[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 145 (Thursday, September 27, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12289-S12290]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. Graham, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Schumer, 
        Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Crapo, and Mr. Martinez):
  S. 2106. A bill to provide nationwide subpoena authority for actions 
brought under the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to the offer the Procedural 
Fairness for September 11 Victims Act, a simple bill that ensures 
procedural fairness for the parties to litigation arising out of the 
terrible events of September 11, 2001.
  When we passed the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund of 2001, we 
established a Federal cause of action in the U.S. District Court for 
the Southern District of New York as the exclusive remedy for damages 
arising out of the September 11 attacks. The Federal Rules of Civil 
Procedure effectively limit service of a subpoena by a party to an 
action under the Victims Compensation Fund to within 100 miles of the 
Southern District of New York. Litigating a Federal cause of action 
under the Victims Compensation Fund is likely to involve the testimony 
and the production of documents by a substantial number of witnesses 
who may not reside within 100 miles of the

[[Page S12290]]

Southern District of New York. Neither the Victims Compensation fund 
statute nor the Federal rules, however, currently provide an effective 
means for securing such testimony or documents.
  The Procedural Fairness for September 11 Victims Act addresses this 
oversight by allowing parties to Victims Compensation Fund actions to 
subpoena witnesses and documents from anywhere in the U.S. The court 
retains its authority to quash or modify any such subpoena if it is 
unduly burdensome to the witness subpoenaed.
  Justice requires that the parties to cases arising under the Victims 
Compensation Fund have access to all the testimony and documents 
relevant to their claims, regardless of where in the U.S. the witnesses 
or documents are located. By granting the parties to such cases 
nationwide subpoena authority, administered by the Federal court, this 
act ensures that they do. As the bipartisan cosponsorship of the act 
attests, ensuring procedural fairness in these cases bearing on the 
terrible attacks of September 11 is not a Democratic issue or 
Republican issue, it is an American issue. I strongly encourages my 
colleagues from both sides of the aisle to join me and the other 
cosponsors of this important bill.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2106

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Procedural Fairness for 
     September 11 Victims Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) The September 11th Victims Compensation Fund of 2001 
     (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) establishes a Federal cause of action 
     in the United States District Court for the Southern District 
     of New York as the exclusive remedy for damages arising out 
     of the hijacking and subsequent crash of American Airlines 
     flights 11 and 77, and United Airlines flights 93 and 175, on 
     September 11, 2001.
       (2) Rules 45(b)(2) and 45(c)(3)(A)(ii) of the Federal Rules 
     of Civil Procedure effectively limit service of a subpoena to 
     any place within, or within 100 miles of, the district of the 
     court by which it is issued, unless a statute of the United 
     States expressly provides that the court, upon proper 
     application and cause shown, may authorize the service of a 
     subpoena at any other place.
       (3) Litigating a Federal cause of action under the 
     September 11 Victims Compensation Fund of 2001 is likely to 
     involve the testimony and the production of other documents 
     and tangible things by a substantial number of witnesses, 
     many of whom may not reside, be employed, or regularly 
     transact business in, or within 100 miles of, the Southern 
     District of New York.

     SEC. 3. NATIONWIDE SUBPOENAS.

       Section 408(b) of the September 11 Victims Compensation 
     Fund of 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following:
       ``(4) Nationwide subpoenas.--
       ``(A) In general.--A subpoena requiring the attendance of a 
     witness at trial or a hearing conducted under this section 
     may be served at any place in the United States.
       ``(B) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection is 
     intended to diminish the authority of a court to quash or 
     modify a subpoena for the reasons provided in clause (i), 
     (iii), or (iv) of subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (B) of 
     rule 45(c)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.''.
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