Herb Kohl: “today this Congress has expanded accessibility to justice for hundreds of thousands of residents of northern Wisconsin…”

“today this Congress has expanded accessibility to justice for hundreds of thousands of residents of northern Wisconsin by creating a Federal judgeship to sit in Green Bay, WI. Let me explain how this judgeship will alleviate the stress that the current system places on business, law enforcement agents, witnesses, victims and individual litigants in northeastern Wisconsin. First, while the four full-time district court judges for the Eastern District of Wisconsin currently preside in Milwaukee, for most litigants and witnesses in northeastern Wisconsin. Milwaukee is well over 100 miles away. In fact, as the courts are currently arranged, the northern portion of the Eastern District is more remote from a Federal court than any other major population center, commercial or industrial, in the United States. Thus, litigants and witnesses must incur substantial costs in traveling from northern Wisconsin to Milwaukee-- costs in terms of time, money, resources, and effort. Indeed, driving from Green Bay to Milwaukee takes nearly two hours each way. Add inclement weather or a departure point north of Green Bay--such as Oconto or Marinette--and often the driving time alone actually exceeds the amount of time witnesses spend testifying. Second, Wisconsin's Federal judges serve a disproportionately large population. I commissioned a study by the General Accounting Office which revealed that Wisconsin Federal judges serve the largest population among all Federal judges.…”