Redefining Eastern and Middle Judicial Districts of North Carolina

Floor Speech

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Ms. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today also to highlight this critical bill that will help North Carolinians.

This commonsense legislation will revise North Carolina's judicial district lines to place Fort Bragg, one of the largest military installations in the world, entirely within the eastern district. Currently, the district lines bisect the base, resulting in unnecessary administrative and logistical problems for the people of our State.

This legislation will ease the burden of traveling miles to Durham, Greensboro, or Winston-Salem and, instead, let servicemembers resolve court matters in nearby Fayetteville or Raleigh. A similar redistricting occurred several years ago when Congress moved Butner into the eastern district.

This bipartisan piece of legislation will benefit our servicemembers and their families.

I am honored to work with my North Carolina colleagues, Congressman Hudson, Senator Tillis, and Senator Burr, my colleague from law school class, and the entire delegation to get this bill across the finish line. I am pleased it passed out of the Senate, and I look forward to passing it in the House and having it signed into law by the President.

Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, this is sensible and prudent to the administration of justice in my home State.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, this is a good day on the floor of the House. S. 1340 will improve the administration of justice in the Federal courts of North Carolina.

This is not only a bipartisan, bicameral effort, but it is also evidence of Republicans and Democrats working together for the uplifting of justice.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the leadership of Representative Ross in bringing this bill forward, and I hope all of my colleagues will enthusiastically support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, S. 1340 would redefine the boundaries of the Middle and Eastern Districts of North Carolina to place Fort Bragg and Camp Mackall (a sub-installation of Fort Bragg located roughly 40 miles away) entirely within the Eastern District.

After having been introduced by both Senators from North Carolina, S. 1340 passed the Senate last week. H.R. 2746, the identical House companion to S. 1340, which recently passed the Judiciary Committee, was introduced by Congresswoman Ross and Congressman Hudson and was cosponsored by every member of the North Carolina House Delegation.

This is bipartisan, bicameral legislation that will improve the administration of justice in North Carolina.

Currently, even though Fort Bragg sits on the outskirts of Fayetteville, which is in the Eastern District, the base straddles both judicial districts.

The result of this split means that a federal case arising on one part of Fort Bragg will be heard at the Fayetteville courthouse, which is roughly 20 minutes away, while a case arising on another part of the base could be heard at courthouses more than two hours away. The logistical difficulties resulting from Fort Bragg's split jurisdiction can extend beyond the inconvenience of unnecessarily long travel times--in criminal cases, for example, courts have had difficulty ensuring that defendants have received notice of their rights. S. 1340 will fix that.

I want to thank Ms. Ross for her bipartisan work on this issue, and for championing this legislation in the House. I am pleased to support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it as well.

Mr. Speaker, S. 1340 will improve the administration of justice in the federal courts in North Carolina.

I appreciate the leadership of Representative Ross in bringing this bill forward, and I hope all my colleagues will support this bill.

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