[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15901]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION NOT PROVIDING SERVICES IT CLAIMS TO BE

  (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, many years ago, the Congress of the United 
States, under the principle that all Americans, rich or poor, should 
have equal access to protection under the law through legal 
representation in the courts, created the Legal Services Corporation. 
This was designed to give the itinerant, the poor American without 
means, access to the courts.
  We had hoped it would do a good job of service for the American 
people. Many of us have been surprised to discover the number of times 
we hear from constituents that they have been turned away from the 
Corporation. They did not have time for this person's case. So we began 
to ask what is going on. I have to tell my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, the 
results we are discovering are heartbreaking.
  Reports from the Inspector General's office showed that the Legal 
Services Corporation grossly overstated their case load by 70 percent. 
But they have not told Congress.
  Since Congress could no longer rely on timely, accurate information 
from LSC, we asked the General Accounting Office to look at five of 
LSC's largest grantees, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, 
and Puerto Rico. GAO found the same: LSC bloating the numbers, 
misrepresenting the number of people they actually assist.
  At the very least, Congress needs to be able to trust the information 
government departments and agencies provide and that it is timely and 
accurate. Not only does LSC give Congress overstated caseload reports, 
they hide the truth and refuse to tell Congress. Personally, I find 
this insulting. The American people have a right to expect more from 
their government.
  Mr. Speaker, it comes down to this: How can the Legal Services 
Corporation claim to be helping poor people when they do not even know 
how many people they are helping?
  Mr. Speaker, when Congress expresses the compassion of the American 
people by providing a service to its very most poor and needy, those 
agencies must deliver those services, and they must be accountable to 
Congress.
  Legal Services Corporation must be made to do their duty for the 
American people. We simply cannot fund that kind of misrepresentation 
of the Nation's goodwill.

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