On the recordSeptember 12, 2017
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I feel comfortable with Mr. Cohen withdrawing his amendment because I know the chairman, Mr. Culberson, is very supportive of this program. It is interesting to note that this program was born in a bipartisan fashion, with President Nixon, at that time, being the main supporter of it. The bill only provides $300 million for Legal Services, which is a cut of $85 million from fiscal year 2017. This amendment provides a downpayment towards restoring these cuts, and I commend the authors for offering it. We should not be cutting LSC funding at a time when more people than ever qualify for these services. Legal aid providers always must turn away more than half of eligible applicants. They already do that, and these cuts would only create a bigger problem. Very briefly, in closing, there are a lot of issues that we can discuss that make America great. One of them is the right to legal representation. If you can't afford it, then this is where programs like Legal Services come in and support.
