[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 174 (Friday, December 14, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S13295]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HOLD TO S. 1805

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I would like to inform my colleagues 
that I have lodged an objection to the Senate proceeding to S. 1805 or 
to any other legislation or amendment that converts temporary 
judgeships to permanent judgeships.
  When there is a temporary judgeship on a court, when the temporary 
judgeship expires, the next permanent vacancy that occurs will not be 
filled and will be deemed not to be a vacancy, so that the total number 
of permanent judgeships allowed by law stays the same. On the other 
hand, the net effect of converting a temporary judgeship into a 
permanent judgeship is the creation of a new permanent judgeship for 
that court. The creation of new judgeships should not be taken lightly.
  As you know, I firmly believe that the Federal judiciary should not 
be expanded prior to comprehensive congressional oversight. Congress 
has not held a single hearing in this Congress on whether additional 
judges are necessary for the Federal courts, and specifically has not 
evaluated whether there is a need to convert the temporary judgeships 
contained in S. 1805 into permanent judgeships. Arguments that the 
Judicial Conference has recommended these changes should be scrutinized 
with care, the formula that the Judicial Conference utilizes to create 
judgeships is flawed and can be substantially manipulated. There needs 
to be serious congressional oversight of the numbers, which is our 
responsibility. We need to ensure that the courts are employing all 
appropriate methods to take care of their caseloads and to make sure 
that they are utilizing all efficiencies and techniques. Moreover, we 
should be looking at filling appropriate existing judicial vacancies 
before we create new judgeships.

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