Cooper Praises the Inclusion of Courthouse Funding in President's Budget
Press Release
U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) announced today that President Barack Obama's newly released budget for FY 2016 includes funding for construction of a new federal courthouse building in Nashville.
"Nashville is #1 in the nation on the list of priorities for courthouse construction. This announcement is a critical next step in getting the courthouse built, but we're not done yet," Cooper said. "We still need Congress to appropriate the funds, and I hope that happens this year."
Nashville has been waiting for a new courthouse since 1992, when the Estes Kefauver Federal Courthouse was first deemed "inadequate."
In 2002, the federal government selected the downtown property on Church Street as the site of the new building and purchased the parcels making up the site from 2002-2005. Since then, further studies and an economic downturn have delayed construction on any new federal courthouse. Neither the President's budget nor Congressional appropriations has included funding for courthouses in four of the last five years, with the exception of the Mobile, Ala., courthouse in FY 2014.
Federal courthouse funding is supposed to follow the Judicial Conference's five-year plan that contains a priority list of proposed courthouses ranked by need. But for many years, the Judicial Conference's priorities were routinely ignored in favor of political favoritism and earmarks, a process Cooper opposes.
Cooper has pushed for a transparent, fair funding process and has led bipartisan efforts to award projects based on priority, not politics. Cooper was a founding member of the Congressional Courthouse Caucus, which was formed to address the urgent need for functional, secure courthouses around the country. Cooper has written to President Obama and Members of the House Appropriations Committee several times asking them to prioritize courthouse funding. Cooper has also met with the General Services Administration regarding the public safety hazard that sits atop the site designated for Nashville's new courthouse, urging its immediate demolition.
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