[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 96 (Wednesday, July 11, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S7496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. Thompson):
  S. 1162. A bill to repeal the requirement relating to specific 
statutory authorization for increases in judicial salaries, to provide 
for automatic annual increases for judicial salaries, to provide for a 
9.6 percent increase in judicial salaries, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise, along with Senator Thompson, 
to introduce legislation to restore pay equity for our Federal judges. 
This legislation would guarantee judges automatic and annual cost-of-
living adjustments, COLAs, just like other rank-and-file Federal 
employees.
  In addition, the legislation would end a decade of Federal judicial 
salary neglect by giving judges a one-time salary increase of 9.6 
percent. In the past decade, Congress has denied COLAs for judges in 
four separate years, in 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1998. This bill would 
restore to Federal justices the four COLAs they have lost.
  In his year-end report on the state of the Federal Judiciary, Chief 
Justice William Rehnquist called the ``the need to increase judicial 
salaries'' the most pressing issue facing the Federal judiciary.
  Simply put, while government service offers its own rewards, we 
should not create financial disincentives to service on the Federal 
bench.
  Federal judges bear enormous responsibility as they preside over the 
most pressing legal issues. Often, they must render life-or-death 
decisions or preside over cases with millions of dollars at stake. For 
this vitally important work, they deserve appropriate compensation.
  Recently, Congress took some action to restore equity in Federal 
salaries by doubling the salary of the President of the United States 
from $200,000 to $400,000.
  Congress should now consider an appropriate pay adjustment for the 
Federal judiciary. As of January 2001, Federal district judges receive 
an annual salary of $145,000. If judges had received the COLAs to which 
they were entitled, a Federal District judge's salary would actually be 
$164,700, nearly $20,000 higher.
  Now, $145,000 is a lot more money than the salary of a typical worker 
but it is not so high when you compare it to equivalent positions of 
authority in the private sector. For example, the average partner in a 
major national law firm earns well over $500,000 per year.
  It is even more striking to note that major national law firms are 
offering first-year associates salaries topping $125,000 a year. With 
bonuses, some of these newly minted lawyers are earning more than 
appellate judges.
  The bottom line is that we cannot expect to keep our country's best 
lawyers interested in serving on the Federal bench if we continue to 
denigrate the salary of the post. Just since 1993, the salary of 
Federal judges, adjusted for inflation, has declined by 13 percent.
  Not surprisingly, more and more judges are leaving the Federal bench. 
Between 1991 and 2000, 52 Federal judges resigned their seats, many of 
them for the purposes of returning to private practice. These 52 judges 
represent 40 percent of the 125 Federal judges who have left the bench 
since 1965.
  Attorneys should not expect to become wealthy through an appointment 
as a Federal judge. Neither should judges expect to have their salaries 
eroded by Congress' failure to give them Cost-of-Living Adjustments.
  Preserving judicial salaries is vital to maintaining the high quality 
of our Federal judiciary. I look forward to working with my colleagues 
in the Senate to restore fairness to judicial compensation.
                                 ______