[House Report 108-626]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



108th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     108-626

======================================================================



 
      PLACE OF HOLDING COURT IN THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

                                _______
                                

 July 21, 2004.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Sensenbrenner, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4646]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4646) to amend title 28, United States Code, to provide 
for the holding of Federal district court in Plattsburgh, New 
York, and for other purposes, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the 
bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
The Amendment....................................................     1
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     2
Vote of the Committee............................................     2
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     2
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     3
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     3
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     4
Section-by-Section Analysis and Discussion.......................     4
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     4
Statement Submitted for the Record...............................     4

                             The Amendment

  The amendments are as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. PLACE OF HOLDING COURT IN THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK.

  Section 112(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``Plattsburgh,'' after ``Malone,''.

  Amend the title so as to read:

      A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to provide 
for an additional place of holding court in the Northern 
District of New York.

                          Purpose and Summary

    The purpose of H.R. 4646 is to designate Plattsburgh, New 
York, as a place of holding federal district court for the U.S. 
District Court for the Northern District of New York.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    The U.S. Judicial Conference issued the following statement 
in support of H.R. 4646:

          The [text of H.R. 4646] is supported by the United 
        States Attorney of this district. The need to designate 
        Plattsburgh as a place of holding court has been 
        necessitated by the effort to increase security near 
        our national borders in the wake of the attacks of 
        September 2001. The Department of Justice and the U.S. 
        Customs Service are implementing significant increases 
        in manpower and federal law enforcement capability 
        along the Canadian border in the Northern District of 
        New York. A designated court location in Plattsburgh 
        would greatly facilitate the prosecution of the 
        additional cases generated at the north ports of entry 
        in New York State.\1\

    \1\ Letter from Leonidas Ralph Mecham, Secretary, Judicial 
Conference of the United States, to Representative Lamar Smith (June 
22, 2004).

    The Committee believes this explanation provides a 
sufficient justification for passage of the bill.

                                Hearings

    The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R. 
4646.

                        Committee Consideration

    On July 21, 2004, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered favorably reported the bill H.R. 4646 with amendments 
by voice vote, a quorum being present.

                         Vote of the Committee

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee notes that there 
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of 
H.R. 4646.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does 
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax 
expenditures.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with 
respect to the bill, H.R. 4646, the following estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act.

                                                     July 21, 2004.
Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4646, a bill to 
amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the holding 
of Federal district court in Plattsburgh, New York, and for 
other purposes.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Lanette J. 
Walker.
            Sincerely,
                                               Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 4646--A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for 
        the holding of Federal district court in Plattsburgh, New York, 
        and for other purposes

    H.R. 4646 would allow federal judges in the Northern 
District of New York to hold court proceedings in Plattsburgh, 
New York. CBO expects that implementing the act could increase 
costs to the judiciary to rent facilities in Plattsburgh to 
hold such proceedings. Based on information from the 
Administrative Office of the United States Courts, CBO 
estimates that any additional rental costs would not be 
significant over the 2005-2009 period.
    Enacting H.R. 4646 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues. H.R. 4646 contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Lanette J. 
Walker. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R. 
4646 will enhance security along the northeastern U.S. border 
with Canada and greatly facilitate the prosecution of 
additional cases generated at the northern ports of entry in 
New York State.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for 
this legislation in article III, section 1 of the Constitution.

               Section-by-Section Analysis and Discussion

    H.R. 4646 amends section 112(a) of title 28 of the U.S. 
Code by adding Plattsburgh as a place of holding court in the 
Northern District of New York.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

              SECTION 112 OF TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE


Sec. 112. New York

  New York is divided into four judicial districts to be known 
as the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of 
New York.

                           Northern District

  (a) The Northern District comprises the counties of Albany, 
Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, 
Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, 
Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, 
Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, 
Schenectady, Schoharie, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Warren, and 
Washington.
      Court for the Northern District shall be held at Albany, 
Auburn, Binghamton, Malone, Plattsburgh, Syracuse, Utica, and 
Watertown.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Statement Submitted for the Record by Representative Lamar S. Smith of 
                                 Texas

    Mr. Chairman, the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and 
Intellectual Property never reported H.R. 4646 as a 
freestanding measure since it had already received process as 
section 111 of H.R. 1302, the ``Federal Courts Improvement Act 
of 2003.'' The Subcommittee favorably reported H.R. 1302 more 
than a year ago.
    Representative McHugh of New York is the sponsor of H.R. 
4646, which designates Plattsburgh, New York, as a site for 
holding federal court. Both the U.S. Judicial Conference and 
the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of New York support 
the bill.
    The need to designate Plattsburgh as a place of holding 
court has been necessitated by the effort to increase security 
near our national borders in the wake of the nine-eleven 
terrorist attacks. To provide Members with some geographic 
perspective, Plattsburgh is located on the western shore of 
Lake Champlain, about an hour's drive south of Montreal, 
Quebec.
    The Department of Justice and the U.S. Customs Service are 
implementing significant increases in manpower and federal law 
enforcement capability along the Canadian border in the 
Northern District of New York. A designated court location in 
Plattsburgh would greatly facilitate the prosecution of the 
additional cases generated at the northern ports of entry in 
New York State.
    Finally, Mr. Chairman, at the appropriate time I will offer 
a simple and noncontroversial substitute to H.R. 4646. The 
substitute is based on a stylistic drafting recommendation 
developed by the Office of Legislative Counsel.
    Mr. Chairman, H.R. 4646 makes a small but necessary change 
that will improve the administration of justice and increase 
the security of our nation. I urge the Members to support the 
bill and I yield back the balance of my time.

                                  
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