Obama, Durbin Pass Amendment to Encourage Diversity in the Legal Profession
Friday, October 28, 2005
Printable FormatFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Durbin Contact: Sandra Abrevaya, (202) 224-7115
Date: October 28, 2005
Obama, Durbin Pass Amendment to Encourage Diversity in the Legal Profession
WASHINGTON – An amendment offered by U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) to encourage diversity in the legal profession passed the Senate Thursday as part of the Labor-HHS appropriations bill.
"Diversity within the legal profession is a goal we must strive for, but currently we are falling short,” said Obama. "With the rising cost of tuition, the percentage of low-income students in law school has fallen, as has the number of minority students. So I'm extremely pleased that the Senate passed this legislation to help make the legal profession reflect the full face of America."
“Low and middle-income Americans are already overwhelmed by student loans they face after completing undergraduate studies,” said Durbin. “We must do everything we can to provide financial assistance so that these burdens don’t deter young bright students from going on to pursue graduate studies.”
Graduating law students, on average, carry a combined undergraduate and graduate debt load of $85,000. While legal education costs have increased, the percentage of low-income students in law school has declined along racial and ethnic lines. Currently, no ethnic group comprises more than 4 percent of all lawyers.
To help address this disparity of educational opportunity and professional diversity, Congress authorized the Thurgood Marshall Program in 1988. The program provides need-based stipends for qualified students. To date, more than 7,000 students have benefited from this program. The Council on Legal and Educational Opportunity, which administers the Thurgood Marshall Program, also runs summer programs for minority and disadvantaged law students at Northern Illinois and DePaul universities.
The Thurgood Marshall Program, which has historically been funded at $4.5 million annually, has not been appropriated funding since fiscal year 2004. The Department of Education provided $2.9 million in fiscal year 2005 from its general funds. Obama and Durbin’s amendment restored $3.5 million in funding that had been eliminated in the fiscal year 2006 Senate version of the bill.