III 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 641 

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Committee on the Judiciary of 

the Senate. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10 (legislative day, DECEMBER 9), 2016 

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 

RESOLUTION 

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Committee on the 

Judiciary of the Senate. 

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— 


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•SRES 641 ATS 

(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 

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troversial 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 


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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); 


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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 

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; 


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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 longestserving chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of 

the Senate: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) celebrates and congratulates the Committee 

3 on the Judiciary of the Senate on the celebration of 

4 its 200th anniversary; and 

5 (2) applauds the many accomplishments of the 

6 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate. 

Æ 


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