[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 160 (Tuesday, November 12, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6972-H6974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REALIGNMENT OF SOUTHERN JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2871) to amend title 28, United States Code, to modify the
composition of the southern judicial district of Mississippi to improve
judicial efficiency, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2871
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REALIGNMENT OF SOUTHERN JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF
MISSISSIPPI.
Section 104(b) of title 28, United States Code, is amended
to read as follows:
``Southern District
``(b) The southern district comprises four divisions.
``(1) The Northern Division comprises the counties of
Copiah, Hinds, Holmes, Issaquena, Kemper, Lauderdale, Leake,
Madison, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Rankin, Scott, Simpson,
Sharkey, Smith, Warren, and Yazoo.
Court for the Northern Division shall be held at Jackson.
``(2) The Southern Division comprises the counties of
George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, and
Stone.
Court for the Southern Division shall be held at Gulfport.
``(3) The Eastern Division comprises the counties of
Clarke, Covington, Forrest, Jasper, Jefferson Davis, Jones,
Lamar, Lawrence, Marion, Perry, Wayne, and Walthall.
Court for the Eastern Division shall be held at Hattiesburg.
``(4) The Western Division comprises the counties of Adams,
Amite, Claiborne, Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Pike, and
Wilkinson.
Court for the Western Division shall be held at Natchez.''.
SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendment made by this Act shall take
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Holding) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr.
Watt) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Holding).
General Leave
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2871.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from North Carolina?
[[Page H6973]]
There was no objection.
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H.R. 2871 is a simple and straightforward bill that responds to a
single question: How should the Federal judicial districts in
Mississippi be organized to best serve the needs of litigants, jurors,
the bar, and the public once the Meridian, Mississippi, courthouse is
permanently closed?
The answer was developed by an ad hoc committee of judges that was
formed late last year; and to their credit, they fashioned a solution
that has been reviewed and endorsed by everyone from the affected local
bar associations and the Inns of Court to the Judicial Conference of
the United States.
Specifically, the committee recommended, one, abolishing the Southern
District's current Eastern Division; two, modifying the statutory
designations of places to hold court; three, realigning the remaining
four divisions and places of holding court; and, four, renaming the
realigned divisions.
The judiciary and offices within the Department of Justice have
reported that they will achieve significant cost savings when this
proposal is fully implemented. Quite simply, Mr. Speaker, the sooner we
enact this bill, the sooner these savings can be realized.
But beyond the goal of containing unnecessary costs, this legislation
is a priority since the affected courts are engaged in the time-
consuming and expensive process of replenishing their jury wheel. That
process requires the courts to identify the names of possible jurors
for criminal trials and grand jury service for the next 4 years and to
provide proportional representation under the new divisions. And that
process is on hold until Congress passes and the President signs this
bill.
Acting through the Administrative Office of the Courts, the judiciary
approached the gentleman from North Carolina, the chairman of the
Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Subcommittee,
Representative Howard Coble. Chairman Coble immediately recognized the
importance of moving this legislation expeditiously and personally
committed his efforts to ensure its passage.
On behalf of the full committee chairman, the gentleman from Virginia
(Mr. Goodlatte), I also want to recognize the efforts of the ranking
member, Mr. Watt, and the other cosponsors of this bill, which include
Representatives Harper, Thompson, and Palazzo from Mississippi, for
their bipartisan support and advocacy.
The Committee on the Judiciary reported this bill unanimously in
September. It is supported not only by those that I have mentioned, but
also by Senators Cochran and Wicker from Mississippi, who are committed
to doing everything possible to advance the bill through the other body
without delay.
In summary, this is a good bill and it is urgently needed to ensure
the Federal courts in Mississippi are authorized and organized to
function in the most economically efficient and least disruptive manner
as possible. I urge my colleagues to support its passage.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2871, which I am pleased to be
a cosponsor of. This straightforward, bipartisan measure will realign
the Southern District of Mississippi. The bill has widespread support
that includes Representative Bennie Thompson, who represents a part of
Mississippi, as well as the affected judges and local bar.
Rarely is a bill introduced that is forthright, uncomplicated, has
universal bipartisan support, and is expected to save money. H.R. 2871
has all of these characteristics.
The bill simply reorganizes the existing district into four divisions
which will be designated as northern, southern, eastern, and western
divisions. This simple reorganization is estimated to save
approximately $135,000 due to reduced expenditures for juries and the
services of the U.S. Marshals. I urge my colleagues to support this
commonsense measure.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I yield such time
as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble), the
leader of the North Carolina delegation and the chairman of the
Subcommittee on Courts.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for
yielding me this time.
Both gentlemen from North Carolina have pretty well covered this
issue, and I will try to not be repetitive.
I rise in support of H.R. 2871.
The legislation will realign the Southern Judicial District in
Mississippi. It has been reviewed and is fully supported by members of
the majority and the minority from Mississippi.
H.R. 2871 was introduced in response to a plan originally developed
by a committee of Federal judges from Mississippi, which was charged
with formulating a plan to close the Meridian courthouse. This
courthouse is the only court facility located in the Eastern Division
of Mississippi's Southern Judicial District. The primary goal of the
judges' committee was to recommend a realignment that best serves the
needs of litigants, jurors, the bar, and the public.
Given the review and endorsement of the Judicial Conference, the
Fifth Circuit Judicial Council, the judges, U.S. attorney, and Federal
public defender, local bar association, and Inns of Court, it appears
that the judges performed their duty in an exemplary fashion.
{time} 1800
In brief, H.R. 2871, Mr. Speaker, aligns and redesignates the
judicial districts and places of holding court in Mississippi to
improve the judicial efficiency.
The CBO estimates that H.R. 2871 will create no budgetary impact. Its
enactment will enable the affected judges, bar, and the public to be
better served by a more rational structure, organization, and
composition of Federal judicial districts in Mississippi and permit the
Federal judiciary and the Department of Justice to achieve substantial
cost savings.
H.R. 2871 is a good bill, as has been pointed out, and I encourage my
colleagues to support that proposal.
Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, as I have no further speakers, I urge my
colleagues to support this bipartisan, commonsense bill, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank very much Chairman Coble
for his words. I also want to thank him for his friendship and his
mentorship and the leadership that he has shown in this body on the
Judiciary Committee, and particularly on the subcommittee for
intellectual property and the courts.
I urge my colleagues to join with us in support of this bipartisan,
commonsense legislation to efficiently reorganize the courts in
Mississippi, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on this.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2871 but also
ask that this body continue to work assiduously on the remaining budget
matters so that the judicial branch has the funding to do its work that
every American has a fair trial--and that they do not have to drive so
far that they need to camp out overnight.
In 2012, the Judicial Conference of the United States recommended
that certain federal court facilities be closed. This includes leased
court space in Meridian, Mississippi. An ad hoc committee of judges,
which included the Chief U.S. District Judge for the Southern District
of Mississippi, was convened to review the issues created by the
closure and to recommend the best course of action. I am aware like
most Members, that cost-savings are extremely important--but we should
be mindful of any perceived inconveniences to plaintiffs and
defendants--in a state that is regularly ranked one of the poorest.
Moreover, with numerous nominees of President Obama being held up in
the Senate via a nominations process that has in fact become an
allegations process, I am also inclined to agree with the judgment of
the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Chief Justice of
the United States that additional judgeships should be created in many
parts of the country in order to ensure that the Constitution's promise
of justice is fulfilled.
But the need for Congress to create new judgeships aside, I believe
the first step in resolving the crisis in our courts is to fill all the
existing district and circuit court seats. As of today, there are 91
total vacancies--74 in district courts and 17 in circuit courts.
Astonishingly, there are more empty judgeships now than when President
Obama took office, almost five years ago. So while it may be
appropriate to eradicate duplicity--let this House institute other
reforms in a bipartisan manner so
[[Page H6974]]
that access to justice is not an abstract notion. Indeed though--we all
know that the Senate holds nearly all the cards in this part of the
discussion.
We must ultimately consider the effect the proposed changes have on
the court's efficiency and stability of the rule of law in the circuit.
My experience is that a decrease in space might lead one to believe
that justice might be negatively affected but considering that my
colleagues from both sides of the aisle are in full support--we must
wait and see and hope that justice is not too deliberate in the
affected areas of Mississippi.
The chief argument for this legislation is cost-cutting and
simplification--but the Judicial Committee did this with an eye on the
budget matters that we have dealt with in this body and Mr. Speaker, I
must say that if the cost-savings do not injure the provision of
justice then this legislation is supportable in its present form.
I urge my colleagues to Support this important legislation.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Holding) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2871.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________