[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 148 (Thursday, September 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H9366-H9367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION

  (Ms. VELAZQUEZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, last week, by voting to terminate the 
Legal Services Corporation, Republicans committed one of the most 
shameful attacks on the working poor that I have ever witnessed.
  In my own community, Brooklyn Legal Services is there day after day, 
whether it is intervening to save an elderly woman from eviction or 
helping tenants receive fair treatment from their landlord. Legal 
Services is there fighting for their forgotten people.
  Mr. Speaker, the Constitution says that we are all entitled to equal 
protection under the law, but in today's society, some of us are ore 
equal than others. In this country, if you have the money to hire a 
good lawyer, you can make your way through our legal system. But if you 
are poor, you will lose regardless of whether you are right or wrong.
  Nothing should come at the price of denying individuals their 
constitutional rights.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Legal Services Corporation. Let 
us show the American people there are still Members in this House 
willing to fight for those in need of a helping hand.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today to express my outrage over last 
week's move by House Republicans to terminate the Legal Services 
Corporation. These actions represent a shameful attack on the poor of 
this country.
  Mr. Speaker, many of my colleagues will argue that we cannot afford 
programs like the Legal Services Corporation in this time of fiscal 
constraint. But I challenge them, and I ask, ``How can we not?''
  Let me tell you about a life that the Brooklyn Legal Services 
Corporation saved. An 86-year-old latino woman--one of my community's 
abuelitas--who was to be evicted from her home. It seems the landlord 
wanted this elderly woman's apartment for his own use, and decided to 
solve the problem by throwing her out on the street. What he did not 
tell her, and what she did not know, was that under the law senior 
citizens are protected from such evictions. The landlord was 
maliciously tricking this woman into--literally--signing away her right 
to this apartment. Then, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation stepped 
in. They assessed the woman of her rights, and halted an injustice that 
would have condemned her to a certain death on the streets.
  This is not an occasional happening. Recently, a landlord in my 
district decided that because he was going to sell his apartment 
building he no longer needed to bother with its maintenance and upkeep, 
so he left the families living there to fend for themselves. The 
building deteriorated, and it became a place 

[[Page H 9367]]
unfit to live in--let alone raise a family. Once again, Brooklyn Legal 
Services Corporation intervened, and worked to get the building 
updated. Today, these families have a clean and safe building.
  Mr. Speaker, the Constitution says we are all entitled to equal 
protection under the law, but in today's society some of us seem to be 
more equal than others. You see, in this country if you have the money 
to hire a good lawyer, you can make your way through our legal system. 
If you are poor, new to this country, or don't understand the legal 
system, however, you will lose regardless of whether you are right or 
wrong. That's why the efforts of the Legal Services Corporation are so 
important. They are in over 900 communities, working to make sure that 
those who need help have a fighting chance.
       I urge my colleagues to support the efforts of the LSC. Let 
     us show the American people that there are still Members in 
     Congress willing to fight for those in need of a helping 
     hand.

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