Hearing of the House Judiciary Committee - Opening Statement of Rep. Goodlatte, Markup of H.R. 1669, the "Judgment Fund Transparency Act of 2015"

Hearing

The Judgment Fund was originally set up to provide a mechanism for the federal government to pay damages to parties, in a timely manner, who have been harmed by the federal government. The purpose of the Judgment Fund is thus a good one, but the administration of it must be more transparent.

H.R. 1669, the Judgment Fund Transparency Act, is as much about disclosure to the public of information about government activities as it is about oversight. Indeed, given the requirements set out by the Judgment Fund statute and in light of recent cases, it's clear that greater oversight is needed with regard to government litigation and resulting payments made by the government.

In this respect, H.R. 1669 is intended to protect the institutional integrity of this body as it relates to the power of the purse. James Madison, in Federalist Number 58, stated: "The House of Representatives cannot only refuse, but they alone can propose, the supplies requisite for the support of government. They, in a word, hold the purse -- that powerful instrument by which we behold, in the history of the British Constitution, an infant and humble representation of the people gradually enlarging the sphere of its activity and importance, and finally reducing, as far as it seems to have wished, all the overgrown prerogatives of the other branches of the government."

Under the current Judgment Fund statute, a final judgment or settlement against the government will be paid out of the Judgment Fund as long as three conditions are met: first, payment must not be "otherwise provided for;" second, the Secretary of the Treasury must certify payment; and, third, the judgment must be payable according to one of several specified statutory provisions.

These provisions provide a finite set of circumstances in which the Judgment Fund may be used. However, reports about recent payments from the Judgment Fund have questioned whether the Fund is being used appropriately. In order for Congress to properly do its job of exercising oversight over the Judgment Fund, we need to have more information about the payments being made from the Fund. For these reasons, I strongly support this bill.

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