[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
