José E. Serrano: “I rise to speak on the rule to correct a misconception that may be going around the House. I had requested a waiver from…”

“I rise to speak on the rule to correct a misconception that may be going around the House. I had requested a waiver from the Committee on Rules for an amendment to increase the Legal Services Corporation. I did that because I am troubled every year by the fact that we come to this floor with a very low amount for Legal Services, fully understanding that in the House the amount will go up and in conference the amount will even go higher. So I wanted to avoid us that pain by asking for a waiver from the Committee on Rules. That did not take place. So I will still be presenting an amendment. However, the amendment, and this is what I want to clarify, will be offsetted. It will have offsets and it will bring us up to $275 million. So there is a misconception going around the House that we will be presenting an amendment that Members cannot vote for in a bipartisan fashion. That is not correct. The amendment that I will be presenting will allow us to bring for the time being the Legal Services Corporation up to $275 million, and there will be offsets that I will be presenting. Also, Members should know that that particular amendment will be part of the early process of the discussion rather than later on.”