CASE STATISTICS DO MATTER -- (House of Representatives - August 04, 1999)

[Page: H6968]

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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, later this week we will address the question of funding for the Legal Services Corporation relative to the accuracy of their reporting regarding the caseload that they handle on behalf of the American people.

   The President of the Legal Services Corporation, John McKay, stated in February of 1999:

   Case statistics play an essential role in the budget request and performance plan submitted by LSC to Congress each year. Therefore, the reliability of case statistics submitted by programs to LSC is vital to obtaining continued Federal funding for legal services. This type of information holds great promise for securing increased Federal funding.

   Now, what is it that we have learned about their case reports? According to the Inspector General and GAO audit of 11 grantees, the 1997 report caseload for the 11 grantees was 370,000 cases; invalidated cases by their own IG and GAO were 175,000. That means one-half of the caseload reports based upon which they request money were invalidated by their own IG and the GAO. Therefore, they should receive one-half the financial requests they make.

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