[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 160 (Tuesday, November 12, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6974-H6975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY OF SUPREME COURT POLICE TO PROTECT COURT
OFFICIALS OFF SUPREME COURT GROUNDS
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2922) to extend the authority of the Supreme Court Police to
protect court officials away from the Supreme Court grounds.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2922
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY OF SUPREME COURT POLICE TO
PROTECT COURT OFFICIALS OFF SUPREME COURT
GROUNDS.
Section 6121(b)(2) of title 40, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``2013'' and inserting ``2019''.
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 materials on H.R. 2922, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from North Carolina?
There was no objection.
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H.R. 2922 is a simple and straightforward measure that accomplishes
one purpose. It extends for a period of 6 years the longstanding
authority of the Supreme Court Police to provide appropriate security
and protective services to Justices, Court employees, and official
guests of the Court.
Mr. Speaker, article III of the Constitution provides, in part, ``the
judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme
Court.'' It is essential to the functioning of the Supreme Court that
Justices, Court employees, and their official visitors be able to
perform their critical duties with the knowledge that they are provided
adequate and appropriate protective services.
For more than three decades, Mr. Speaker, Congress has specifically
authorized the Supreme Court Police to provide limited security beyond
the Court building for these specific classes of persons. This
authority, which is due to expire at the end of this year, has been
extended by Congress seven times since 1986. H.R. 2922 is a
straightforward extension of this authority for an additional 6 years.
Mr. Speaker, I served in the Federal law enforcement community as a
United States attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina, and I
understand that we can never take security for granted. That is why I
decided to personally introduce this bill earlier this year.
I want to thank the chairman of the committee, the Honorable Bob
Goodlatte, for recognizing the significance of this bill and moving it
forward. I also want to thank the outstanding support of the ranking
member of the full committee, Mr. Conyers, and chairman and vice
chairman and ranking member of the Courts, Intellectual Property, and
the Internet Subcommittee, Representatives Coble, Marino, and Watt,
respectively, for their bipartisan leadership and cooperation in
helping to advance this measure.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, this is a good and noncontroversial bill
that deserves the House's support. It is also one that we have good
reason to expect will be taken up in the other body in the very near
future.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time
Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 2922. I thank the chairman of the
committee, Mr. Goodlatte, and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr.
Holding) for introducing this commonsense legislation on which I am
also an original cosponsor.
This bill extends the authority of the U.S. Marshal Service and the
Supreme Court Police to provide for the security of the Justices on and
off the grounds of the Supreme Court for an additional 6 years. It also
authorizes those enforcement agencies to protect Supreme Court
employees performing their official duties and official guests of the
Court when they are not on Court premises.
In 1982, Congress first responded to the call of Chief Justice Warren
Burger to provide for the safety of the Justices while traveling or
away from the Court grounds. Since then, Congress has regularly
reauthorized the statute for various lengths of time.
H.R. 2922 provides for an extension for a period of 6 years. Because
the current authorization expires in a matter of months on December 31,
2013, it is imperative that we act to provide the Justices the security
we have sanctioned over the years.
The work of the Supreme Court is vital to our Nation, and the role of
any one Justice can tip the scales one way or the other on matters of
grave consequence. The security we have consistently authorized since
1982 seems to work well, and we should act expeditiously to prevent a
lapse in security for the Justices, employees, and dignitaries visiting
the Court.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for speakers, and I urge my
colleagues to support this important bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
This is a bipartisan measure that extends long-existing previous
policy, and it is certainly critically needed and should be done as
soon as possible so as not to run up against the deadline at the end of
the year.
Mr. WATT. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HOLDING. I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina.
Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, for the record, I neglected to indicate in my
comments that our colleague, the chair of the subcommittee, announced
last week during the period that we were out on the Veterans Day
district work period that he was not planning to run for Congress
again, and I hadn't recognized that he was still on the floor.
So I wanted to express how important a contribution he has made to
this institution for many years. I am not going to tell you how many.
More than I have been here, and I have been here 21 years. He was here
when I got here. I always tell people that, of all of the people in the
North Carolina delegation when I was elected to Congress, he was the
first member of the North Carolina delegation to come to my office and
welcome me to Congress, and we have been very good friends ever
since then. I am sure all of his virtues in the next year will be
appropriately extolled, but it is going to be a big loss for us.
I appreciate the gentleman yielding to me to make those comments
because I thought Mr. Coble had left the
[[Page H6975]]
floor, and I had intended to make them earlier when he was here. I am
glad to see he is here.
Mr. COBLE. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble), the leader of the North
Carolina delegation,
Mr. COBLE. I thank the gentleman.
Mel, I appreciate those generous words. Thank you for your generous
words as well. I won't be verbose or lengthy, but just thanks to all of
you.
I have another year, Mel. I won't be gone for another year. Thank
you.
Mr. Speaker, it is certainly a pleasure to be here on the floor with
Chairman Coble. It is just a point of personal privilege to say that,
long ago when I was a staff member up here on Capitol Hill, I had a
conversation with the chairman and asked him what I should do next. He
suggested that I go and be an assistant United States attorney just
like he was before he came to Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation
which like others before us, demonstrates the Congressional power over
the Supreme and federal courts in even the most mundane matters--in
this case--security.
It is critical to the day-to-day functioning of the Supreme Court
that Justices, Court employees, and visitors to the Court be provided
with adequate and appropriate protection. The Supreme Court Police are
charged with enforcing the law at the Supreme Court building and its
grounds as well as protecting Justices and other court employees on and
off the grounds. Congress has provided statutory authority for the
Supreme Court Police to provide security beyond the Court building for
Justices, Court employees and official visitors since 1982. Since 1986,
Congress has extended this off-grounds authority seven times and recent
events tend to demonstrate that this authority is as important as ever.
The authority is due to sunset on December 31, 2013 and the current
authority and jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Police is essential to
the force's performance of its everyday duties. Supreme Court Police
regularly provide security to Justices by transporting and accompanying
them to official functions in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area,
and on occasion, outside the area when they or official guests travel
on Court business. Threats to personal safety may require Justices to
be accompanied by police between their home and the Court--and although
incidents have been few--we must continue to be vigilant to any and all
security matters.
I close by harking back to our Founders, the men who forged the
underpinnings of this great nation. They had the vision and forethought
to craft what is the world's most admired democracy, replete with the
vaunted three branches of government. It is not perfect though, and in
my role as a representative for the people of the 18th District of
Texas, I humbly seek to make it better and the passage of this
bipartisan legislation today moves us closer to working in harmony on
other matters affecting the Judiciary--matters which the American
people are asking us to do. I am certain that on that score we share
the same values.
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. 2922.
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.
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