Political Quotes

“I want to commend Chairmen Jerry Nadler and Hank Johnson, Rep. Doug Collins, Ranking Members Jim Jordan and Martha Robey, Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts Jim Duff, and their respective staffs for their efforts to develop and improve this important legislation. A number of improvements have been made over the last several days to the Open Courts Act as reported out of the Judiciary Committee by voice vote in September. This bill would mandate the development of a modern public records access system that would also relieve the general public, small law firms, and other modest users of having to pay fees to access public documents filed in federal courts. Among other priorities, the bill would provide for the adoption of a progressive fee schedule applying to aggregators and large law firms, which are the biggest consumers of public court records and use these materials for profit- seeking ends. I recognize the press of other business may prevent this bill from being enacted before the end of this Congress. Whatever course awaits the Open Courts Act after today's passage, I look forward to continuing working with all the parties to react to any new information that we may receive and continue refining the bill in mutual discussions.”