[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 11 (Thursday, January 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S1234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCONNELL:
  S. 250. A bill to amend chapter 41 of title 28, United States Code, 
to provide for an analysis of certain bills and resolutions pending 
before the Congress by the Director of the Administrative Office of the 
United States Courts, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.


              the litigation impact statements act of 1995

 Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, today, I am introducing a bill 
that joins the effort to improve our legal system with the goal of 
eliminating unfunded Federal mandates.
  Too often, Mr. President, Congress passes a bill without regard as to 
its impact on the court system. How many new cases will the law 
generate? Will they be Federal court cases or State court cases? How 
much will it cost government to enforce the new law through the legal 
system? How much liability will government, as well as the private 
sector, incur as a result of the new law?
  These questions are rarely asked by Congress before a bill becomes 
law. The bill I am introducing will change all of that. It requires the 
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to provide a litigation impact 
statement for all bills reported from committees--except private relief 
bills and appropriation bills.
  The A.O. is equipped to perform this task; in fact, the staff already 
does provide a judicial impact statement for certain bills. They did it 
for the Violence Against Women's Act, and they did for a bill I 
introduced in the 102d Congress, the Pornography Victims' Compensation 
Act.
  In 1994, more than 281,000 new cases were filed in the Federal 
courts, with an increase in the civil filings of 3 percent over last 
year--Interestingly, the criminal filings have gone down.
  In 4 of the last 5 years, filings in the Federal courts have 
increased. This increase in court filings occurs at the State level, 
where hundreds of thousands of cases are also filed. Too many of these 
cases are a direct result of Federal legislation enacted without a 
thought as to the effect on the courts. My bill will give Congress the 
opportunity to consider, for every bill, what burdens it will create 
for the courts, as well as the financial impact for potential liability 
the new law will have on governmental and private entities. Cities and 
towns are spending more and more of their budgets on liability 
insurance, and part of the blame for that rests with Congress for the 
new laws creating runaway liability.

  Will a litigation impact statement slow Congress down? I certainly 
hope so. It would be just fine with the American people, if Congress 
imposed fewer burdens on them. After all, they delivered a loud message 
last November. They said our government does not work properly; it's 
too big, too expensive and inefficient. So, before Congress goes off 
passing laws which will create more lawsuits, let's get Congress 
educated about the impact any new laws will have on our court system.
  Congress already gets an assessment of the budget impact for any new 
legislation. Let's also have a litigation impact statement. It is a 
very good beginning on the road to reforming the legal system.
  And on reforming the legal system, I will have more to say in the 
coming days. The time is right to undertake comprehensive reform of our 
legal system. I know it will be a top priority of the Senate Judiciary 
Committee, and I look forward to working with that committee on this 
issue.
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