Chuck Grassley: “I commend these revealing articles to my colleagues. In the first article, U.S. District Court judge, William Nickerson…”

“I commend these revealing articles to my colleagues. In the first article, U.S. District Court judge, William Nickerson, is quoted as saying, ``As a taxpayer, I would probably complain,'' when asked about a judicial conference hosted at the five-star Greenbrier resort in West Virginia. The second article recounts that a Federal judge and former Congressman introduced a resolution to reduce the cost of judicial conferences in the ninth circuit by having them less frequently. Sadly, this responsible and wise proposal was defeated by a vote of 5 to 3. This amendment removes the requirement that conferences be held, giving Federal courts the flexibility to schedule conferences or, if they decide not to schedule them, just to not have a conference. In brief, Mr. President, the amendment will limit the location of judicial conferences to the geographic boundaries of the circuit to minimize travel costs which obviously come when there is travel outside of the circuit. It would also amend Federal law so that judicial conferences are no longer mandatory, and express the sense of the Senate that the Federal Judiciary should explore the idea of using new communications technology--teleconferencing, et cetera--to conduct conferences without travel. I believe the amendment will save money and give new and needed flexibility to the Federal courts.”