II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1564

To protect the budget of the Federal courts.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 5, 1999

Mr. COCHRAN (for himself, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. ROTH, and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred jointly pursuant to the order of August 4, 1977, to the Committees on the Budget

and Governmental Affairs, with instructions that if one committee reports, the other committee have thirty days to report or be discharged

A BILL

To protect the budget of the Federal courts.

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 ‘‘Federal Courts Budget

5 Protection Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. BUDGET ESTIMATES.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605 of title 28, United

8 States Code, is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘§ 605. Budget estimates

2 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding section 1105(b) of title 31, the

3 Director, under the supervision of the Judicial Conference

4 of the United States, shall submit to Congress before Jan5 uary 25 of each year annual estimates of the following:

6 ‘‘(1)(A) The expenditures and appropriations

7 necessary for the maintenance and operation of the

8 courts and the Administrative Office and the oper9 ation of the judicial survivors annuity fund and any

10 supplemental and deficiency estimates as may be re11 quired for such purposes according to law.

12 ‘‘(B) The estimates required by this paragraph

13 shall be approved, before presentation to Congress,

14 by the Judicial Conference of the United States, ex15 cept that the estimate with respect to the Court of

16 International Trade shall be approved by that court

17 and the estimate with respect to the United States

18 Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shall be ap19 proved by that court.

20 ‘‘(2)(A) The expenditures and appropriations

21 necessary for real property construction activities,

22 including construction and acquisitions and repairs

23 and alterations, related to United States courthouses

24 and other space occupied by entities of the judicial

25 branch.
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1 ‘‘(B) For the purpose of preparing estimated

2 expenditures and appropriations under this para3 graph, the Administrator of General Services shall,

4 at such times as are required by Congress or the ju5 dicial branch to ensure timely development and con6 sideration of courthouse needs and budget requests,

7 prepare and submit directly—

8 ‘‘(i) prospectuses, including cost estimates,

9 for future judicial branch construction, acquisi10 tion, and repair and alteration projects to the

11 Director, the Committee on Environment and

12 Public Works of the Senate, the Committee on

13 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House

14 of Representatives, and the Committees on Ap15 propriations of the Senate and House of Rep16 resentatives; and

17 ‘‘(ii) preliminary planning, design and cost

18 estimates of future judicial branch construction,

19 acquisition, and repair and alteration projects

20 to the Director.

21 ‘‘(C) In accordance with estimates prepared

22 under this paragraph, funds may be appropriated to

23 the judicial branch for deposit into the Federal

24 Buildings Fund for the construction, acquisition,

25 and repair and alteration of Federal courthouses.
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1 Funds deposited into the Federal Buildings Fund

2 under this subparagraph shall not be available for

3 expenses in connection with any construction, acqui4 sition, and repair and alteration project for which a

5 prospectus, if required by section 7 of the Public

6 Buildings Act of 1959 (40 U.S.C. 606), has not

7 been approved, except that necessary funds may be

8 expended for each project for required expenses in

9 connection with the development of a proposed pro10 spectus.

11 ‘‘(b)(1) The estimates submitted to Congress under

12 subsection (a) shall also be submitted to the President for

13 inclusion in the budget of the United States. In including

14 the estimates in the budget, the President shall make no

15 change or alterations whatsoever, and shall not impose or

16 otherwise recommend, directly or indirectly, implementa17 tion of a negative allowance, rescission, or any other form

18 of reduction or change to such estimates.

19 ‘‘(2) For the purpose of preparing a unified Federal

20 budget by the President, the Director shall transmit to

21 the President—

22 ‘‘(A) preliminary estimated expenditures and

23 proposed appropriations for the judicial branch be24 fore October 16 of each year; and
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1 ‘‘(B) final estimated expenditures and proposed

2 appropriations for the judicial branch before Decem3 ber 24 of each year, and such final estimates shall

4 be identical to the estimates to be submitted to Con5 gress under subsection (a).

6 ‘‘(c) The Director shall cause periodic examinations

7 of the judicial survivors annuity fund to be made by an

8 actuary, who may be an actuary employed by another de9 partment of the Government temporarily assigned for the

10 purpose, and whose findings and recommendations shall

11 be transmitted by the Director to the Judicial Con12 ference.’’.

13 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—

14 Except for the budget submission process provided in sec15 tion 605(a)(2) of title 28, United States Code, as added

16 by subsection (a) of this section, the responsibilities of the

17 Administrator of General Services for—

18 (1) assessing, with the Director of the Adminis19 trative Office, facility requirements and specifica20 tions and costs for the judicial branch; and

21 (2) the planning and performance of construc22 tion and repair and alteration functions for the judi23 cial branch;
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1 shall not be affected by section 605(a) of title 28, United

2 States Code, as added by subsection (a).

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