Political Quotes

“To establish justice, the Founders had embraced at the earliest moments the notion that access to our court system was a critically important, indispensable right of citizenship in our country. We had a Republican President, President Nixon, who created the Legal Services Corporation to provide access to our courts, notwithstanding the economic circumstances of Americans. Legal Services operates in each of our States, and we have a responsibility as we consider this bill to think about where the gaps in justice exist. The chairman has been extraordinarily helpful in trying to focus on this question. However, I think that in terms of the numbers as presented, I side more with the author of the amendment inasmuch as that DEA we are funding--and it is critically important in a city like my own and in communities all across our country--but we are funding DEA at $35 million above the request. That is after OMB, after DEA walked through their numbers, looked at the budget, ascertained what was needed. The committee's mark at the moment, the chairman's mark, would provide more than what was requested, whereas, when we look at Legal Services, it is $80 million shy of what was requested.…”