Jim Ramstad: “Mr. Chairman, I join as the second sponsor of this answer to prevent the devastating 54-percent cut in Legal Services…”

“Mr. Chairman, I join as the second sponsor of this answer to prevent the devastating 54-percent cut in Legal Services Corporation funding. Mr. Chairman, every Member of the House before voting on this Draconian 54-percent cut in Legal Services should walk across the way and read the words etched on the Supreme Court of the United States. They say, ``Equal Justice Under Law.'' Because if this amendment is defeated, there will be no equal justice in America. Our poorest people, our most vulnerable people, will be shut out of the courts if we wipe out Legal Services. Congress has already cut Legal Services 30 percent since 1995. If we enact this cut on top of that, thousands and thousands of domestic violence victims, neglected children, vulnerable senior citizens, and people with disabilities would have absolutely no access to civil justice. As a sponsor of this amendment, Mr. Chairman, I had hoped to restore Legal Services funding to the same level funding as this fiscal year. Unfortunately, as the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) explained, we were only able to find offsets to bring the funding up to $275 million, which is $30 million less than current funding and $65 million less than the request. So even if we pass this amendment today to restore partial funding, we are still experiencing a real cut, a reduction of 11 percent over this year's funding.”