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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3612 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3612

 Making emergency appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 
30, 2016, to address needs of the Federal judiciary serving the border 
  region between the United States and Mexico, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 25, 2015

Mr. Cuellar (for himself, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Hurd of Texas, Mr. Castro of 
Texas, and Mr. Smith of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 Making emergency appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 
30, 2016, to address needs of the Federal judiciary serving the border 
  region between the United States and Mexico, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States District Court for the Western 
        District of Texas (in this Act referred to as the ``Western 
        District'') has jurisdiction over Federal criminal matters 
        involving a majority of the Texas-Mexico border region. United 
        States-Mexico border-related criminal activities pose an 
        enormous challenge to the Western District, where the caseload 
        involving border-related crimes has crowded the docket in 
        recent years. These challenges are confronted by the judiciary 
        at the John H. Wood, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, in San Antonio (in 
        this Act referred to as the ``Wood Courthouse''), a building 
        which was not designed to serve as a courthouse, is not 
        equipped with adequate security features, and has fallen into 
        disrepair to a degree that places human health and safety in 
        jeopardy.
            (2) The Wood Courthouse was originally designed and 
        constructed to serve as a temporary pavilion for the 1968 
        World's Fair. Consistently one of the busiest courts in the 
        Nation, the courthouse has been remodeled several times over 
        the last 45 years to accommodate the ever increasing number of 
        judges and staff--expanding from an initial 2 United States 
        District Court Judges and a staffing level of 24, to the 
        current 7 judges and over 280 staff. The workload of the 
        Western District has grown significantly over the years, in 
        large part due to an increased number of criminal cases, 
        including those related to drug trafficking and gang activity 
        along the border region.
            (3) The Wood Courthouse's inadequate security features lead 
        to judges, United States Marshals, judicial staff, and jurors 
        routinely facing defendants charged with violent crimes in 
        corridors, elevators, and entryways. The courthouse has no 
        security sally port. Judges, employees, and prisoners all use 
        the same entrance to access the courthouse.
            (4) Other Wood Courthouse security-related concerns include 
        the following: The current building has inadequate vehicle 
        gates. Cell block doors and walls are not built to institution 
        standards. There is little to no fencing surrounding the 
        property, and nearly the complete circumference of the building 
        is easily accessible by foot. There are no barriers surrounding 
        the property. The facility's intrusion detection system fails 
        to meet minimum standards. Cooperating prisoners and other 
        prisoners or gang members in protective custody cannot be 
        adequately segregated. There is only one room available for 
        attorneys to meet with their clients--a room that is also used 
        by pretrial officers and probation officers for interviews. 
        Conversations can be overhead by others, including 
        conversations addressing becoming a cooperating witness in the 
        prosecution of others. The operations area for the deputy 
        marshals to conduct their work is insufficient and the control 
        room (providing audiovisual control of the building and 
        exterior) is both inadequate and contains obsolete equipment. 
        Judges, staff, and jurors very often encounter criminal 
        defendants in the corridors because of these serious security 
        lapses.
            (5) Even if some of the problems identified above were 
        remedied, the 1968 theatre design of the building cannot be 
        reconfigured to address the security problems inherent in the 
        structure.
            (6) Environmental contamination, as well as aging, 
        deteriorated drinking water facilities, pose urgent public 
        health concerns in the Wood Courthouse. Water sampling 
        conducted in the courthouse building in July and August 2015 
        found high levels of lead and bacteria in 9 of the building's 
        sources of drinking water, including 5 water fountains and 2 
        break room sinks. Health regulations classify lead 
        concentrations of more than 15 parts per billion as 
        unacceptable; the testing found levels ranging from 2 to 6 
        times higher than 15 parts per billion. An August 25, 2015, 
        water sampling revealed that 7 of 25 samples contained 
        unacceptable levels of lead. Two of the 25 samples tested 
        unacceptable for high levels of iron. Three of the 25 samples 
        tested unacceptable for high levels of bacteria. The Federal 
        Occupational Health office within the Department of Health and 
        Human Services has confirmed that 8 water fountains or faucets 
        test unacceptable because of high levels of lead, iron, or 
        both. Lead is highly toxic and can cause kidney and blood 
        pressure problems in adults. In children, lead can lead to 
        delays in physical and mental development. The source of 
        contamination in the Wood Courthouse is currently undetermined. 
        Tests indicate that drinking water piped into the Wood 
        Courthouse is not contaminated. Contamination could be related 
        to pipes within the building, or to pipes that connect to the 
        underground water main.
            (7) The Wood Courthouse has serious HVAC deficiencies. 
        There are a total of 14 air handlers in the building. One of 
        the air handlers is broken and out of service. Two other air 
        handlers are original 1968 or 1975 equipment. They all are 
        rotten and leak. The thermostats that are supposed to 
        electronically control the building's HVAC system have not 
        worked for over 4 years. Louvers in the building are manually 
        adjusted to balance the air sent to the courtrooms or offices 
        which cause wild temperature fluctuations. In the crawl space 
        located below the courthouse, the pipes leak. When it rains, 
        water accumulates. The building's fresh air passes through the 
        crawl space and then flows into the building and the air is 
        impacted by the mold in the air handlers and duct systems. 
        Additionally, electrical wires in the crawl space are exposed 
        to the mold and water accumulation. There is no separate 
        prisoner elevator, separate prisoner circulation, and 
        concomitant secure air exhaust or germicidal systems. Any 
        prisoner with a communicable airborne disease can infect the 
        entire building.
            (8) There is consensus among the Federal judicial and 
        executive branches, including the Administrative Office of the 
        United States Courts and the General Services Administration, 
        that the Wood Courthouse needs to be replaced by a new 
        courthouse to be constructed on available land to be conveyed 
        to the General Services Administration by the City of San 
        Antonio. The Wood Courthouse must be replaced with a modern 
        building to allow for justice to be properly served, and to 
        protect the safety and health of all those who are involved in 
        Federal judicial matters.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS.

     There is hereby appropriated for the fiscal year ending September 
30, 2016, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated 
or obligated, $135,000,000 for the construction of a new courthouse for 
the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas: 
Provided, That such amount, or any portion of such amount, may be 
derived from the Assets Forfeiture Fund and the Federal Buildings Fund: 
Provided further, That such amount is designated by the Congress as an 
emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

SEC. 3. REAL PROPERTY EXCHANGE.

     The courthouse construction to be funded pursuant to section 2 
shall include an exchange of titles to real property, on terms to be 
negotiated between the Administrator of General Services and the City 
of San Antonio. The property exchange shall involve federally owned 
land including the Wood Courthouse and Spears Judicial Training Center, 
located at 655 and 643, respectively, East Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard, 
San Antonio, Texas, and city-owned land commonly known as the San 
Antonio Police Headquarters Site, 214 West Nueva Street, at the corner 
of West Nueva and Santa Rosa Streets, San Antonio, Texas.

SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

     Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Administrator of General Services shall submit to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, and the 
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
Senate, a report on progress of the implementation of sections 2 and 3 
of this Act.
                                 <all>
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