Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, our Federal courts are critical to ensuring that Americans have access to justice. The Central Division of the District of Utah is currently authorized to hold court only in Salt Lake City, Provo, and St. George. For residents of southeastern Utah, however, traveling to those courthouses is burdensome and requires hours of driving, and it affects their ability to access the Federal court system. H.R. 8666 addresses these issues at essentially no cost to the U.S. Government. The bill authorizes the Central Division of the District of Utah to hold court in Moab and Monticello in southeastern Utah, in addition to those other locations allowed by law. In addition, this will be free of cost because the District of Utah already has agreements in place with State and county courthouses in those cities. Those facilities are being provided at no cost to the Federal Government because they are in the best interests of the people of Utah. These changes, which have been requested by the District of Utah, are endorsed by the Judicial Conference of the United States and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. In fact, it is also endorsed by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Federal Public Defender's Office for the District of Utah. Madam Speaker, I strongly urge the passage of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.”