Remarks to the Michigan State Bar Association in Detroit, Michigan

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 25, 2000

September 21, 2000

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for that warm welcome. Thank you, President Butzbaugh, for that introduction, even though you almost took my speech off with you. [Laughter]

And I also want to thank your incoming bar vice president, Reginald Turner, because he was a White House fellow, and I know he's chairing your Access to Justice Task Force now. And I was glad he was out there. Thank you. And I want to acknowledge the presence here of your attorney general, Jennifer Granholm, and the president of the Legal Services Corporation, John McKay, and Judge Harold Hood, the first State bar commission chair on gender, race, and ethnic bias issues. That's very important. I thank you.

I'd also like to say that my longtime friend Mayor Archer was here and had to leave, but his wife, Trudy Archer, is here. And I thank you, Trudy, for staying around. You've heard me speak a lot before, and you didn't have to do that. I thank you.

When the mayor heard I was going to be in Michigan today, he told me you were here, and you were interested in these access-to-justice issues. And he told me that I was coming to the bar association. [Laughter] We've been friends, as I said, a very, very long time. He and Hillary used to work together in the ABA, back when he was a judge and before I was President, on the participation of women and minorities in the bar. So I've known Dennis for many years, and we share a common interest in a lot of the things that you're concerned about now.

I would like to begin by congratulating those who were honored for 50 years of service in the legal profession. A tremendous amount has been done in the last half century to increase access to justice, from the establishment of our modern civil rights laws to the creation of Legal Services Corporation, to the acceptance of public interest practice, to the growing numbers of women and minorities in the profession. And Michigan lawyers clearly have been on the forefront of those efforts. I already mentioned the role Mayor Archer played in the ABA when he was on the Supreme Court.

I'd like to mention two of those honored tonight: Leonard Grossman has given a lifetime service for civil liberties; and Judge Damon Keith, who I had the honor to know before I was President, for his life of service in civil rights.

Tonight I would like to talk about a couple of issues that I think are profoundly important to the question of access to justice and the future of one of its cornerstones, the Legal Services Corporation.

We're all here because we believe equal justice is the birthright of every American, but there remains a crying need for the work of the Legal Services Corporation to make that principle a reality for all citizens, including that little baby. I don't mind having babies cry in my speech. [Laughter] The only thing I hate about babies crying is, it reminds me how old I am. [Laughter]

The Legal Services Corporation has been important to my family for a long time. In the 1970's, when President Carter was in office, he appointed Hillary to the Legal Services Corporation Board, and she served as its youngest chair. And in all these years we have cared a great deal about it. Every budget I have submitted as President has requested more funding for legal services, but every budget passed by Congress--that's the good news, but every budget I have passed by Congress has drastically slashed my request, and funding has declined by 25 percent since 1996, when plainly, the number of people in our country who need access to legal services and who can't afford them has substantially increased.

Again this year the Congress is proposing to flatline or cut the budget that I have asked to be increased by $36 million. So if any of you know anybody in Congress and you can get me another vote or two, I'd appreciate it.

Now seriously, this is not some sort of abstract concept or, as some Members of Congress, I think, honestly believe, just sort of a luxury our democracy can do without. It is tens of thousands of Americans who seek a lawyer and can't consult with one because they don't have the money for it. Hardworking people in rural communities or inner cities, many of whom have never even seen a lawyer. It is a profound failing in our system of justice when we don't provide legal services but we continue to maintain we are all equal before the law.

Obviously, you think lawyers make a difference, or you wouldn't be one. And I ask you again, this--for most of our history, since legal services came into being, this has not been a partisan issue. And I would hope it would not be again. Our country will have a $211 billion surplus this year. We can afford $36 million more for legal services.

But I'd also like to talk about the responsibilities of the profession, because the Government can't do all of this alone. Since antiquity, lawyers have been expected to give of their time and talent pro bono. It is essential for our democracy and the future of this profession that everyone who needs a lawyer can get one and that everyone who might one day need a lawyer trusts the system will work in that event for him or her.