[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 145 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    JUDICIAL AMENDMENTS ACT OF 1994

  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of the Senate 
bill (S. 2407) to make improvements in the operation and administration 
of the Federal courts, and for other purposes, and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I would 
request that the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Brooks] explain what is in 
the legislation.
  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. MOORHEAD. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, S. 2407, the Judicial Amendments Act of 
1994, contains extensions of three expiring provisions relating to the 
Federal courts. First, it extends and improves the operation of the 
judiciary automation fund for 3 years. The Director of the 
Administrative Office of the Courts has written to me regarding the 
authority that the courts intend to exercise with regard to this fund. 
I would ask unanimous consent that the letter be entered into the 
Record. Second, it extends the authorization of court arbitration pilot 
projects for 3 years. Finally, it extends the Civil Justice Reform Act 
pilot programs for 1 year. All three of these programs are valuable and 
deserve to be continued.
  Mr. Speaker, I include this letter for the Record:
                                      Administrative Office of the


                                         United States Courts,

                                  Washington, DC, October 5, 1994.
     Hon. Jack Brooks,
     Chairman, House Judiciary Committee, Rayburn House Office 
         Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: It is my understanding that you are 
     concerned about some of the authorities granted to the 
     Judiciary in S. 2407. Recognizing your legitimate concerns, I 
     want to inform you about how the judiciary plans to exercise 
     some of that discretion in the event that S. 2407 is enacted 
     into law:
       a. Courts will not deposit money into the Judiciary 
     Automation Fund for the salaries and expenses of court 
     support personnel;
       b. The authority granted to the Director to enter into 
     contracts in advance of appropriations, contained in 
     subsection (e)(1), will include a cap of $75,000,000 or the 
     amount collected in fees, whichever is less;
       c. The annual report, described in subsection (h), will 
     include a description of automation activities and 
     expenditures by the appellate, district and bankruptcy courts 
     and the pretrial and probation offices not funded through the 
     Judiciary Automation Fund;
       d. The judiciary will not exercise the authority to 
     reprogram funds out of the Judiciary Automation Fund up to 
     $1,000,000, leaving the authority to reprogram funds 
     unchanged from the original authorization bill enacted in 
     1990;
       e. The strategic business plan required by added subsection 
     (k) in S. 2407 will be developed by September 30, 1996;
       f. The Long Range Plan for Automation in the Federal 
     Judiciary will include a commitment to establish cost 
     efficient and uniform national automation systems; provide 
     for the use of such systems by the courts; and ensure the 
     collection of nationwide data regarding the operations of the 
     courts.
       Your interest in this legislation is greatly appreciated. 
     If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do 
     not hesitate to contact me.
           Sincerely,
                                                  L. Ralph Mecham,
                                                         Director.

  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I 
would ask the gentleman if there is any private relief in this 
legislation.
  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield further, not 
that I know of.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to say, before I ask the gentleman 
from California [Mr. Moorhead] to yield to him, that we are also going 
to miss the services of one of the finest minds on the Committee on the 
Judiciary, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Hughes].
  He is not only innovative and hard-working, but he is a very 
dedicated Member of this body. He has made a tremendous contribution in 
the last few years.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope the Members would join me in applauding his 
excellent service here.
  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, further reserving my right to object, I 
yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.
  Mr. HUGHES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to 
me. I also thank the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Brooks], chairman of the 
Committee on the Judiciary, for those kind remarks, and I thank my 
colleagues for that warm good wish that they extended to me.
  Mr. Speaker, S. 2407 as it appears before the House today is a stop-
gap version of the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1994. 
Unfortunately, our colleagues in the other body have determined that 
they would not consider a more comprehensive courts bill this year.
  This disappoints me very much, particularly as it relates to the 
court-annexed arbitration portion of the bill which the House acted 
upon last year by passing H.R. 1102. H.R. 1102 would have expanded 
court-annexed arbitration to other jurisdictions while S. 2407 would 
merely continue for another 3 years the authorization for court-annexed 
arbitration in the 20 districts which are currently authorized to 
operate such programs. Ten of these programs contain mandatory 
nonbinding arbitration, and these programs have met with almost 
universal acclaim and success. I was hoping that we could expand upon 
this process to facilitate experimentation of similar programs 
throughout the rest of the country.
  I sincerely hope that the Congress will again get the opportunity to 
revisit this issue next year when the Department of Justice also will 
present its civil justice reform package. Reportedly their proposal 
will deal with alternate dispute resolutions programs, generally.
  The second portion of this interim legislation involves the judicial 
automation fund. This fund expired on September 29, 1994, and this 
legislation will reauthorize it for 3 more years.
  The third part of the bill would extend a Rand Corporations' study of 
civil litigation which was required by the Civil Justice Reform Act of 
1990 for 1 additional year.
  I believe these three provisions are noncontroversial and will be a 
vital interim solution for civil justice reform in our courts. I urge 
my colleagues to pass S. 2407.
  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I 
want to commend the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Hughes] for his fine 
work on this legislation, and for a vast amount of legislation that he 
has worked on in the intellectual property area over the last number of 
years. We have enjoyed working together with him, and I think we have 
accomplished a lot.
  Mr. Speaker, this particular bill has four noncontroversial parts to 
it. They have already been described.
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:

                                S. 2407

       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).'';
       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 
     implementations 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,''.

  The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time and passed, was 
read the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on 
the table.

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