[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 371 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 371

To make administrative and jurisdictional amendments pertaining to the 
 United States Court of Federal Claims and the judges thereof in order 
      to promote efficiency and fairness, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 8 (legislative day, January 30), 1995

  Mr. Heflin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To make administrative and jurisdictional amendments pertaining to the 
 United States Court of Federal Claims and the judges thereof in order 
      to promote efficiency and fairness, 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 ``Court of Federal Claims 
Administration Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. EXTENDED SERVICE.

    Section 172(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end thereof the following new sentence: ``If a judge is 
not reappointed, such judge may continue in office until a successor is 
appointed and takes office.''.

SEC. 3. SERVICE ON TERRITORIAL COURTS.

    Section 174 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end thereof the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Upon request by or on behalf of a territorial court and with 
the concurrence of the chief judge of the Court of Federal Claims and 
the chief judge of the judicial circuit involved based upon a finding 
of need, judges of the Court of Federal Claims shall have authority to 
conduct proceedings in the district courts of territories to the same 
extent as duly appointed judges of those courts.''.

SEC. 4. RESIDENCE OF RETIRED JUDGES.

    Section 175 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end thereof the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Retired judges of the Court of Federal Claims are not subject 
to restrictions as to residence. The place where a retired judge 
maintains the actual abode in which such judge customarily lives shall 
be deemed to be the judge's official duty station for the purposes of 
section 456 of this title.''.

SEC. 5. JUDICIAL CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION.

    Section 331 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting in the first sentence of the first 
        undesignated paragraph ``the chief judge of the United States 
        Court of Federal Claims,'' after ``Court of International 
        Trade,'';
            (2) by inserting in the first sentence of the third 
        undesignated paragraph ``the chief judge of the United States 
        Court of Federal Claims,'' after ``the chief judge of the Court 
        of International Trade,''; and
            (3) by inserting in the first sentence of the third 
        undesignated paragraph ``or United States Court of Federal 
        Claims,'' after ``any other judge of the Court of International 
        Trade,''.

SEC. 6. COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS JUDICIAL CONFERENCE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 15 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section:
``Sec. 336. Judicial Conference of the Court of Federal Claims
    ``(a) The chief judge of the Court of Federal Claims is authorized 
to summon annually the judges of such court to a judicial conference, 
at a time and place that such chief judge designates, for the purpose 
of considering the business of such court and improvements in the 
administration of justice in such court.
    ``(b) The Court of Federal Claims shall provide by its rules or by 
general order for representation and active participation at such 
conference by members of the bar.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--The table of sections of 
chapter 15 is amended by adding the following new item:

``336. Judicial Conference of the Court of Federal Claims.''.

SEC. 7. RECALL OF JUDGES ON DISABILITY STATUS.

    Section 797(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(a)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end thereof the following new 
        paragraph:
    ``(2) Any judge of the Court of Federal Claims receiving an annuity 
pursuant to section 178(c) of this title (relating to disability) who, 
in the estimation of the chief judge, has recovered sufficiently to 
render judicial service, shall be known and designated as a senior 
judge and may perform duties as a judge when recalled pursuant to 
subsection (b) of this section.''.

SEC. 8. JURISDICTION.

    (a) Claims Against the United States Generally.--Section 1491(a) of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by inserting ``for monetary relief'' after 
                ``any claim against the United States''; and
                    (B) by striking out ``or for liquidated or 
                unliquidated damages'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(A) In any case within its 
                jurisdiction, the Court of Federal Claims shall have 
                the power to grant injunctive and declaratory relief 
                when appropriate.'' after ``(2)'';
                    (B) by striking out the last sentence; and
                    (C) by adding at the end thereof the following new 
                subparagraph:
            ``(B) The Court of Federal Claims shall have jurisdiction 
        to render judgment upon any claim by or against, or dispute 
        with, a contractor arising under section 10(a)(1) of the 
        Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 609(a)(1)), including 
        a dispute concerning termination of a contract, rights in 
        tangible or intangible property, compliance with cost 
        accounting standards, and other nonmonetary disputes on which a 
        decision of the contracting officer has been issued under 
        section 6 of that Act (41 U.S.C. 605).''; and
            (3) by adding at the end thereof the following new 
        paragraphs:
            ``(4) In cases otherwise within its jurisdiction, the Court 
        of Federal Claims shall also have ancillary jurisdiction, 
        concurrent with the courts designated in section 1346(b) of 
        this title, to render judgment upon any related tort claim 
        authorized by section 2674 of this title.
            ``(5) In cases within the jurisdiction of the Court of 
        Federal Claims which constitute judicial review of agency 
        action, the provisions of section 706 of title 5 shall 
        apply.''.
    (b) Pending Claims.--(1) Section 1500 of title 28, United States 
Code, is repealed.
    (2) The table of sections for chapter 91 of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended by striking out the item relating to section 1500.

SEC. 9. SENIOR STATUS PROVISION.

    Section 178 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end thereof the following new subsection:
    ``(m) For the purposes of applying section 3121(i)(5) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and section 209(h) of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 409(h)), the annuity of a Court of Federal Claims judge 
on senior status after age 65 shall be deemed to be an amount paid 
under section 371(b) of this title for performing services under the 
provisions of section 294 of this title.''.

SEC. 10. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISION.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 7 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding after section 178 the following new section:
``Sec. 179. Court of Federal Claims judges as officers of the United 
              States
    ``(a) For the purpose of applying the provisions of title 5, a 
judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims shall be deemed to 
be an `officer' as defined under section 2104(a) of title 5.
    ``(b) For the purpose of applying chapter 87 of title 5, a judge of 
the United States Court of Federal Claims who is retired under section 
178 of this title shall be deemed to be a judge of the United States as 
defined under section 8701(a)(5)(ii) of title 5.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 7 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end thereof the following new item:

``179. Court of Federal Claims judges as officers of the United 
                            States.''.

SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>