[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 113 (Wednesday, August 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H6968]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CASE STATISTICS DO MATTER

  (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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