[House Report 117-476]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress   }                                         {    Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session      }                                         {   117-476

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

 
 TO AMEND TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE, TO PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL PLACE 
FOR HOLDING COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON, AND FOR OTHER 
                                PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 September 19, 2022.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3034]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 3034) to amend title 28, United States Code, to 
provide an additional place for holding court for the Western 
District of Washington, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an 
amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     3
Committee Votes..................................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     3
Committee Estimate of Budgetary Effects..........................     3
New Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Estimate....     3
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     4
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     4
Advisory on Earmarks.............................................     4
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     4
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     4

    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. ADDITIONAL PLACE FOR HOLDING COURT.

  Section 128(b) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``Mount Vernon,'' after ``Tacoma,''.

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 3034, ``To amend title 28, United States Code, to 
provide an additional place for holding court for the Western 
District of Washington, and for other purposes,'' would create 
an additional site for court proceedings in Mount Vernon, WA, 
located in the Western District of Washington.

                Background and Need for the Legislation


                         I. GENERAL BACKGROUND

    The Western District of Washington is the federal trial 
court for the portion of Washington state spanning from the 
Pacific Ocean to the Cascade Mountains and from the northern 
border of Oregon to the southern border of Canada.\1\ It 
comprises 19 counties.\2\ The Western District currently holds 
court in four sites: Vancouver, on the Oregon border; Tacoma 
and Seattle, near the center of the state; and Bellingham, near 
the Canadian border.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\About the Court, U.S. Dist. Ct. W. Dist. Wash., https://
www.wawd.uscourts.gov/about (last visited Sept. 9, 2022).
    \2\Id.
    \3\28 U.S.C. Sec. 128(b).
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    This legislation would create an additional site for court 
proceedings in Mount Vernon, which is located between Seattle 
and Bellingham. Mount Vernon is in Skagit County and is 
adjacent to Snohomish County, the third-most-populous county in 
the state, and Island County.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\April 1, 2022 Population of Cities, Towns and Counties Used for 
Allocation of Selected State Revenues, State of Wash., Off. of Fin. 
Mgmt., https://ofm.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/dataresearch/pop/
april1/ofm_april1_population_final.pdf (last visited Sept. 9, 2022).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H.R. 3034 is supported by a broad coalition of court 
personnel and court users, including the judges, United States 
Attorney, and Federal Public Defender for the Western District 
of Washington; the United States Marshals Service; and multiple 
county bar associations in the State of Washington.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\Press Release, Rep. Suzan DelBene, DelBene, Larsen Introduce 
Bill to Add Mount Vernon Court Location to Western District of 
Washington (May 7, 2021), https://delbene.house.gov/news/
documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2805.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           II. APPLICABLE LAW

    Title 28, chapter 5, of the United States Code sets forth 
the sites for holding court in every federal judicial 
district.\6\ The sites for holding court in the Western 
District of Washington are set forth in 28 U.S.C. Sec. 128(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\See 28 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 81-131.
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                  III. INTENDED OPERATION OF H.R. 3034

    H.R. 3034 is intended to provide an additional site for 
holding court in the Western District of Washington in order to 
increase access to federal judicial resources for residents and 
court users in that district.

                                Hearings

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6)(A) of House rule XIII, 
the Committee held no hearings on H.R. 3034.

                        Committee Consideration

    On June 15, 2022, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered the bill, H.R. 3034, favorably reported with an 
amendment, by a voice vote, a quorum being present.

                            Committee Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that no 
rollcall votes occurred during the Committee's consideration of 
H.R. 3034.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

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

                Committee Estimate of Budgetary Effects

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of House rule XIII, the 
Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

   New Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and pursuant to 
clause (3)(c)(3) of House rule XIII and section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee sets forth, 
with respect to the bill, H.R. 3034, the following analysis and 
estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    H.R. 3034 would authorize federal courts in the Western 
District of the state of Washington to hold proceedings in the 
city of Mount Vernon. Under current law, federal courts are 
authorized to hold proceedings in the cities of Bellingham, 
Seattle, Tacoma, and Vancouver.
    Using information from the Administrative Office of the 
United States Courts, CBO expects that federal judges would 
hold some proceedings in facilities owned by Skagit County and 
that implementing the bill would cost less than $500,000 over 
the 2022-2027 period. Such spending would be subject to the 
availability of appropriated funds.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The 
estimate was reviewed by Leo Lex, Deputy Director of Budget 
Analysis.

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of House rule XIII, no provision 
of H.R. 3034 establishes or reauthorizes a program of the 
federal government known to be duplicative of another federal 
program.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The Committee states that, pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of 
House rule XIII, H.R. 3034 would provide an additional site for 
holding court in the Western District of Washington.

                          Advisory on Earmarks

    In accordance with clause 9 of House rule XXI, H.R. 3034 
does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax 
benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 
9(e), or 9(f) of House rule XXI.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    The following discussion describes the bill as reported by 
the Committee.
    Section 1. Additional Place for Holding Court. Section 1 
amends 28 U.S.C. Sec. 128(b) by inserting ``Mount Vernon'' 
after ``Tacoma.''

         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 italics and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                      TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE



           *       *       *       *       *       *       *
Sec. 128. Washington

  Washington is divided into two judicial districts to be known 
as the Eastern and Western Districts of Washington.
   Eastern District
   (a) The Eastern District comprises the counties of Adams, 
Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, 
Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend 
Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman, and Yakima.
   Court for the Eastern District shall be held at Spokane, 
Yakima, Walla Walla, and Richland.
   Western District
   (b) The Western District comprises the counties of Clallam, 
Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, 
Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, 
Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, and Whatcom.
   Court for the Western District shall be held at Bellingham, 
Seattle, Tacoma, Mount Vernon, and Vancouver.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


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