To amend title 28, United States Code, to modify the composition of the southern judicial district of Mississippi to improve judicial efficiency, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2871) to amend title 28, United States Code, to modify the composition of the southern judicial district of Mississippi to improve judicial efficiency, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2871.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 2871 is a simple and straightforward bill that responds to a single question: How should the Federal judicial districts in Mississippi be organized to best serve the needs of litigants, jurors, the bar, and the public once the Meridian, Mississippi, courthouse is permanently closed?

The answer was developed by an ad hoc committee of judges that was formed late last year; and to their credit, they fashioned a solution that has been reviewed and endorsed by everyone from the affected local bar associations and the Inns of Court to the Judicial Conference of the United States.

Specifically, the committee recommended, one, abolishing the Southern District's current Eastern Division; two, modifying the statutory designations of places to hold court; three, realigning the remaining four divisions and places of holding court; and, four, renaming the realigned divisions.

The judiciary and offices within the Department of Justice have reported that they will achieve significant cost savings when this proposal is fully implemented. Quite simply, Mr. Speaker, the sooner we enact this bill, the sooner these savings can be realized.

But beyond the goal of containing unnecessary costs, this legislation is a priority since the affected courts are engaged in the time- consuming and expensive process of replenishing their jury wheel. That process requires the courts to identify the names of possible jurors for criminal trials and grand jury service for the next 4 years and to provide proportional representation under the new divisions. And that process is on hold until Congress passes and the President signs this bill.

Acting through the Administrative Office of the Courts, the judiciary approached the gentleman from North Carolina, the chairman of the Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Subcommittee, Representative Howard Coble. Chairman Coble immediately recognized the importance of moving this legislation expeditiously and personally committed his efforts to ensure its passage.

On behalf of the full committee chairman, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), I also want to recognize the efforts of the ranking member, Mr. Watt, and the other cosponsors of this bill, which include Representatives Harper, Thompson, and Palazzo from Mississippi, for their bipartisan support and advocacy.

The Committee on the Judiciary reported this bill unanimously in September. It is supported not only by those that I have mentioned, but also by Senators Cochran and Wicker from Mississippi, who are committed to doing everything possible to advance the bill through the other body without delay.

In summary, this is a good bill and it is urgently needed to ensure the Federal courts in Mississippi are authorized and organized to function in the most economically efficient and least disruptive manner as possible. I urge my colleagues to support its passage.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble), the leader of the North Carolina delegation and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Courts.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank very much Chairman Coble for his words. I also want to thank him for his friendship and his mentorship and the leadership that he has shown in this body on the Judiciary Committee, and particularly on the subcommittee for intellectual property and the courts.

I urge my colleagues to join with us in support of this bipartisan, commonsense legislation to efficiently reorganize the courts in Mississippi, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on this.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2871 but also ask that this body continue to work assiduously on the remaining budget matters so that the judicial branch has the funding to do its work that every American has a fair trial--and that they do not have to drive so far that they need to camp out overnight.

In 2012, the Judicial Conference of the United States recommended that certain federal court facilities be closed. This includes leased court space in Meridian, Mississippi. An ad hoc committee of judges, which included the Chief U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi, was convened to review the issues created by the closure and to recommend the best course of action. I am aware like most Members, that cost-savings are extremely important--but we should be mindful of any perceived inconveniences to plaintiffs and defendants--in a state that is regularly ranked one of the poorest.

Moreover, with numerous nominees of President Obama being held up in the Senate via a nominations process that has in fact become an allegations process, I am also inclined to agree with the judgment of the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Chief Justice of the United States that additional judgeships should be created in many parts of the country in order to ensure that the Constitution's promise of justice is fulfilled.

But the need for Congress to create new judgeships aside, I believe the first step in resolving the crisis in our courts is to fill all the existing district and circuit court seats. As of today, there are 91 total vacancies--74 in district courts and 17 in circuit courts. Astonishingly, there are more empty judgeships now than when President Obama took office, almost five years ago. So while it may be appropriate to eradicate duplicity--let this House institute other reforms in a bipartisan manner so

that access to justice is not an abstract notion. Indeed though--we all know that the Senate holds nearly all the cards in this part of the discussion.

We must ultimately consider the effect the proposed changes have on the court's efficiency and stability of the rule of law in the circuit. My experience is that a decrease in space might lead one to believe that justice might be negatively affected but considering that my colleagues from both sides of the aisle are in full support--we must wait and see and hope that justice is not too deliberate in the affected areas of Mississippi.

The chief argument for this legislation is cost-cutting and simplification--but the Judicial Committee did this with an eye on the budget matters that we have dealt with in this body and Mr. Speaker, I must say that if the cost-savings do not injure the provision of justice then this legislation is supportable in its present form.

I urge my colleagues to Support this important legislation.

Mr. President, tonight the Senate passed by unanimous consent a clean extension of the authority the Supreme Court Police use to protect Supreme Court Justices, their employees, and guests when they leave the Supreme Court grounds. I have worked with my counterparts in the House for months to move this extension without amendments because that authority is set to expire at the end of this month. Last month, the House voted by an overwhelming majority of 399 to 3 to pass this bipartisan bill, which extends the Supreme Court Police's authority to protect Supreme Court Justices, their staff, and official guests off Supreme Court grounds through 2019. Congress has provided this authority since the 1980s, to ensure the continued safety of our Supreme Court Justices and their employees.

Threats to the safety of Supreme Court Justices are a threat to our democracy. In light of recent attacks of Justices off the grounds of the Supreme Court, it was all the more imperative that we pass this extension without delay. I look forward to President Obama signing this bill into law and thank the chairman and ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Courts, Representatives Coble and Watt, as well as Representatives Conyers, Marino, and Holding for working with me to ensure enactment of this extension.

The Senate also passed by unanimous consent a bipartisan bill to reorganize Mississippi's Southern District from five divisions to four divisions, which was recommended by Chief Judge Louis Guirola of the Southern District of Mississippi. This realignment will allow the Southern District to absorb the counties formerly served by a now- closed courthouse in Meridian, and the District will be able to better serve the needs of litigants, jurors, the bar, and the general public.

This commonsense piece of legislation promotes efficiency and saves money in the Southern District of Mississippi. I thank Representatives Coble and Watt for sponsoring this important improvement and look forward to its swift enaction.

I yield the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for yielding me this time.

Both gentlemen from North Carolina have pretty well covered this issue, and I will try to not be repetitive.

I rise in support of H.R. 2871.

The legislation will realign the Southern Judicial District in Mississippi. It has been reviewed and is fully supported by members of the majority and the minority from Mississippi.

H.R. 2871 was introduced in response to a plan originally developed by a committee of Federal judges from Mississippi, which was charged with formulating a plan to close the Meridian courthouse. This courthouse is the only court facility located in the Eastern Division of Mississippi's Southern Judicial District. The primary goal of the judges' committee was to recommend a realignment that best serves the needs of litigants, jurors, the bar, and the public.

Given the review and endorsement of the Judicial Conference, the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council, the judges, U.S. attorney, and Federal public defender, local bar association, and Inns of Court, it appears that the judges performed their duty in an exemplary fashion.

In brief, H.R. 2871, Mr. Speaker, aligns and redesignates the judicial districts and places of holding court in Mississippi to improve the judicial efficiency.

The CBO estimates that H.R. 2871 will create no budgetary impact. Its enactment will enable the affected judges, bar, and the public to be better served by a more rational structure, organization, and composition of Federal judicial districts in Mississippi and permit the Federal judiciary and the Department of Justice to achieve substantial cost savings.

H.R. 2871 is a good bill, as has been pointed out, and I encourage my colleagues to support that proposal.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2871, which I am pleased to be a cosponsor of. This straightforward, bipartisan measure will realign the Southern District of Mississippi. The bill has widespread support that includes Representative Bennie Thompson, who represents a part of Mississippi, as well as the affected judges and local bar.

Rarely is a bill introduced that is forthright, uncomplicated, has universal bipartisan support, and is expected to save money. H.R. 2871 has all of these characteristics.

The bill simply reorganizes the existing district into four divisions which will be designated as northern, southern, eastern, and western divisions. This simple reorganization is estimated to save approximately $135,000 due to reduced expenditures for juries and the services of the U.S. Marshals. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as I have no further speakers, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan, commonsense bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.