Patricia Schroeder: “I think if I can answer some of the questions that I think the gentleman from California has so eloquently asked, and I…”

“I think if I can answer some of the questions that I think the gentleman from California has so eloquently asked, and I really salute the gentleman for taking the floor, we had this process in 1976, and this Congress unanimously did away with it, because they said it was so burdensome on the court. Mr. Chairman, it takes three judges. You have to pull them out of their courtrooms in different places. We know that the Federal system is absolutely overloaded with drug cases, crime cases. We do not want to give any more resources to the courts, so we are handing them another mandate. Mr. Chairman, I think the other issue that has been raised is this gives them a direct access to the Supreme Court without an appellate record, because they do not go through the Court of Appeals. Other people do not get direct access to the Supreme Court. They have got to go and make their case and the Supreme Court picks and chooses the ones they want. But this gives them direct access and it is a wonderful way to just push everybody else out of the line. Mr. Chairman, I think what my colleagues are doing is treating somebody unfairly, and so does Justice Rehnquist and his group that has sent us a letter asking us, please, to remember our history; to remember we tried this from 1948 to 1976; to remember we are the ones who do not want to give anyone else any more resources for anything; and to say that this is not a good idea.”