Divisional Realignment for the Eastern District of Arkansas Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1123) to amend title 28, United States Code, to modify the composition of the eastern judicial district of Arkansas, and for other purposes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 1123

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Divisional Realignment for the Eastern District of Arkansas Act of 2019''. SEC. 2. REALIGNMENT OF THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS.

Section 83(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: ``Eastern District

``(a) The Eastern District comprises three divisions.

``(1) The Central Division comprises the counties of Cleburne, Cleveland, Conway, Dallas, Drew, Faulkner, Grant, Jefferson, Lincoln, Lonoke, Perry, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Saline, Stone, Van Buren, White, and Yell. Court for the Central Division shall be held at Little Rock.

``(2) The Delta Division comprises the counties of Arkansas, Chicot, Crittenden, Desha, Lee, Monroe, Phillips, and St. Francis. Court for the Delta Division shall be held at Helena.

``(3) The Northern Division comprises the counties of Clay, Craighead, Cross, Fulton, Greene, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, Randolph, Sharp, and Woodruff. Court for the Northern Division shall be held at Jonesboro.''. SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Act and the amendment made by this Act shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

I rise in support of H.R. 1123, which would amend current law to reduce the number of operating divisions in the Eastern District of Arkansas from five to three.

This legislation, introduced by Congressman Rick Crawford from Arkansas, has the support of every member of the Arkansas congressional delegation.

The bill was prompted by the closure in 2017 of the only Federal courthouses in two of the divisions. The three new divisions created by H.R. 1123 would align with the three remaining courthouses in that district. The new divisional lines are based on caseload history and travel times to the remaining courthouses.

As chairman of the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee with jurisdiction over the courts, it is a priority of mine to ensure that people across this Nation have ready access to the Federal judiciary.

In the context of a bill such as that under consideration here today, I mean that in a very literal sense, ensuring that jurisdictional lines are appropriately drawn so that those residing in their bounds are not unduly burdened by travel time to a courthouse. But this must be balanced against closing courthouses where resources are not being used efficiently.

I am satisfied that such a balance has been achieved here, given the support this bill has gotten from the Judicial Conference, the Judicial Council of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the chief judge of the Eastern District of Arkansas.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1123 is a straightforward bill that better aligns the divisions of the Eastern District of Arkansas with the current operations of that district, and so I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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