[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 160 (Tuesday, October 17, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15236-S15237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DOLE (for Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Grassley, 
        Mr. Heflin, Mr. Specter, Mr. Simon, Mr. DeWine, Mrs. Feinstein, 
        and Mr. Abraham)):
  S. 1328. A bill to amend the commencement dates of certain temporary 
Federal judgeships; read the first time.


           THE JUDICIAL IMPROVEMENT ACT AMENDMENT ACT OF 1995

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I introduce a bill to amend the 
commencement dates of certain temporary judgeships that were created 
under section 203(c) of the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990, Public 
Law 101-650, 104 Stat. 5101. The minor adjustment embodied in this bill 
should improve the efficiency of the courts involved, and is not 
expected to be controversial. I am pleased to have Senators Biden, 
Grassley, Heflin, Specter, Simon, DeWine, Feinstein, and Abraham as 
original cosponsors.
  The Judicial Improvements Act of 1990 created the temporary 
judgeships by providing that a new district judge would be appointed to 
each of 13 specified districts, and by providing that the first vacancy 
in the office of a district judge in those districts occurring after 
December 1, 1995 would not be filled.
  The districts are as follows: the northern district of Alabama, the 
eastern district of California, the district of Hawaii, the central 
district of Illinois, the southern district of Illinois, the district 
of Kansas, the western district of Michigan, the eastern district of 
Missouri, the district of Nebraska, the northern district of New York, 
the northern district of Ohio, the eastern district of Pennsylvania, 
and the eastern district of Virginia.
  In a given district, the new judgeship is temporary but the 
individual judge appointed serves on a permanent basis in the same 
manner as any other article III judge. The overlap in judgeships--
between the appointment of a judge to a temporary judgeship and the 
point at which a vacant permanent judgeship is left unfilled--is what 
effectively adds another judge to the district for a temporary period 
of time.
  Due to delays in nomination and confirmation, however, many districts 
have had only a relatively brief period of time in which to take 
advantage of their temporary judgeship. In the district of Hawaii and 
the southern district of Illinois, for example, new judges were not 
confirmed until October 1994. Other districts have faced similar 
delays. Those delays mean that many of the temporary judgeships will be 
unable to fulfill congressional intent to alleviate the backlog of 
cases in those districts. Many of the districts 

[[Page S 15237]]
faced a particularly heavy load of drug enforcement matters.
  This bill changes the second part of the temporary judgeship calculus 
by providing that the first district judge vacancy occurring 5 years or 
more after the confirmation date of the judge appointed to fill the 
temporary judgeship would not be filled. In that way, each district 
would benefit from an extra active judge for at least 5 years, 
regardless of how long the appointment process takes. This will help 
alleviate the extra burden faced in those districts. The only district 
excluded from this treatment is the western district of Michigan. That 
district requested to be excluded because its needs will be met under 
the current scheme.
  The Administrative Office of the United States Courts has requested 
that the Senate pass this bill before December 1, 1995. After that 
date, some vacant judgeships will be unable to be filled under current 
law. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I will do my part to 
expedite this bill's passage.
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