I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2329 
To ensure appropriate judicial review of Federal Government actions by 
amending the prohibition on the exercise of jurisdiction by the United 
States Court of Federal Claims of certain claims pending in other courts. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 14, 2015 
Mr. DESANTIS (for himself and Mr. CICILLINE) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To ensure appropriate judicial review of Federal Government 
actions by amending the prohibition on the exercise of 
jurisdiction by the United States Court of Federal 
Claims of certain claims pending in other courts. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Access to 
Justice for Claims Against the United States Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:40 May 19, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2329.IH
H2329
ebenthall on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. JURISDICTION OF UNITED STATES COURT OF FED-
ERAL CLAIMS. 
(a) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 28, UNITED STATES 
CODE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 1500 of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 1500. Presumption of stay 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘court’ means any of the courts 
described in section 610; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘Court of Federal Claims’ means 
the United States Court of Federal Claims. 
‘‘(b) PRESUMPTION OF STAY.—Except as provided in 
subsection (d), if a civil action is pending in, or on appeal 
from, the Court of Federal Claims, and the plaintiff or 
assignee of the plaintiff also has pending in any other 
court a civil action that includes a claim against the 
United States or an agency or officer of the United States 
arising from substantially the same set of operative facts, 
the court presiding over the action that was filed later 
shall stay the action, in whole or in part, until the action 
that was filed first is no longer pending. 
‘‘(c) DETERMINING FIRST-FILED ACTION.— 
‘‘(1) APPEALS.—For purposes of subsection 
(b), the date of filing for a civil action that is pend-
ing on appeal from the Court of Federal Claims is 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:40 May 19, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2329.IH
H2329
ebenthall on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
the date on which the action was filed in the Court 
of Federal Claims. 
‘‘(2) ACTIONS
OR
APPEALS
FILED
ON
SAME 
DAY.—For purposes of subsection (b), if the actions 
described in subsection (b) were filed on the same 
day, without regard to the time of day, the action 
that is pending in, or on appeal from, the Court of 
Federal Claims shall be treated as having been filed 
first. 
‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirement to stay an ac-
tion under subsection (b) shall not apply if— 
‘‘(1) the parties in each of the actions that in-
clude a claim based on substantially the same set of 
operative facts otherwise agree; or 
‘‘(2) in exceptional circumstances the court 
finds, upon the motion of any party, that termi-
nation or modification of the stay is necessary to 
preserve material evidence or to prevent irreparable 
prejudice to that party. 
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Cir-
cuit shall have jurisdiction of an appeal from an interlocu-
tory order terminating or modifying a stay pursuant to 
paragraph (2).’’. 
(2) TECHNICAL
AND
CONFORMING
AMEND-
MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 91 of title 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:40 May 19, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2329.IH
H2329
ebenthall on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
28, United States Code, is amended by striking the 
item relating to section 1500 and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘1500. Presumption of stay.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 1500 of title 28, 
United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), 
shall apply to any action pending on, or filed on or 
after, the date of the enactment of this Act, but does 
not apply in a case in which the action filed later (as 
determined in accordance with such section, as so 
amended) is pending (on such date of enactment) in 
a court of appeals of the United States or the Su-
preme Court of the United States, or in a case in 
which a judgment has been entered as of such date 
of enactment but for which the time to file an appeal 
has not expired. 
(2) 
PREVIOUS
JURISDICTIONAL
BAR.—Any 
claim in an action pending on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act either in a court of appeals of the 
United States or the Supreme Court of the United 
States, or for which the time to file an appeal has 
not expired, shall not be subject to the jurisdictional 
bar under section 1500 of title 28, United States 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:40 May 19, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2329.IH
H2329
ebenthall on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Code, as in effect on the day before the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:40 May 19, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H2329.IH
H2329
ebenthall on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS