II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1564

[Report No. 106–379]

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, Ms. COLLINS, Mr.

HATCH, and Mr. LEAHY) 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

AUGUST 25, 2000

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of July 26, 2000, by Mr.

THOMPSON, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

AUGUST 25, 2000

Referred to the Committee on the Budget, pursuant to the order of August

7, 1977, for a period not to exceed 30 calendar days

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Courts Budget

3 Protection Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. BUDGET ESTIMATES.

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

6 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘§ 605. Budget estimates

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

9 Director, under the supervision of the Judicial Conference

10 of the United States, shall submit to Congress before Jan11 uary 25 of each year annual estimates of the following:

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

13 necessary for the maintenance and operation of the

14 courts and the Administrative Office and the oper15 ation of the judicial survivors annuity fund and any

16 supplemental and deficiency estimates as may be re17 quired for such purposes according to law.

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

19 shall be approved, before presentation to Congress,

20 by the Judicial Conference of the United States, ex21 cept that the estimate with respect to the Court of

22 International Trade shall be approved by that court

23 and the estimate with respect to the United States

24 Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shall be ap25 proved by that court.
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1 ‘‘(2)(A) The expenditures and appropriations

2 necessary for real property construction activities,

3 including construction and acquisitions and repairs

4 and alterations, related to United States courthouses

5 and other space occupied by entities of the judicial

6 branch.

7 ‘‘(B) For the purpose of preparing estimated

8 expenditures and appropriations under this para9 graph, the Administrator of General Services shall,

10 at such times as are required by Congress or the ju11 dicial branch to ensure timely development and con12 sideration of courthouse needs and budget requests,

13 prepare and submit directly—

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

15 for future judicial branch construction, acquisi16 tion, and repair and alteration projects to the

17 Director, the Committee on Environment and

18 Public Works of the Senate, the Committee on

19 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House

20 of Representatives, and the Committees on Ap21 propriations of the Senate and House of Rep22 resentatives; and

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

24 estimates of future judicial branch construction,
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1 acquisition, and repair and alteration projects

2 to the Director.

3 ‘‘(C) In accordance with estimates prepared

4 under this paragraph, funds may be appropriated to

5 the judicial branch for deposit into the Federal

6 Buildings Fund for the construction, acquisition,

7 and repair and alteration of Federal courthouses.

8 Funds deposited into the Federal Buildings Fund

9 under this subparagraph shall not be available for

10 expenses in connection with any construction, acqui11 sition, and repair and alteration project for which a

12 prospectus, if required by section 7 of the Public

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

14 been approved, except that necessary funds may be

15 expended for each project for required expenses in

16 connection with the development of a proposed pro17 spectus.

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

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

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

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

22 change or alterations whatsoever, and shall not impose or

23 otherwise recommend, directly or indirectly, implementa24 tion of a negative allowance, rescission, or any other form

25 of reduction or change to such estimates.
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1 ‘‘(2) For the purpose of preparing a unified Federal

2 budget by the President, the Director shall transmit to

3 the President—

4 ‘‘(A) preliminary estimated expenditures and

5 proposed appropriations for the judicial branch be6 fore October 16 of each year; and

7 ‘‘(B) final estimated expenditures and proposed

8 appropriations for the judicial branch before Decem9 ber 24 of each year, and such final estimates shall

10 be identical to the estimates to be submitted to Con11 gress under subsection (a).

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

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

14 actuary, who may be an actuary employed by another de15 partment of the Government temporarily assigned for the

16 purpose, and whose findings and recommendations shall

17 be transmitted by the Director to the Judicial Con18 ference.’’.

19 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—

20 Except for the budget submission process provided in sec21 tion 605(a)(2) of title 28, United States Code, as added

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

23 Administrator of General Services for—
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1 (1) assessing, with the Director of the Adminis2 trative Office, facility requirements and specifica3 tions and costs for the judicial branch; and

4 (2) the planning and performance of construc5 tion and repair and alteration functions for the judi6 cial branch;

7 shall not be affected by section 605(a) of title 28, United

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

9 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

10 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Courts Budget

11 Protection Act’’.

12 SEC. 2. BUDGET ESTIMATES.

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

14 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

15 ‘‘§ 605. Budget estimates

16 ‘‘(a) The Director, under the supervision of the Judi17 cial Conference of the United States, shall submit to Con18 gress before January 25 of each year annual estimates of

19 the following:

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

21 necessary for the maintenance and operation of the

22 courts and the Administrative Office and the oper23 ation of the judicial survivors annuity fund and any

24 supplemental and deficiency estimates as may be re25 quired for such purposes according to law.
7

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

2 shall be approved, before presentation to Congress, by

3 the Judicial Conference of the United States, except

4 that the estimate with respect to the Court of Inter5 national Trade shall be approved by that court and

6 the estimate with respect to the United States Court

7 of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shall be approved

8 by that court.

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

10 necessary for real property construction activities, in11 cluding construction and acquisitions and repairs

12 and alterations, related to United States courthouses

13 and other space occupied by entities of the judicial

14 branch.

15 ‘‘(B) Estimated expenditures and appropriations

16 under this paragraph shall be based on prospectuses

17 and other information provided by the Administrator

18 of General Services.

19 ‘‘(C) For the purpose of preparing estimated ex20 penditures and appropriations under this paragraph,

21 the Administrator of General Services shall, at such

22 times as are required by Congress or the judicial

23 branch to ensure timely development and consider24 ation of courthouse needs and budget requests, prepare

25 and submit directly—
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1 ‘‘(i) prospectuses, including cost estimates,

2 for future judicial branch construction, acquisi3 tion, and repair and alteration projects to the

4 Director, the Committee on Environment and

5 Public Works of the Senate, the Committee on

6 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House

7 of Representatives, and the Committees on Ap8 propriations of the Senate and House of Rep9 resentatives; and

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

11 estimates of future judicial branch construction,

12 acquisition, and repair and alteration projects to

13 the Director.

14 ‘‘(D) In accordance with estimates prepared

15 under this paragraph, funds may be appropriated to

16 the judicial branch for deposit into the Federal Build17 ings Fund for the construction, acquisition, and re18 pair and alteration of Federal courthouses. Funds de19 posited into the Federal Buildings Fund under this

20 subparagraph shall not be available for expenses in

21 connection with any construction, acquisition, and re22 pair and alteration project for which a prospectus, if

23 required by section 7 of the Public Buildings Act of

24 1959 (40 U.S.C. 606), has not been approved by the

25 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the
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1 Senate and the Committee on Transportation and In2 frastructure of the House of Representatives, except

3 that necessary funds may be expended for each project

4 for required expenses in connection with the develop5 ment of a proposed prospectus.

6 ‘‘(b)(1) The estimates submitted to Congress under sub7 section (a) shall also be submitted to the President for inclu8 sion in the budget of the United States. In each budget of

9 the United States Government submitted by the President

10 under the first sentence of section 1105(a) of title 31, the

11 President shall make no change or alterations whatsoever,

12 and shall not impose or otherwise recommend, directly or

13 indirectly, implementation of a negative allowance, rescis14 sion, or any other form of reduction or change to such esti15 mates.

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

17 budget by the President, the Director shall transmit to the

18 President—

19 ‘‘(A) preliminary estimated expenditures and

20 proposed appropriations for the judicial branch before

21 October 16 of each year; and

22 ‘‘(B) final estimated expenditures and proposed

23 appropriations for the judicial branch before Decem24 ber 24 of each year, and such final estimates shall be
10

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1 identical to the estimates to be submitted to Congress

2 under subsection (a).

3 ‘‘(c) The Director shall cause periodic examinations of

4 the judicial survivors annuity fund to be made by an actu5 ary, who may be an actuary employed by another depart6 ment of the Government temporarily assigned for the pur7 pose, and whose findings and recommendations shall be

8 transmitted by the Director to the Judicial Conference.’’.

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1105(b) of

10 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the

11 end the following: ‘‘Estimated expenditures and proposed

12 appropriations for the judicial branch described under sec13 tion 605 of title 28 shall be included in the budget and sub14 mitted to the President in accordance with that section.’’.

15 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—Ex16 cept for the budget submission process provided in section

17 605(a)(2) of title 28, United States Code, as added by sub18 section (a) of this section, the responsibilities of the Admin19 istrator of General Services for—

20 (1) assessing, with the Director of the Adminis21 trative Office of the United States Courts, the facility

22 requirements, specifications, and costs associated with

23 housing the needs of the judicial branch in buildings

24 to be constructed, leased, or renovated through funds

25 made available to the General Services Administra-
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1 tion from the Federal Buildings Fund or any other

2 source;

3 (2) the planning, cost estimating, design and

4 performance of construction, leasing and repair, and

5 alteration functions for the purpose of housing the ac6 tivities of the judicial branch; and

7 (3) the planning and determination of the hous8 ing plans of those elements of the executive branch

9 which should be included in buildings to be con10 structed, leased, or renovated for the judicial branch

11 where necessary to support the activities of the judi12 cial branch or to best meet the needs of the Federal

13 community;

14 shall not be affected by section 605(a) of title 28, United

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

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