[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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