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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1548

To provide for a 3-judge division of the court to determine whether cases

alleging breach of secret Government contracts should be tried in court.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 22, 1999

Mr. TRAFICANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for a 3-judge division of the court to determine

whether cases alleging breach of secret Government contracts should be tried in court.

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

3 SECTION 1. ASSIGNMENT OF JUDGES TO 3-JUDGE DIVI4 SION.

5 (a) ASSIGNMENT OF JUDGES.—The Chief Justice of

6 the United States shall assign 3 circuit court judges or

7 justices (which may include senior judges or retired jus8 tices) to a division of the United States Court of Appeals

9 for the District of Columbia for the purpose of deter10 mining whether an action brought by a person, including
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1 a foreign national, in a court of the United States of com2 petent jurisdiction for compensation for services per3 formed for the United States pursuant to a secret Govern4 ment contract may be tried by the court. The division of

5 the court may not determine that the case cannot be heard

6 solely on the basis of the nature of the services to be pro7 vided under the contract.

8 (b) ASSIGNMENT AND TERMS.—Not more than 1 jus9 tice or judge or senior or retired judge may be assigned

10 to the division of the court from a particular court. Judges

11 and justices shall be assigned to the division of the court

12 for periods of 2 years each, the first of which shall com13 mence on the date of the enactment of this Act.

14 (c) FACTORS IN DIVISION’S DELIBERATIONS.—In de15 ciding whether an action described in subsection (a)

16 should be tried by the court, the division of the court shall

17 determine whether the information that would be disclosed

18 in adjudicating the action would do serious damage to the

19 national security of the United States or would com20 promise the safety and security of intelligence sources in21 side or outside the United States. If the division of the

22 court determines that the case may be heard, the division

23 may prescribe steps that the court in which the case is

24 to be heard shall take to protect the national security of
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1 the United States and intelligence sources and methods,

2 which may include holding the proceedings in camera.

3 (d) REFERRAL OF CASES.—In any case in which an

4 action described in subsection (a) is brought and otherwise

5 complies with applicable procedural and statutory require6 ments, the court shall forthwith refer the case to the divi7 sion of the court.

8 (e) EFFECT OF DIVISION’S DETERMINATION.—If the

9 division of the court determines under this section that

10 an action should be tried by the court, that court shall

11 proceed with the trial of the action, notwithstanding any

12 other provision of law.

13 (f) OTHER JUDICIAL ASSIGNMENTS NOT BARRED.—

14 Assignment of a justice or judge to the division of the

15 court under subsection (a) shall not be a bar to other judi16 cial assignments during the 2-year term of such justice

17 or judge.

18 (g) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the division of the

19 court shall be filled only for the remainder of the 2-year

20 period within which such vacancy occurs and in the same

21 manner as the original appointment was made.

22 (h) SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Clerk of the United

23 States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir24 cuit shall serve as the clerk of the division of the court
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1 and shall provide such services as are needed by the divi2 sion of the court.

3 (i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

4 (1) the term ‘‘secret Government contract’’

5 means a contract, whether express or implied, that

6 is entered into with a member of the intelligence

7 community, to perform activities subject to the re8 porting requirements of title V of the National Secu9 rity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 413 and following); and

10 (2) the term ‘‘member of the intelligence com11 munity’’ means any entity in the intelligence com12 munity as defined in section 3(4) of the National Se13 curity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. App. 401a(4)).

14 SEC. 2. APPLICABILITY.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1 applies to claims arising

16 on or after January 1, 1974.

17 (b) WAIVER OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—With

18 respect to any claim arising before the enactment of this

19 Act which would be barred because of the requirements

20 of section 2401 or 2501 of title 28, United States Code,

21 those sections shall not apply to an action brought on such

22 claim within 2 years after the date of the enactment of

23 this Act.

Æ