[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 178 (Friday, December 9, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7039-S7040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE RESOLUTION 641--CELEBRATING THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
                COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY OF THE SENATE

  Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Hatch, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. 
Cornyn, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Franken, Mr. Coons, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mr. 
Tillis) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
agreed to:

                              S. Res. 641

       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate--
       (1) was established by a resolution adopted on December 10, 
     1816, as one of the original standing committees of the 
     Senate; and
       (2) as of December 2016, is one of the original standing 
     committees that remain;
       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 
     originally had 5 members;
       Whereas, according to the Standing Rules of the Senate, the 
     Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate has jurisdiction 
     over--
       (1) apportionment of Representatives;
       (2) bankruptcy, mutiny, espionage, and counterfeiting;
       (3) civil liberties;
       (4) amendments to the Constitution of the United States;
       (5) Federal courts and judges;
       (6) Government information;
       (7) holidays and celebrations;
       (8) immigration and naturalization;
       (9) interstate compacts, generally;
       (10) judicial proceedings, civil and criminal, generally;
       (11) local courts in territories and possessions;
       (12) measures relating to claims against the United States;
       (13) national penitentiaries;
       (14) the Patent Office;
       (15) patents, copyrights, and trademarks;
       (16) protection of trade and commerce against unlawful 
     restraints and monopolies;
       (17) revision and codification of the laws of the United 
     States; and
       (18) State and territorial boundary lines;
  

       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate has 
     had 42 members who have served as chairmen, and a total of 
     349 men and women representing 49 States have served on the 
     Committee;
       Whereas the first chairman of the Committee on the 
     Judiciary of the Senate was Senator Dudley Chase of Vermont;
       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate is 
     regularly the epicenter of the most significant and 
     controversial issues in the United States, and is tasked with 
     upholding fundamental rights and values for all people of the 
     United States;
       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate has 
     shaped the physical boundaries of the United States;
       Whereas, during the Civil War, the Committee on the 
     Judiciary of the Senate helped ensure that President Abraham 
     Lincoln had the emergency powers necessary to pursue the war 
     effort;
       Whereas, in February 1864, the Committee on the Judiciary 
     of the Senate reported the 13th Amendment to the Constitution 
     of the United States and took an important step in ending 
     slavery in the United States by voting favorably on the 
     language of the amendment, ``Neither slavery nor involuntary 
     servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party 
     shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United 
     States.'';
       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate played 
     a vital role in the development and adoption of the 14th and 
     15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States;
       Whereas, in 1872, the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
     Senate was on the forefront of the women's suffrage movement;
       Whereas, in 1937, the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
     Senate blocked the attempt by President Franklin D. Roosevelt 
     to pack the Supreme Court of the United States;
       Whereas, before enactment, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 
     (Public Law 85-315; 71 Stat. 634) and the Civil Rights Act of 
     1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.) were introduced and referred 
     to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 
     considered and reported the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 
     U.S.C. 10301);
       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 
     considers civil rights legislation, including--
       (1) the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott 
     King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 
     2006 (52 U.S.C. 10301 note; Public Law 109-246); and
  

       (2) the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes 
     Prevention Act (Public Law 111-84; 123 Stat. 2835);
       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate has 
     advanced laws to improve the criminal justice system, punish 
     criminals, and protect victims of crime and the innocent, 
     including--
       (1) the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-473; 
     98 Stat. 1987);
       (2) the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 
     1974 (Public Law 93-415; 88 Stat. 1109);
       (3) the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601 et 
     seq.);
       (4) the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 
     U.S.C. 7101 et seq.);
       (5) the Justice for All Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-405; 
     118 Stat. 2260);
       (6) the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-220; 
     124 Stat. 2372); and
       (7) the Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act 
     of 2007 (Public Law 110-34; 121 Stat. 224);
       Whereas, in 1990, the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
     Senate reported S. 2754 of the 101st Congress, entitled the 
     ``Violence Against Women Act of 1990'' and advanced S. 47 of 
     the 113th Congress, which was enacted

[[Page S7040]]

     as the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 
     (Public Law 113-4; 127 Stat. 54);
       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate--
       (1) has promoted government transparency;
       (2) reported the bill that was enacted as section 552 of 
     title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Freedom 
     of Information Act''); and
       (3) has continued to improve that Act by passing 
     legislation, including the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 
     (Public Law 114-185; 130 Stat. 538);
       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate is one 
     of the busiest and most productive committees of the Senate, 
     and approximately \1/5\ of all measures that are referred to 
     committees of the Senate are referred to the Committee on the 
     Judiciary of the Senate;
       Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 
     handles nominations, including nominations for--
       (1) the Supreme Court of the United States;
       (2) the courts of appeals of the United States;
       (3) the district courts of the United States;
       (4) the Department of Justice;
       (5) the Attorney General;
       (6) the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
       (7) United States Attorneys;
       (8) the United States Marshals Service; and
       (9) the United States Sentencing Commission;
  

       Whereas the work of the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
     Senate has contributed to a more diverse Federal judiciary;
       Whereas members of the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
     Senate have been elected President or Vice President or 
     appointed to the Cabinet or the Supreme Court of the United 
     States;
       Whereas Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts served 
     on the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate for 45 years 
     from 1963 to 2009, the longest period served on the Committee 
     on the Judiciary of the Senate by any Senator; and
       Whereas Senator James O. Eastland of Mississippi served as 
     chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate for 
     22 years from 1956 to 1978, and was the longest-serving 
     chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) celebrates and congratulates the Committee on the 
     Judiciary of the Senate on the celebration of its 200th 
     anniversary; and
       (2) applauds the many accomplishments of the Committee on 
     the Judiciary of the Senate.

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