[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 25175]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 FEDERAL COURTS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2000

  Mr. HATCH. I ask unanimous consent that the Chair lay before the 
Senate a message from the House to accompany S. 2915.
  There being no objection, the Presiding Officer (Mr. Bennett) laid 
before the Senate the following message from the House of 
Representatives:

       Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 2915) entitled 
     ``An Act to make improvements in the operation and 
     administration of the Federal courts, and for other 
     purposes'', do pass with the following amendments:
       Strike section 103, and redesignate the remaining sections 
     and table of contents accordingly.
       Page 9, line 22, strike [subsection; or] and insert: 
     subsection, or
       Page 10, line 6, strike [subsection;] and insert: 
     subsection,
       Page 10, line 9, strike [judge; or] and insert: judge, or
       Page 25, beginning on line 21, strike [``(b) For purposes 
     of constructing] and all that follows through [date of 
     retirement.] on page 26, line 6, and insert:
       ``(b)(1)(A) For purposes of construing and applying chapter 
     89 of title 5, a judge of the United States Court of Federal 
     Claims who--
       ``(i) is retired under subsection (b) of section 178 of 
     this title, and
       ``(ii) at the time of becoming such a retired judge--
       ``(I) was enrolled in a health benefits plan under chapter 
     89 of title 5, but
       ``(II) did not satisfy the requirements of section 
     8905(b)(1) of title 5 (relating to eligibility to continue 
     enrollment as an annuitant),

     shall be deemed to be an annuitant meeting the requirements 
     of section 8905(b)(1) of title 5, in accordance with the 
     succeeding provisions of this paragraph, if the judge gives 
     timely written notification to the chief judge of the court 
     that the judge is willing to be called upon to perform 
     judicial duties under section 178(d) of this title during the 
     period of continued eligibility for enrollment, as described 
     in subparagraph (B)(ii) or (C)(ii) (whichever applies).
       ``(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C)--
       ``(i) in order to be eligible for continued enrollment 
     under this paragraph, notification under subparagraph (A) 
     shall be made before the first day of the open enrollment 
     period preceding the calendar year referred to in clause 
     (ii)(II); and
       ``(ii) if such notification is timely made, the retired 
     judge shall be eligible for continued enrollment under this 
     paragraph for the period--
       ``(I) beginning on the date on which eligibility would 
     otherwise cease, and
       ``(II) ending on the last day of the calendar year next 
     beginning after the end of the open enrollment period 
     referred to in clause (i).
       ``(C) For purposes of applying this paragraph for the first 
     time in the case of any particular judge--
       ``(i) subparagraph (B)(i) shall be applied by substituting 
     `the expiration of the term of office of the judge' for the 
     matter following `before'; and
       ``(ii)(I) if the term of office of such judge expires 
     before the first day of the open enrollment period referred 
     to in subparagraph (B)(i), the period of continued 
     eligibility for enrollment shall be as described in 
     subparagraph (B)(ii); but
       ``(II) if the term of office of such judge expires on or 
     after the first day of the open enrollment period referred to 
     in subparagraph (B)(i), the period of continued eligibility 
     shall not end until the last day of the calendar year next 
     beginning after the end of the next full open enrollment 
     period beginning after the date on which the term expires.
       ``(2) In the event that a retired judge remains enrolled 
     under chapter 89 of title 5 for a period of 5 consecutive 
     years by virtue of paragraph (1) (taking into account only 
     periods of coverage as an active judge immediately before 
     retirement and as a retired judge pursuant to paragraph (1)), 
     then, effective as of the day following the last day of that 
     5-year period--
       ``(A) the provisions of chapter 89 of title 5 shall be 
     applied as if such judge had satisfied the requirements of 
     section 8905(b)(1) on the last day of such period; and
       ``(B) the provisions of paragraph (1) shall cease to apply.
       ``(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term `open 
     enrollment period' refers to a period described in section 
     8905(g)(1) of title 5.
       Page 26, line 23, strike [6301(2)(xiii)] and insert: 
     6301(2)(B)(xiii)
       Page 29, beginning on line 8, strike [(1) in subparagraph 
     (A),] and all that follows through [first''.] on line 24, and 
     insert:
       (1) in subparagraph (A), in the matter following clause 
     (ii), by striking ``or October 1, 2002, whichever occurs 
     first,''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (F)--
       (A) in clause (i)--
       (i) in subclause (II), by striking ``or October 1, 2002, 
     whichever occurs first''; and
       (ii) in the matter following subclause (II)--

       (I) by striking ``October 1, 2003, or''; and
       (II) by striking ``, whichever occurs first''; and

       (B) in clause (ii), in the matter following subclause 
     (II)--
       (i) by striking ``October 1, 2003, or''; and
       (ii) by striking ``, whichever occurs first''.

  Mr. HATCH. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate agree to the 
amendments of the House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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