[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 2, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REAUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL SERVICES

  (Mr. GEKAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, very soon now the Congress of the United 
States will be taking up the vexatious issue of the reauthorization of 
Legal Services. Over the years, the original purpose of this effort to 
help the poor has become warped and expanded, and sometimes described 
as out of sight from the original purpose. The shade of opinion as we 
sit here today ranges from an attempt to zero it out entirely to 
expanding even further the powers that already are vested in it.
  We intend in our committee, in the Administrative Law Subcommittee of 
the Committee on the Judiciary, to take up this issue through a 
reauthorization set of hearings, possibly beginning next week. At that 
time we will let the American public know what these opinions are. 
Should we expand the powers of Legal Services or should we zero it out, 
or perhaps somewhere in the middle. To go back to the original purpose, 
to allow the poor to have access to the courts, should be the guiding 
light of what we finally do with Legal Services in our country.


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