OPENING STATEMENT OF

HONORABLE GEORGE W. GEKAS, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION

September 29, 1999

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.