Political Quotes

“I would like to echo the comments made by the ranking member, Mr. Fattah. I remember the days I worked very closely with Chairman Wolf, and at that time also with the Subcommittee Chairman Rogers, as their ranking member, and it was always understood that the Legal Services Corporation was a bipartisan effort. In other words, we understood the need for it. And as the chairman has said, we understood the need to protect this program. There were always discussions as to how much money we should allocate it, but there was never a desire to get rid of it. There was even discussion tonight not only of what a waste of money this program is, but also perhaps doing away with it totally. This really strikes at something much deeper than just this particular amendment. And it is, as Mr. Fattah has said, Where are we going when we believe that services as essential as legal services should not be made available to people who cannot afford any other access? We keep mentioning--and maybe people think that some of us are trying to be funny--that Richard Nixon understood then the need for this program to exist, and President Nixon understood the need for it to grow to a point where it could be that access point for people. So I just hope that both Mr. Fattah and I are correct, that this will not get the support that some people think it will get; that, in fact, this amendment will be defeated.…”