[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 186 (Monday, November 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H13362-H13364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      AMENDING COMMENCEMENT DATES OF CERTAIN TEMPORARY JUDGESHIPS

  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill, H.R. 2361, to amend the commencement dates of certain temporary 
Federal judgeships.
  The clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2361

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

     SECTION 1. COMMENCEMENT DATE OF TEMPORARY JUDGESHIPS.

       Section 203(c) of the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990 
     (Public Law 101-650; 104 Stat. 5101; 28 U.S.C. 133 note) is 
     amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in 
     lieu thereof ``The first vacancy in the office of district 
     judge in each of the judicial districts named in this 
     subsection, except the western district of Michigan, 
     occurring 5 years or more after the confirmation date of the 
     judge named to fill a temporary judgeship created by this 
     Act, shall not be filled. The first vacancy in the office of 
     district judge in the western district of Michigan, occurring 
     after December 1, 1995, shall not be filled.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Moorhead] will be recognized for 20 minutes, and the 
gentlewoman from Colorado [Mrs. Schroeder] will be recognized for 20 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Moorhead].
  
[[Page H 13363]]

  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. MOORHEAD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2361, to amend 
the commencement dates of certain temporary Federal judgeships.
  In 1990 the Federal Judgeship Act, Public Law 101-650, part of the 
Judicial Improvements Act of 1990, created 13 temporary judgeships. 
These temporary positions are unique in that 5 years after the 
effective date of the act, December 1, 1990, the next vacancy occurring 
in each of those 13 courts will not be filled. Therefore, under the 
present provisions of the act any vacancy created by death, retirement, 
or by a judge taking senior status after December 1, 1995 will not be 
filled. This has the effect of allowing districts with clogged dockets 
to receive the benefit of an extra judge for a temporary period of 5 
years.
  The problem arises because the confirmation process is time-consuming 
and the temporary judgeship positions were not filled in some districts 
until 1994. For those courts a vacancy created soon after December 1, 
1995, by death, retirement, or a judge taking senior status, would 
result in that court having had the benefit of the temporary position 
for a little as 14 months rather than the 5 years intended by Congress.
  The proposed change would establish the confirmation date of the 
judge named to fill the temporary position as the starting point for 
the 5 years. Any vacancy occurring 5 years after that confirmation date 
would not be filled. This change would assure that all affected 
districts would receive the benefit of the temporary judgeship position 
for the full 5 years.
  This amendment has bipartisan support and will appreciably enhance 
the administration of justice in those districts where the caseloads 
necessitated the creation of temporary judgeships. All identical bill 
was introduced by Chairman Hatch and passed in the Senate.
  I urge a favorable vote on H.R. 2361.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker I join our subcommittee chairman in supporting this bill. 
This is really a simple technical amendment to ensure that districts 
that have been authorized for temporary judgeships get the full 5 
years' benefit of their temporary judge, as Congress originally 
intended.
  The Federal Judgeship Act, passed by Congress in 1990, created 13 
temporary judgeships in order to give judicial districts with serious 
docket backlogs an extra judge for 5 years. Unfortunately, because of 
the time consumed by the confirmation process, the intended 5-year 
benefit will be whittled away to just over 1 year in some districts 
unless we enact the bill before us today. This bill will ensure that 
the affected districts receive a full 5-year temporary judgeship.
  This bill will greatly enhanced judicial administration in the 
affected Federal districts. I thank the subcommittee chairman for his 
work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Michigan [Mr. Conyers], the ranking member of the full committee.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time 
to me, and commend the leaders of this important subcommittee of the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  This is a bill that we can all support, the reason being that these 
temporary judgeships created by our former chairman of the full 
committee, the gentleman from Texas, Jack Brooks, is an excellent idea 
in terms of a way to deal with temporary shortages in the judicial 
districts across the country. I support it, and we suspect that every 
Member in the House does as well.
  In Michigan, Mr. Speaker, we had the unique circumstance in the 
western district in which they have taken care of their shortage and 
have returned the temporary judgeship, of all things. This has never 
happened in the annals of American judicial history, and may not likely 
happen again soon, so we were delighted about that.
  The law created 13 unique, temporary judgeships for a 5-year period 
ending in 1995. Optimists on this side assumed that the incumbent 
President will get the benefit of naming these extra judges, but I do 
not want to spoil this discussion, now that we have all arrived at 
great harmony on this subject.

  The bill responds to the oversight in the law by specifying that the 
districts in question benefit from the added position for the full 5-
year term, beginning on the date that they were filled, as Congress 
originally intended, rather than the date that the temporary judgeship 
law became effective. So I congratulate the chairman of the 
subcommittee and the ranking member, the gentlewoman from Colorado 
[Mrs. Schroeder].
  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 
2361, which will restore the original intent of the Judicial 
improvements Act of 1990 to assure that certain jurisdictions which 
receive temporary judgeships under that act will indeed have the 
benefit of those judges for a full 5-year period.
  This bill is important to the State of Hawaii which was one of the 13 
court districts which received a temporary Federal judge under the 1990 
act in order to assist in completing a backlog of cases. As a result of 
the 1990 act, Hawaii has four Federal judge positions instead of three.
  The original act set the 5-year period for the temporary position to 
begin the date of enactment, December 1, 1990, ending on December 1, 
1995. However, many of the temporary Federal judges were not confirmed 
in a timely manner and as the December 1, 1995, end date is near, many 
jurisdictions including Hawaii have not had the benefit of an 
additional judge for the full 5 years.
  The original act stipulates that any vacancy that occurs after the 
five-year period--December 1, 1995--in one of the 13 districts will not 
be filled. Hawaii currently has a vacancy in one of its three permanent 
Federal judge positions due to the death of Judge Harold Fong. It is 
impossible at this point for a new judge to be nominated and confirmed 
before December 1, 1995, which means that under the original provisions 
of the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990, the current vacancy will not 
be filled, even though Hawaii has not had the benefit of an additional 
temporary judge for the full 5-year period.
  H.R. 2361, would resolve this problem and assure that Hawaii and the 
12 other court districts receive the full benefit of a temporary judge 
for a full 5-year period. The bill establishes the confirmation date of 
the judge named to fill the temporary position as the starting point 
for the 5 years. It stipulates that the first vacancy occurring 5 years 
after that confirmation date will not be filled, retaining the 
temporary nature of the position, but assuring that the jurisdictions 
have the service of the temporary judge for full 5 years.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill which will restore the 
original intent of the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990 and provide 
necessary assistance to these 13 Federal court districts.
  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2361, the bill 
to change the expiration date of certain temporary judgeships 
established in 1990. Instead of expiring 5 years from the bill's date 
of enactment, the judgeships will expire 5 years from the date of 
confirmation.
  It is of critical importance that this legislation be approved and 
sent to the President for his signature prior to December 1. Without a 
change in the law, as many as 13 districts will not be able to take 
advantage of the temporary judgeships because of delays in the 
confirmation process.
  The temporary judgeships will enable the Federal courts to better 
handle their extensive workload. That is why I am strongly supporting 
this legislation which simply makes a technical change and allows the 
original intent of the law--5-year temporary judgeships for certain 
Federal district courts.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this bill so we can 
forward it to the President for his signature before the December 1 
expiration date.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further request for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Moorhead] that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2361.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds of those have voted in favor 
thereof), the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 

[[Page H 13364]]
  Speaker's table the Senate bill (S. 1328) to amend the commencement 
dates of certain temporary Federal judgeships and ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Speaker, I do so 
to yield to the gentleman from California [Mr. Moorhead] to explain his 
request.
  Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Speaker, this is a companion Senate bill. This 
action will enable the bill to go to the President.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:

                                S. 1328

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

     SECTION 1. COMMENCEMENT DATE OF TEMPORARY JUDGESHIPS.

       Section 203(c) of the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990 
     (Public Law 101-650; 104 Stat. 5101; 28 U.S.C. 133 note) is 
     amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in 
     lieu thereof ``The first vacancy in the office of district 
     judge in each of the judicial districts named in this 
     subsection, except the western district of Michigan, 
     occurring 5 years or more after the confirmation date of the 
     judge named to fill a temporary judgeship created by this 
     Act, shall not be filled. The first vacancy in the office of 
     district judge in the western district of Michigan, occurring 
     after December 1, 1995, shall not be filled.''.

  The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the 
third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.
  A similar House bill (H.R. 2361) was laid on the table.

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