[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 50 (Tuesday, April 13, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     FEDERAL JUDGES FOR FLORIDA ACT

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                           HON. BILL McCOLLUM

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 13, 1999

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Federal Judges 
for Florida Act that will provide seven additional federal district 
court judgeships in Florida.
  The Federal Judges for Florida Act will provide five new judgeships 
in the Middle District of Florida and two new judgeships in the 
Southern District of Florida. These new judgeships are based on the 
recommendations of the Judicial Conference of the United States. 
Although the Judicial Conference has repeatedly recommended additional 
federal district judgeships for Florida, a new federal judgeship has 
not been created in the state since 1990.
  The Middle District stretches 400 miles from Jacksonville to Naples 
and is broken up into five divisions: Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlando, 
Tampa and Ft. Myers. It encompasses three major metropolitan areas and 
35 counties. The Southern District of Florida includes Ft. Lauderdale 
and Miami. These two federal judicial districts cover about 80 percent 
of the state population. The population of Florida is expected to 
continue to increase at a rapid pace, with over 20 million residents 
projected in 2025. Since 1990, the Florida population has grown by over 
15 percent.
  Mr. Speaker, the need for additional federal district judgeships in 
Florida is reaching a crisis point. For example, the Middle District of 
Florida has one of the heaviest caseloads per judge in the nation--
ranking in the top ten for civil filings, drug cases, pending cases and 
total case filings.
  The Middle District as well as the Southern District both have High 
Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas. Almost half of the criminal caseload 
in the Middle District is drug-related--reflecting the use of Florida 
as a conduit in drug trafficking and vigorous law enforcement efforts 
to combat it. The Middle District has been 50 percent higher in the 
number of criminal defendants per judge than the national average. The 
Southern District has conducted more criminal trials and had more 
criminal cases pending than most other district courts.
  Our Federal District Courts are crucial in the fight against drug 
trafficking, terrorism, organized crime and fraud--we cannot allow them 
to operate at a disadvantage. We must respond to the crises facing the 
federal district courts and fulfill our congressional responsibility. I 
urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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