Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved Act of 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 430, S. 4199.
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Mr. SCHUMER. Well, Madam President, something very good just happened. I am very happy the Senate ends this busy week on another productive note. The Senate just unanimously passed the JUDGES Act.

The goal of the JUDGES Act is in the name. It creates 66 new Federal district court judges in order to relieve our overburdened judiciary. And I want to thank Senator Coons on the Democratic side and Senator Young on the Republican side for their good work in pushing this bill forward.

Today, our Federal courts simply can't keep up with the immense workload like they used to in the past. As our country has kept growing and growing, our Federal courts, sadly, have not kept pace.

The last time we systematically increased Federal judges in America was 1991. We have roughly 80 million more Americans living today than there were back then, so clearly our Federal judiciary desperately needs more capacity. This bill provides it.

Specifically, the JUDGES Act adds 66 new judges over the next six Congresses, starting in 2025, adding 11 at a time.

This bill was unanimously reported out of the Judiciary Committee 20 to 0. There is broad consensus we need more judges on the Federal bench. It is not a Democratic or Republican issue. It also reflects the recommendation of the Judicial Conference for increasing the number of judges.

This is a very responsible, bipartisan, and prudent bill. As I said, our population has increased, and the litigiousness, if you will, of our society has increased, so there is a desperate need for new judges.

I hope the House passes the JUDGES Act very soon, because it is bipartisan; it is prudent; it is responsible. Equal justice under law can't always be counted on if their Federal bench is stretched beyond capacity.

Equal justice can't be counted on if you have to wait years and years to hear a case, to get a verdict, and so many other parts of the judicial process.

So I call upon our colleagues in the House to move this bill through their Chamber, because the result will be a better functioning judiciary. Right now, people have to wait far too long to hear their cases in court. This should reduce that wait.

Thank you to Senator Coons and Senator Young again for their excellent work in getting this bipartisan bill done.

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