[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 113 (Wednesday, August 4, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10219-S10220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-287. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Louisiana relative to the appellate 
     jurisdiction of federal courts regarding partial-birth 
     abortions; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                  House Concurrent Resolution No. 257

       Whereas, Louisiana is one of twenty-five states which has 
     recently prohibited the specific medical procedure termed 
     ``partial-birth abortions''; and
       Whereas, numerous other states are working this legislative 
     session to enact the same ban; and
       Whereas, federal district courts have thus far struck down 
     laws in seventeen different states, effectively declaring 
     that partial-birth abortions cannot be banned; and
       Whereas, this intrusion of the Federal courts in these 
     states decisions concerning this medical procedure can be 
     remedied only by federal congressional action to limit the 
     jurisdiction of these federal courts; and
       Whereas, the United States Constitution does not create or 
     regulate these inferior federal courts, but instead 
     explicitly gives congress the power to do so; and
       Whereas, the U.S. Constitution makes the jurisdiction of 
     the federal courts subject to congressional proscription 
     through Article III, Section 2, Para. 2, by declaring that 
     federal courts ``shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to 
     law and fact with such exceptions and under such regulations 
     as congress shall make''; and
       Whereas, the intent of the framers of our documents was 
     clear on this power of congress, such as when Samuel Chase (a 
     signer of the Declaration of Independence and a U.S. Supreme 
     Court Justice appointed by President George Washington) 
     declared, ``The notion has frequently been entertained that 
     the federal courts derive their judicial power immediately 
     from the constitution; but the political truth is that the 
     disposal of the judicial power (except in a few specified 
     instances) belongs to Congress. If Congress has given the 
     power to this court, we possess it, not otherwise''; and
       Whereas, Justice Joseph Story, in his authoritative 
     Commentaries on the Constitution, similarly declares, ``In 
     all cases where the judicial power of the United States is to 
     be exercised, it is for Congress along to furnish the rules 
     of proceeding, to direct the process, to declare the nature 
     and effect of the process, and the mode, in which the 
     judgment, consequent thereon, shall be executed . . . And if 
     Congress may confer power, they may repeal it . . . [The 
     power of Congress [is] complete to make exceptions'']; and
       Whereas, this position is confirmed not only by the signers 
     of the Constitution themselves, such as George Washington and 
     James Madison, but also by other leading constitutional 
     experts and jurists of the day, including Chief Justice John 
     Rutledge, Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice John 
     Marshall, Richard Henry Lee, Robert Yates, George Mason, and 
     John Randolph; and
       Whereas, the United States Supreme Court has long 
     recognized and affirmed this power of congress to limit the 
     appellate jurisdiction of the federal courts, as in 1847 when 
     the court declared that the ``court possesses no appellate 
     power in any case unless conferred upon it by act of 
     Congress'' and in 1865 when it declared ``it is for Congress 
     to determine how far . . . appellate jurisdiction shall be 
     given; and when conferred, it can be exercised only to the 
     extent and in the manner prescribed by law''; and
       Whereas, congress has on numerous occasions exercised this 
     power to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts, and the 
     Supreme Court has consistently upheld this power of congress 
     in rulings over the last two centuries, including cases in 
     1847, 1866, 1868, 1876, 1878, 1882, 1893, 1898, 1901, 1904, 
     1906, 1908, 1910, 1922, 1948, 1966, 1973, 1977, etc; and
       Whereas, it is congress alone which can remedy this current 
     crisis and return to the states the power to make their own 
     decisions on partial-birth abortions by excepting this issue 
     from the appellate jurisdiction of the federal courts.
       Therefore, be it Resolved, That the Legislature of 
     Louisiana respectfully appeals to the Congress of these 
     United States to limit the appellate jurisdiction of the 
     federal courts regarding the specific medical practice of 
     partial-birth abortions.
       Be it further Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be 
     sent to the Speaker of the United States House of 
     Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, 
     and the Chief Clerical Officers of the United States House of 
     Representatives and the United States Senate.
                                  ____

       POM-288. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Alaska relative to the division of the Ninth Circuit 
     Court of Appeals; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                       Legislative Resolve No. 25

       Be it resolved by the legislature of the State of Alaska:
       Whereas the State of Alaska is within the jurisdiction of 
     the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and
       Whereas the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit consists 
     of the States of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, 
     Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, and Guam, and the 
     Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands; and
       Whereas United States Senators Murkowski of Alaska and 
     Gorton of Washington have introduced S. 253, a bill that 
     would amend Title 28 of the United States Code to divide the 
     Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit into three regional 
     divisions and a fourth circuit division, and that has the 
     short title of the ``Federal Ninth Circuit Reorganization Act 
     of 1999''; and
       Whereas S. 253 proposes to place the states of Alaska, 
     Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington within one regional 
     division of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and to 
     place the other states and territories, possessions, and 
     protectorates into two other regional divisions; and
       Whereas S. 253 proposes to adopt the recommendations of a 
     Congressionally mandated commission, chaired by retired 
     Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White, that studied the 
     realignment of the federal courts of appeal; the 
     recommendations were made in a report issued in December 
     1998; and
       Whereas the membership of the Court of Appeals for the 
     Ninth Circuit is heavily weighted toward the State of 
     California and the court seems to concern itself 
     predominately with issues arising out of California and the 
     Southwestern United States; and
       Whereas the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's case 
     filings are consistently either greater than any other 
     federal circuit or among the greatest; and
       Whereas the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is the 
     largest of the 13 circuit courts of appeal, spanning 
     1,400,000 square miles, and is larger than the First, Second, 
     Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits 
     combined; and
       Whereas the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit serves a 
     population of more than 49,000,000 people, almost 60 percent 
     more than any other federal circuit; and
       Whereas members of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth 
     Circuit have shown a surprising lack of understanding of 
     Alaska's people and geography; and
       Whereas, in the so-called ``Katie John'' subsistence case, 
     which is of tremendous importance to the people of the State 
     of Alaska, even though the Court of Appeals for the Ninth 
     Circuit granted expedited consideration of that case, the 
     court did not issue its decision for over 13 months; and
       Whereas the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 
     consistently ranks at or near the bottom of the circuits in 
     time from the filing of a case in the district court to final 
     disposition in the court appeals; and
       Whereas Attorney General Bruce Botelho has estimated that 
     there are more than 200 Alaska cases currently pending before 
     the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and
       Whereas, previously, the Attorneys General of the States of 
     Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington have also found that 
     similar issues of unnecessary delay concerning, lack of 
     understanding of, and lack of consideration for cases and 
     issues by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit exist in 
     regard to those states; and
       Whereas the division of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth 
     Circuit into regions would benefit the States of Alaska, 
     Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington by providing speedier 
     and more consistent rulings

[[Page S10220]]

     by jurists who have a greater familiarity with the social, 
     geographical, political, and economic life of the region, 
     especially if those jurists were required to be residents of 
     that region;
       Be it, Resolved That the Alaska State Legislature strongly 
     supports S. 253 and the division of the Court of Appeals for 
     the Ninth Circuit into three regional divisions with one 
     region consisting of the States of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, 
     Oregon, and Washington headquartered in the Pacific 
     Northwest; and be it
       Further Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature 
     questions the need for a fourth circuit division and urges 
     the sponsors of S. 253 and the United States Congress to 
     inquire into the need for a fourth circuit division; and be 
     it
       Further Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature urges 
     the sponsors of S. 253 to consider including a requirement 
     that judges assigned to one of the three regional divisions 
     must reside in that regional division and urges the United 
     States Congress to amend S. 253 to address this concern; and 
     be it
       Further Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature 
     believes that a reorganization of the Court of Appeals for 
     the Ninth Circuit is long overdue and urges the United States 
     Congress to expeditiously consider and enact S. 253.
       Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Al 
     Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President 
     of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Strom Thurmond, President 
     Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable J. Dennis 
     Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 
     Honorable Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 
     Honorable Dick Armey, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of 
     Representatives; the Honorable Thomas Daschle, Minority 
     Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Richard A. Gephardt, 
     Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 
     Honorable Orrin G. Hatch, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee 
     on the Judiciary; the Honorable Henry J. Hyde, Chair of the 
     U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary; and to the Honorable 
     Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, 
     and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of 
     the Alaska delegation in Congress.
                                  ____

       POM-289. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Alaska relative to the year 2000 census; to the 
     Committee on Governmental Affairs.

                       Legislative Resolve No. 22

       Be it resolved by the legislature of the State of Alaska:
       Whereas the Constitution of the United States requires an 
     enumeration of the population every 10 years and entrusts the 
     Congress with overseeing each decennial enumeration; and
       Whereas the sole constitutional purpose of the decennial 
     census is to apportion the seats in the United States House 
     of Representatives among the several states; and
       Whereas an accurate and legal decennial census is necessary 
     to properly apportion the seats in the United States House of 
     Representatives among the states and to create legislative 
     districts within the states; and
       Whereas 13 U.S.C. 141(c) mandates that the Bureau of the 
     Census provide each state with basic tabulations of 
     population (P.L. 94-171 data) within one year after the 
     decennial census date; and
       Whereas the Alaska State Legislature believes that Article 
     I, Section 2, Constitution of the United States, in order to 
     ensure an accurate count and to minimize the potential for 
     political manipulation, mandates an ``actual enumeration,'' 
     meaning a physical headcount of the population, and prohibits 
     reliance on estimates of the population for purposes of 
     apportioning seats in the United States House of 
     Representatives among the several states; and
       Whereas legislative redistricting conducted by the states 
     is a critical subfunction of the constitutional requirement 
     to apportion representatives among the states; and
       Whereas the United States Supreme Court, in Department of 
     Commerce v. United States House, slip. op. no. 98-404, 1999 
     WL 24616, 67 U.S.L.W. 4090, ruled on January 25, 1999, that 
     13 U.S.C. 195 prohibits the proposed use by the Bureau of 
     Census of statistical sampling in the determination of 
     population for purposes of apportioning seats in the United 
     States House of Representatives among the several state; and
       Whereas the appellees in Department of Commerce v. United 
     States House established standing partly on the basis of a 
     claim of expected intrastate vote dilution due to the 
     proposed use by the Bureau of the Census of statistical 
     sampling; and
       Whereas the use of census data adjusted by means of 
     sampling or other statistical methodologies in redistricting 
     by the State of Alaska could raise serious issues of vote 
     dilution and violate ``one-person, one-vote'' legal 
     protections, expose the state to protracted and costly 
     litigation over redistricting, and ultimately result in a 
     court ruling invalidating the redistricting plan; and
       Whereas the Alaska State Legislature believes that a 
     person, once enumerated, should not be counted by sampling or 
     other statistical methodologies for purposes of 
     redistricting; and
       Whereas every reasonable and practical effort should be 
     made to obtain the fullest and most accurate count of the 
     population possible, including appropriate funding for state 
     and local census outreach and education programs and post-
     census local review;
       Be it Resolved That the Alaska State Legislature calls on 
     the Bureau of the Census to conduct the 2000 decennial census 
     consistent with the ruling in Department of Commerce v. 
     United States House and with the Constitution of the United 
     States; and be it
       Further Resolved That the Alaska State Legislature calls on 
     the Bureau of the Census to conduct a physical headcount of 
     the population and not to use random sampling techniques or 
     other statistical methodologies that add persons to or 
     subtract persons from the census count in developing 
     redistricting data under P.L. 94-171 for use by the states in 
     intrastate redistricting; and be it
       Further Resolved That the Alaska State Legislature opposes 
     the use of P.L. 94-171 data for state legislative 
     redistricting based on census numbers that have been 
     determined in whole or in part by the use of statistical 
     inferences derived by means of random sampling techniques or 
     other statistical methodologies that add or subtract persons; 
     and be it
       Further Resolved That the Alaska State Legislature requests 
     that Alaska be given P.L. 94-171 data for legislative 
     redistricting identical to the census tabulation date used to 
     apportion seats in the United States House of 
     Representatives, derived from a physical headcount of the 
     population, and not adjusted using random sampling techniques 
     or other statistical methodologies that add persons to or 
     subtract persons from the census count; and be it
       Further Resolved That the Alaska State Legislature urges 
     the Congress, as the branch of government assigned the 
     responsibility of overseeing the decennial enumeration of the 
     population, to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure 
     that the 2000 decennial census is conducted fairly and 
     legally.
       Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Bill Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable 
     Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 
     President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable William M. Daley, 
     Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce; the Honorable 
     J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of 
     Representatives; the Honorable Trent Lott, Majority Leader of 
     the U.S. Senate; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the 
     Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable 
     Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 
     delegation in Congress.

                          ____________________