25th Anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation, 1999

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 145 (Thursday, July 29, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 41003-41004]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-19599]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 145 / Thursday, July 29, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 41003]]

                Proclamation 7212 of July 26, 1999

                
25th Anniversary of the Legal Services 
                Corporation, 1999

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                The Bill of Rights guarantees that no American shall be 
                ``deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due 
                process of law.'' This promise lies at the heart of our 
                free society and reflects our reverence for impartial 
                justice and the rule of law. In a few simple words, it 
                cements the fundamental covenant between our government 
                and the people it serves.

                Our Nation's founders understood that true justice 
                cannot exist unless it is accessible to all. In this 
                same spirit, Congress established the Legal Services 
                Corporation (LSC) 25 years ago to secure equal access 
                to justice under the law for all Americans by making 
                available high-quality legal assistance in civil 
                matters to citizens who otherwise would be unable to 
                afford it.

                Designed as a private, nonprofit, independent entity, 
                the LSC focuses its efforts on funding local legal 
                services programs that are rooted in and accountable to 
                the communities they serve. The dedicated staffs of 
                these programs, and the many private attorneys who 
                donate their time and expertise, strive to protect and 
                defend the interests of their clients and to maintain 
                the highest standards of the legal profession. In 
                recent years, the LSC has provided grants to legal 
                services programs serving every county in our Nation, 
                as well as the U.S. territories. Each year, almost 60 
                thousand private attorneys participate by performing 
                pro bono legal services, and almost 2 million people 
                benefit from LSC-funded efforts.

                The extraordinary success of the LSC highlights the 
                importance of the legal profession's long-standing 
                tradition of community service. It also reminds us of 
                how much our society has been strengthened by the 
                conscience and conviction of lawyers standing up for 
                what is right. As part of my Call to Action to the 
                American Legal Community, I hope to build on this 
                tradition of service by challenging all attorneys 
                across our Nation to donate some of their time and 
                apply their skills to help those among us who cannot 
                afford to pay for the representation they need.

                As we mark the 25th Anniversary of the Legal Services 
                Corporation, I salute the dedicated members of the 
                Board of Directors, attorneys, paralegals, support 
                staff, and volunteers associated with the LSC who have 
                worked with talent, generosity, and determination to 
                uphold America's fundamental commitment to justice for 
                all.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim July 25, 1999, as the 25th 
                Anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation. I urge 
                all Americans to join me in recognizing the 
                contributions that the Legal Services Corporation, and 
                the local programs that it supports, have made in 
                fulfilling the promise of equal justice under the law.

[[Page 41004]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-fourth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 99-19599
Filed 7-28-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P