25TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION -- (House of Representatives - July 27, 1999)

[Page: H6430]

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   (Mr. ARMEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

   Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, today the White House is holding a party celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation.

   Mr. Speaker, this is no time to celebrate. We now know that the Legal Services Corporation massively misrepresented its caseload to Congress. In fact, according to a recent study, LSC misreported a full one-third of its cases to Congress. That kind of waste and mismanagement are hardly causes for celebration.

   LSC was inflating numbers. LSC was giving Congress misleading information. LSC was wasting taxpayer money. And worst of all, it was neglecting the very people it claims to help.

   Mr. Speaker, we cannot reward poor performance and misleading information. No birthday celebration can paper over the fact that the Legal Services Corporation is not helping as many people as it claims.

   Now that the false cases have been exposed, it is clear that LSC does not deserve the funding it has been getting. In fact, Mr. Speaker, perhaps they should make their case before the false claims court.

   Mr. Speaker, given LSC's habit of inflating numbers by a third, I would not be surprised if that birthday cake at the White House today has 33 candles on it.

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