[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2407 Considered and Passed Senate (CPS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2407

To make improvements in the operation and administration of the Federal 
                    courts, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            August 18, 1994

 Mr. Heflin (for himself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Grassley, and Mr. 
     Specter) introduced the following bill; which was read twice, 
              considered, read the third time, and passed

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To make improvements in the operation and administration of the Federal 
                    courts, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Judicial Amendments Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE JUDICIARY AUTOMATION FUND.

    Section 612 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the second sentence by inserting after 
                ``equipment for'' the following: ``program activities 
                included in the courts of appeals, district courts, and 
                other judicial services account of''; and
                    (B) in the third sentence by striking out all after 
                ``personal services'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``, 
                support personnel in the courts and in the 
                Administrative Office of the United States Courts, and 
                other costs, for the effective management, 
                coordination, operation, and use of automatic data 
                processing equipment purchased by the Fund. In 
                addition, all agencies of the judiciary may make 
                deposits into the Fund to meet their automatic data 
                processing needs in accordance with subsections (b) and 
                (c)(2).'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1) by striking out ``judicial 
        branch'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``activities funded 
        under subsection (a) and shall include an annual estimate of 
        any fees that may be collected under section 404 of the 
        Judiciary Appropriations Act, 1991 (Public Law 101-515; 104 
        Stat. 2133)'';
            (3) in subsection (b)(2) by striking out ``judicial branch 
        of the United States'' and inserting in lieu thereof 
        ``activities funded under subsection (a)'';
            (4) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by inserting after ``surplus 
        property'' the following: ``, all fees collected after the date 
        of the enactment of the Judicial Amendments Act of 1994 by the 
        judiciary under section 404 of the Judiciary Appropriations 
        Act, 1991 (Public Law 101-515; 104 Stat. 2133)'';
            (5) in subsection (e)(1)--
                    (A) by striking out ``(A)''; and
                    (B) by striking out ``$75,000,000'' and inserting 
                in lieu thereof ``amounts estimated to be collected 
                under subsection (c) for that fiscal year'';
            (6) in subsection (h) by amending the subsection to read as 
        follows:
    ``(h) Annual Report.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director shall submit to the 
        Congress an annual report on the operation of the Fund, 
        including on the inventory, use, and acquisition of automatic 
        data processing equipment from the Fund and the consistency of 
        such acquisition with the plan prepared under subsection (b). 
        The report shall set forth the amounts deposited into the Fund 
        under subsection (c).
            ``(2) Additional contents of report.--The annual report 
        submitted under this subsection shall include--
                    ``(A) the specific actions taken and the progress 
                made to improve the plan developed under subsection (b) 
                and the long range automation plan and strategic 
                business plan developed under subsection (k); and
                    ``(B) a comparison of planned Fund expenditures and 
                accomplishments with actual Fund expenditures and 
                accomplishments, and the reasons for any delays in 
                scheduled systems development, or budget overruns.
            ``(3) Report in year of termination of authority.--The 
        annual report submitted under this subsection for any year in 
        which the authority for this section is to terminate under 
        subsection (m), shall be submitted no later than 9 months 
        before the date of such termination.'';
            (7) in subsection (i) by striking out all after ``Judicial 
        Conference of the United States,'' and inserting in lieu 
        thereof ``may transfer amounts up to $1,000,000 from the Fund 
        into the account to which the funds were originally 
        appropriated. Any amounts transferred from the Fund in excess 
        of $1,000,000 in any fiscal year may only be transferred by 
        following reprogramming procedures in compliance with section 
        606 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the 
        Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1989 
        (Public Law 100-459; 102 Stat. 2227).'';
            (8) in subsection (j) in the second sentence by inserting 
        ``in statute'' after ``not specified'';
            (9) by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as subsections 
        (l) and (m), respectively, and by inserting after subsection 
        (j) the following new subsection:
    ``(k) Long Range Management and Business Plans.--The Director of 
the Administrative Office of the United States Court shall--
            ``(1) develop an overall strategic business plan which 
        would identify the judiciary's missions, goals, and objectives;
            ``(2) develop a long range automation plan based on the 
        strategic business plan and user needs assessments;
            ``(3) establish effective Administrative Office oversight 
        of court automation efforts to ensure the effective operation 
        of existing systems and control over developments of future 
        systems;
            ``(4) expedite efforts to complete the development and 
        implementation of life cycle management standards;
            ``(5) utilize the standards in developing the next 
        generation of case management and financial systems; and
            ``(6) assess the current utilization and future user 
        requirements of the data communications network.''; and
            (10) in subsection (m) (as redesignated under paragraph (9) 
        of this section--
                    (A) in the first sentence by striking out ``1994'', 
                and inserting in lieu thereof, ``1997''; and
                    (B) in the second sentence by striking out 
                ```Judicial Services Account''' and inserting in lieu 
                thereof ``fund established under section 1931 of this 
                title''.

SEC. 3. COURT ARBITRATION AUTHORIZATION.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 905 of the Judicial 
Improvements and Access to Justice Act (28 U.S.C. 651 note) is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence by striking out ``for the fiscal 
        year ending September 30, 1989, and for each of the succeeding 
        7 fiscal years,'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``for each of 
        the fiscal years 1994 through 1997''; and
            (2) in the third sentence by striking out all beginning 
        with ``, except that'' through ``this Act''.
    (b) Removal of Repealer.--Section 906 of the Judicial Improvements 
and Access to Justice Act (28 U.S.C. 651 note), and the item relating 
to such section in the table of contents contained in section 3 of such 
Act, are repealed.

SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF CIVIL JUSTICE EXPENSE AND DELAY REDUCTION PILOT 
              PROGRAMS.

    Section 105 of the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. 471 
note; 104 Stat. 5097) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking out ``4-year period'' 
        and inserting in lieu thereof ``5-year period'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(3)--
                    (A) in the first sentence by striking out ``3 
                years'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``4 years''; and
                    (B) in the second sentence by striking out ``3-year 
                period'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``4-year 
                period''; and
            (3) in subsection (c)(1) by striking out ``December 31, 
        1995,'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``December 31, 1996,''.
                                 <all>