[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 13236-13237]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, this past Friday, July 25, marked the 40th 
anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation, LSC. In 1974, Congress 
enacted legislation with the signature of President Nixon that 
established LSC with bipartisan support. LSC is a private, nonprofit 
corporation, funded by Congress, with the mission to ensure equal 
access to justice under law for all Americans by providing civil legal 
assistance to those who otherwise would be unable to afford it. LSC 
distributes almost all of its annual Federal appropriations to 134 
local legal aid programs, serving communities in every State.
  In Maryland, according to the Maryland Legal Services Corporation, 
MLSC, services to clients in fiscal year 2013 increased 5 percent from 
the prior year, with MLSC grantees opening nearly 168,000 new cases, a 
record high, and benefiting almost 252,000 individuals and families. 
Family cases, about one-third of all cases, involved domestic violence, 
child custody, child support, and other matters and benefited nearly 
80,000 people. Foreclosures, evictions, and other housing cases, also 
almost one-third of cases, benefited approximately 94,000 individuals 
and families. Debt collection, bankruptcy, and other consumer cases, 
which are one-fifth of all cases, directly benefited 23,000 individuals 
and families. The private bar handled almost 8,000 cases through MLSC-
funded organizations. Pro bono attorneys gave nearly 69,000 hours, 
representing almost $19 million in donated legal services.
  And finally, helping to leverage pro bono, the judicare project 
referred about 1,000 judicare cases to nearly 500 reduced-fee attorneys 
that provided 22,000 hours of services, including at least 2,000 pro 
bono hours, which benefited 2,700 individuals and families.
  Let me just give a few examples of the excellent work done by MLSC 
grantees over the last year as a result of the grants given by LSC. 
``Shirley'' was thrilled to move into her new house in Baltimore County 
after nearly 3 years in a nursing facility with help from the Maryland 
Disability Law Center, MDLC. Shirley had a special voucher for non 
elderly persons with disabilities who are transitioning from nursing 
homes to the community, but ran into obstacles finding the right place 
and location to meet her needs. MDLC's Sun shine Folk, a group of 
advocates with disabilities who were formerly institutionalized, and 
MDLC's housing lawyers helped Shirley get an extension of her voucher 
and a professional housing transition team, ensuring that her rights to 
reasonable accommodations were protected.
  Several years ago, Kenneth Brown's mother learned that her landlord 
was in foreclosure and that Fannie Mae wanted to evict her from her 
long-time Baltimore home. But through the Brown family's persistence, 
Public Justice Center's, PJC legal advocacy, and

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the support of community organizing partners, Kenneth and his brother 
Berveyn were able to buy the home this year. Together, PJC and the 
Browns challenged multiple eviction attempts in court and demanded 
needed repairs. PJC community organizing partners also secured a 
meeting with Fannie Mae executives. The Browns avoided eviction and 
ultimately bought the house from Fannie Mae.
  After visiting Baltimore Catholic Charities Immigration Legal 
Services years ago for getting help obtaining her legal permanent 
residence green card, ``Jeannette'' returned to apply for 
naturalization with the help of a volunteer attorney during one of 
ILS's regular naturalization clinics, and was sworn in as a U.S. 
citizen.
  I remain concerned about the access to justice gap that still exists 
today. We must do better than turn away more than 50 percent of 
eligible clients who seek assistance because of the lack of LSC program 
resources. I support full funding of LSC's budget request for fiscal 
year 2015. I strongly support lifting unnecessary, burdensome, and 
counterproductive congressional restrictions, such as restrictions on 
filing class action lawsuits and recovering attorneys' fees. Congress 
should also remove restrictions on the use of non-LSC funds by LSC 
grantees.
  I commend the LSC, MLSC, and the many LSC-funded attorneys and 
private sector lawyers who have donated pro bono hours and who strive 
to live up to the commitment of our legal system to provide equal 
justice under law. Last week I attended a Federal judicial investiture 
ceremony in Maryland, and the judge swore to ``administer justice 
without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the 
rich.'' Congress needs to live up to the same commitment that we 
require our Federal judges to make before sitting on the bench and 
deciding cases. Let us make sure that millions of Americans who need 
access to legal assistance are provided that critical help in cases 
that will have a profound impact on their lives, their family, and 
their community.

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