these problems -- to require the
Corporation, as part of its fiscal year 2001 appropriation, to provide Congress
with accurate case reporting statistics -- perhaps on a quarterly basis -- and
that it include a mandate that the Corporation better account for its compliance
with Congressional restrictions. Further, we would suggest that grantees be
strongly encouraged to comply with audits conducted by the Corporation's
Inspector General and independent public accountants retained by these grantees.
Again, I want to stress how deeply I am committed to providing legal services to
the poor. But I must also stress that I am just as dedicated to the principle of
accountability by all Federally- funded programs.
LOAD-DATE: March 31, 2000, Friday
