I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4946

To provide for the orderly termination of the United States Court of Federal 

Claims, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2004

Mr. HEFLEY (for himself, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. GOODE, and Mr. TANCREDO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To provide for the orderly termination of the United States 

Court of Federal Claims, 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 ‘‘United States Court 

5 of Federal Claims Termination Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) a fair and efficient Federal judiciary is a 

9 bedrock of the Nation’s democracy; 
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1 (2) at a time of rising deficits and shrinking 

2 budgets, it is imperative that Federal judiciary re3 sources be used wisely; 

4 (3) the United States Court of Federal Claims 

5 operates inefficiently; 

6 (4) in calendar year 2002, on average, judges 

7 of the Court of Federal Claims conducted only 1.5 

8 trials and spent less than 66 hours in a courtroom; 

9 (5) between calendar years 1997 and 2001, on 

10 average, Court of Federal Claims judges had 45 

11 cases on their docket each year; 

12 (6) by contrast, during the same period, Fed13 eral district court judges had 478 cases on their 

14 dockets each year; 

15 (7) a comprehensive study by a respected legal 

16 scholar concluded that the caseload of the Court of 

17 Federal Claims could be handled more efficiently by 

18 Federal district courts; 

19 (8) transferring the caseload of the Court of 

20 Federal Claims to the Federal district courts would 

21 add less than 1 case each year to each Federal dis22 trict judgeship; 

23 (9) there is no evidence that Federal district 

24 courts are incapable of handling the caseload of the 

25 Court of Federal Claims; 
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1 (10) it is estimated that the budget for fiscal 

2 year 2004 for the Court of Federal Claims is 

3 $14,400,000; and 

4 (11) elimination of the Court of Federal Claims 

5 will lead to a significant savings of taxpayer dollars, 

6 especially over the long term. 

7 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF UNITED STATES COURT OF FED8 ERAL CLAIMS. 

9 (a) FILING OF CLAIMS.—Notwithstanding any other 

10 provision of law, no claim may be filed in the United 

11 States Court of Federal Claims on or after the date of 

12 enactment of this Act. 

13 (b) PENDING CLAIMS.—Not later than 60 days after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Chief Justice of 

15 the United States shall promulgate regulations to carry 

16 out an orderly transfer of all claims pending before the 

17 United States Court of Federal Claims to appropriate 

18 courts of the United States. Such transfers shall be com19 pleted during the 1-year period beginning on the date of 

20 enactment of this Act. Regulations under this subsection 

21 may provide for some claims to proceed in the United 

22 States Court of Federal Claims during that 1-year period. 

23 A congressional reference case for which a report is not 

24 transmitted to the appropriate House of Congress before 
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1 the end of that 1-year period shall not be transferred and 

2 shall terminate. 

3 (c) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding any other pro4 vision of law, the United States Court of Federal Claims 

5 is terminated effective on and after the date occurring 1 

6 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Administra9 tive Office of United States Courts shall submit a report 

10 to Congress containing recommendations for legislation to 

11 carry out this Act, including recommendations for con12 forming amendments to Federal law.

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