Copyright 1999 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
SEPTEMBER 29, 1999, WEDNESDAY
SECTION: IN THE NEWS
LENGTH:
325 words
HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT OF
HONORABLE
GEORGE W. GEKAS
CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCIAL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE
LAW
BEFORE THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
COMMERCIAL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW SUBCOMMITTEE
SUBJECT - HEARING ON THE LEGAL
SERVICES CORPORATION
W
BODY:
Last August, when we were on the floor debating the level of
appropriations for the Legal Services Corporation, I very
reluctantly supported an amendment offered to reinstate some of its funding. The
reason for my extreme reluctance was that -- even though I have always supported
the right of the poor to have access to the court systems of our country -- I
believed and continue to believe that there are certain abuses, alleged or
actual or real, within the Legal Services Corporation and its
grantees that cry out for reform. One of these areas was the need to make Legal
Services more accountable.
Indeed, the Appropriations Committee in its
report excoriated Legal Services on that very issue. In particular, it cited
serious concerns about Legal Service's case service reporting statistics and
related data reports. Nevertheless, as I said last August, we should consider
the matters cited by the Appropriations Committee as allegations constituting an
"indictment" against the Legal Services Corporation. I also
said that we should, as fact-finders, proceed with hearings to examine them and
to make sure that this never occurs again.
Today's hearing is the
manifestation of my promise. It also signals the beginning of an extensive
analysis that we will undertake with respect to this problem and others that
have surfaced. It is my hope that as we determine the truth of these allegations
today and in further hearings, we will prepare a comprehensive record that can
be presented to the Appropriations Committee in time for the next funding cycle.
I must say, however, that at even at this early stage in the process, the
reports by GAO and other entities strongly call into question the credibility of
Legal Services Corporation. If we cannot rely on their case
statistics, what can we believe?
Hopefully, we'll get to the truth of some
of these allegations with the assistance of our esteemed witnesses today.
END
LOAD-DATE: September 30, 1999
