IA

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2407

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 19, 1994

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

AN ACT

To make improvements in the operation and administration

of the Federal courts, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Judicial Amendments

5 Act of 1994’’.
2

S 2407 RFH

1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE JUDICIARY AUTOMATION

2 FUND.

3 Section 612 of title 28, United States Code, is

4 amended—

5 (1) in subsection (a)—

6 (A) in the second sentence by inserting

7 after ‘‘equipment for’’ the following: ‘‘program

8 activities included in the courts of appeals, dis9 trict courts, and other judicial services account

10 of’’; and

11 (B) in the third sentence by striking out

12 all after ‘‘personal services’’ and inserting in

13 lieu thereof ‘‘, support personnel in the courts

14 and in the Administrative Office of the United

15 States Courts, and other costs, for the effective

16 management, coordination, operation, and use

17 of automatic data processing equipment pur18 chased by the Fund. In addition, all agencies of

19 the judiciary may make deposits into the Fund

20 to meet their automatic data processing needs

21 in accordance with subsections (b) and (c)(2).’’;

22 (2) in subsection (b)(1) by striking out ‘‘judicial

23 branch’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘activities

24 funded under subsection (a) and shall include an an25 nual estimate of any fees that may be collected
3

S 2407 RFH

1 under section 404 of the Judiciary Appropriations

2 Act, 1991 (Public Law 101–515; 104 Stat. 2133)’’;

3 (3) in subsection (b)(2) by striking out ‘‘judicial

4 branch of the United States’’ and inserting in lieu

5 thereof ‘‘activities funded under subsection (a)’’;

6 (4) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by inserting after

7 ‘‘surplus property’’ the following: ‘‘, all fees collected

8 after the date of the enactment of the Judicial

9 Amendments Act of 1994 by the judiciary under sec10 tion 404 of the Judiciary Appropriations Act, 1991

11 (Public Law 101–515; 104 Stat. 2133)’’;

12 (5) in subsection (e)(1)—

13 (A) by striking out ‘‘(A)’’; and

14 (B) by striking out ‘‘$75,000,000’’ and in15 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘amounts estimated to be

16 collected under subsection (c) for that fiscal

17 year’’;

18 (6) in subsection (h) by amending the sub19 section to read as follows:

20 ‘‘(h) ANNUAL REPORT.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall submit

22 to the Congress an annual report on the operation

23 of the Fund, including on the inventory, use, and ac24 quisition of automatic data processing equipment

25 from the Fund and the consistency of such acquisi-
4

S 2407 RFH

1 tion with the plan prepared under subsection (b).

2 The report shall set forth the amounts deposited

3 into the Fund under subsection (c).

4 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The

5 annual report submitted under this subsection shall

6 include—

7 ‘‘(A) the specific actions taken and the

8 progress made to improve the plan developed

9 under subsection (b) and the long range auto10 mation plan and strategic business plan devel11 oped under subsection (k); and

12 ‘‘(B) a comparison of planned Fund ex13 penditures and accomplishments with actual

14 Fund expenditures and accomplishments, and

15 the reasons for any delays in scheduled systems

16 development, or budget overruns.

17 ‘‘(3) REPORT IN YEAR OF TERMINATION OF AU18 THORITY.—The annual report submitted under this

19 subsection for any year in which the authority for

20 this section is to terminate under subsection (m),

21 shall be submitted no later than 9 months before the

22 date of such termination.’’;

23 (7) in subsection (i) by striking out all after

24 ‘‘Judicial Conference of the United States,’’ and in25 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘may transfer amounts up to
5

S 2407 RFH

1 $1,000,000 from the Fund into the account to which

2 the funds were originally appropriated. Any amounts

3 transferred from the Fund in excess of $1,000,000

4 in any fiscal year may only be transferred by follow5 ing reprogramming procedures in compliance with

6 section 606 of the Departments of Commerce, Jus7 tice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies

8 Appropriations Act, 1989 (Public Law 100–459;

9 102 Stat. 2227).’’;

10 (8) in subsection (j) in the second sentence by

11 inserting ‘‘in statute’’ after ‘‘not specified’’;

12 (9) by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as

13 subsections (l) and (m), respectively, and by insert14 ing after subsection (j) the following new subsection:

15 ‘‘(k) LONG RANGE MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS

16 PLANS.—The Director of the Administrative Office of the

17 United States Court shall—

18 ‘‘(1) develop an overall strategic business plan

19 which would identify the judiciary’s missions, goals,

20 and objectives;

21 ‘‘(2) develop a long range automation plan

22 based on the strategic business plan and user needs

23 assessments;

24 ‘‘(3) establish effective Administrative Office

25 oversight of court automation efforts to ensure the
6

S 2407 RFH

1 effective operation of existing systems and control

2 over developments of future systems;

3 ‘‘(4) expedite efforts to complete the develop4 ment and implementation of life cycle management

5 standards;

6 ‘‘(5) utilize the standards in developing the next

7 generation of case management and financial sys8 tems; and

9 ‘‘(6) assess the current utilization and future

10 user requirements of the data communications net11 work.’’; and

12 (10) in subsection (m) (as redesignated under

13 paragraph (9) of this section—

14 (A) in the first sentence by striking out

15 ‘‘1994’’, and inserting in lieu thereof, ‘‘1997’’;

16 and

17 (B) in the second sentence by striking out

18 ‘‘ ‘Judicial Services Account’ ’’ and inserting in

19 lieu thereof ‘‘fund established under section

20 1931 of this title’’.

21 SEC. 3. COURT ARBITRATION AUTHORIZATION.

22 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

23 905 of the Judicial Improvements and Access to Justice

24 Act (28 U.S.C. 651 note) is amended—
7

S 2407 RFH

1 (1) in the first sentence by striking out ‘‘for the

2 fiscal year ending September 30, 1989, and for each

3 of the succeeding 7 fiscal years,’’ and inserting in

4 lieu thereof ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 1994

5 through 1997’’; and

6 (2) in the third sentence by striking out all be7 ginning with ‘‘, except that’’ through ‘‘this Act’’.

8 (b) REMOVAL OF REPEALER.—Section 906 of the

9 Judicial Improvements and Access to Justice Act (28

10 U.S.C. 651 note), and the item relating to such section

11 in the table of contents contained in section 3 of such Act,

12 are repealed.

13 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF CIVIL JUSTICE EXPENSE AND DELAY

14 REDUCTION PILOT PROGRAMS.

15 Section 105 of the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990

16 (28 U.S.C. 471 note; 104 Stat. 5097) is amended—

17 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking out ‘‘4-year

18 period’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘5-year pe19 riod’’;

20 (2) in subsection (b)(3)—

21 (A) in the first sentence by striking out ‘‘3

22 years’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘4 years’’;

23 and
8

S 2407 RFH

1 (B) in the second sentence by striking out

2 ‘‘3-year period’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

3 ‘‘4-year period’’; and

4 (3) in subsection (c)(1) by striking out ‘‘Decem5 ber 31, 1995,’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘Decem6 ber 31, 1996,’’.

Passed the Senate August 18, 1994.

Attest: MARTHA S. POPE,

Secretary.