[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 124 (Friday, July 28, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1551]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



[[Page E 1551]]


DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
                   AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                            HON. TIM JOHNSON

                            of south dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 26, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2076) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and 
     State, the Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1996, and for other purposes:

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Chairman, I must express my serious 
concern with a provision included in the fiscal year 1996 Commerce, 
Justice, State appropriations bill which eliminates line-item funding 
for Native American populations within the Legal Services Corporation. 
In the bill, the Appropriations Committee has not only reduced funding 
of the Legal Services Corporation by 30 percent--from $400 million to 
$278 million, but the committee also eliminated the separate line item 
for native American population funding, which last year provided $10 
million for native American programs nationwide. The elimination of 
this line-item funding will lead to the termination of legal services 
for some of America's most underserved population, our low-income 
native Americans.
  Because our Nation's Founders made the establishment of justice the 
first specific function of the new government, justice is the historic 
mandate of a free society. The Legal Services Corporation provides 
justice to people who could otherwise not afford it, ensuring equal 
access to justice. On countless Indian reservations across the nation, 
Indian legal services are the only source of legal aid to the poor and 
underrepresented.
  Presently there are 33 Indian legal services programs in existence. 
The $10 million in fiscal year 1995 funding made possible the work of 
approximately 150 attorneys, paralegals, and tribal court advocates 
serving clients on over 175 Indian reservations as well as 220 Alaska 
Native villages. The work of these attorneys has helped tribes develop 
tribal courts, and create programs for the prevention of domestic abuse 
and violence. On remote reservations with unique cultures and needs, 
legal services attorneys are the first line of contact and counseling 
for families in crisis. They enforce child support, and help ensure the 
delivery of health care services to the poor, elderly, and disabled.
  In my State of South Dakota, there are nine federally recognized 
tribes whose members collectively make up one of the largest Native 
American populations in any State. At the same time, South Dakota has 3 
of the 10 poorest counties in the Nation, all of which are within 
reservation boundaries. Dakota Plains Legal Services, serving North and 
South Dakota, employs 10 attorneys, 8 paralegals, and roughly 10 
support staff in 7 offices, all but 1 on reservations. Dakota Plains 
helps low-income Indians in tribal as well as Federal courts with civil 
and criminal disputes. If the line-item for Native American populations 
is not restored, Dakota Plains Legal Services would lose 70 percent of 
their operating budget--virtually shutting down services to Indians in 
my State.
  Additionally devastating is the bill's requirement that Indian legal 
services programs compete for the remaining LSC funding under a census-
based formula--a scheme that will result in even further cuts to Native 
American programs. The current legal services line-item funds Indian 
legal services programs at a level that is three to four times greater 
than
 the actual number of reservation-based individuals listed in the 1990 
census. Since the inception of the Legal Services Corporation in 1974, 
it has been conceded by both Democrats and Republicans that effective 
legal services for Indians cannot be provided strictly on census-based 
numbers because: First, many tribes are not large enough to justify the 
funding of even one lawyer; and second, actual operating costs for 
Indian legal services attorneys are much higher than for other legal 
services programs because of geographic remoteness, and the 
availability and high costs of goods and services on reservations. 
Increased funding on a non-census basis helps overcome these and other 
factors, such as language and cultural barriers. Past studies have 
justified the need for increased funding for Indian legal services by 
as much as seven times the numbers that a straight Census-based formula 
would yield.

  For the past 30 years, Indian legal services have become an integral 
part of this Nation's promise of equal access to justice. The 
elimination of the line item for Native American populations will deny 
justice to Native Americans in my State and across the country. I urge 
my colleagues in the eventual conference on this measure, and on the 
appropriate authorizing committees to closely consider the 
ramifications of this poorly thought out provision.


                          ____________________