Copyright 1999 Star Tribune
Star Tribune
(Minneapolis, MN)
July 28, 1999, Wednesday, Metro Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 11A
LENGTH: 316 words
HEADLINE:
Ramstad, Clintons urge full funding for legal aid organization for the poor
BYLINE: Coralie Carlson; Staff Writer
DATELINE: Washington, D.C.
BODY:
President Clinton and the First Lady stood
with Congress members from both parties Tuesday to urge the House to restore
full funding for the Legal Services Corp. (LSC), which provides
legal aid to the poor.
Minnesota Republican Rep. Jim
Ramstad attended the White House ceremony honoring the LSC's 25th anniversary
and was hailed as one of its top Republican supporters.
Ramstad is expected to lead a bipartisan effort in the
House next week to restore $159 million that was cut last week
from the LSC annual funding of about $300 million. Restoring
such drastic reductions has become an annual event. Conservative members have
long complained that the LSC has an activist agenda. Several years ago, they
passed legislation restricting the group from litigating in such areas as
abortion rights, welfare and immigration.
This
year, House Majority Leader Dick Armey and others accused the LSC of inflating
its caseload in official reports to justify expanded requests for federal money.
The LSC, designed to increase poor
people's access to civil courts, provided about $3.9 million to
six Minnesota centers, which assist more than 100,000 people annually, said
Nancy Kleeman of the Minnesota State Bar Association.
Centers funded by the LSC provide counsel
in cases ranging from domestic violence to assistance with adoptions.
"Some things haven't changed since I was
[LSC] chair in 1980 _ we still have to fight for every penny from Congress,"
Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday.
Ramstad, who worked as a criminal justice
lawyer serving indigent clients in the
1970s, said economically disadvantaged
clients need help for civil cases as well as criminal ones. "Otherwise these
words that are etched here _ equal protection for all _ are meaningless," he
said, pointing toward the Supreme Court building.
LOAD-DATE: July 29, 1999
