2013-042 Requesting our US Senators to forward to President Obama a bi-partisan slate of qualified judicial nominees to fill the vacant federal judge position in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division with preferenc

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Congressional Record, Volume 149 Issue 168 (Wednesday, November 19, 2003) . Page 5 of 8 that the addition of this courthouse will have no negative -impact on the Sherman courthouse. I appreciate the efforts that my colleagues have made to address the concerns of those in Sherman, and I am confident that there is general agreement that the judicial business of the Sherman and Plano divisions will be shared equally. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support S. 1720. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. SP,NSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson). (Air. SAM JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding me this time. I just want to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) for working with us. This is A bipartisan agreement. I will let my colleagues know that Collin County is expected to increase by 73 percent in population by the year 2020, so this is a needed court and long overdue. Mr. Speaker, you know, the role of the Federal Government is to serve people. And one way the goverment serves the people is through the judicial system. Tkell, the people of Plano, nearly 250,000 strong and the laxgest city in Collin County, do not have access to a nearby Federal court. Simply put, today's bill is gogd legislation that ks long overdue. Anytime a lawyer wants to file a court paper, they have to drive '48 miles to near the Oklahoma border to Sherman, TX. Anytime a police officer needs to sign a legal document, they have to drive nearly 100 miles round trip. That is not time well spent. If the role of the Federal Government is to serve the people, then it's time to let Collin County hold court. You know, Plano consumes more than three — fourths of the criminal cases in Sherman and nearly 4 out of 5 civil cases. Clearly there is a need in Plano for a Federal bench. The people of Collin County and the Eastern District of Texas are woefully underserved. On the top of that, the population of Collin County is expected to increase by 73 percent by the year 2020. If we don't take care of this now, when will we? With four judges but just two courtrooms, the Sherman division badly needs another courtroom somewhere. That somewhere should be the city of Plano. Important to the city of Sherman, the bill also protects the Grayson County Courthouse Docket by expanding the Sherman Court jurisdiction to four new counties; Fannin, Lamar, Delta, and Hopkins. I also want to thank my friend Ralph tall for his work on this issue. I hope he believes we addressed many of his initial concerns. Before I close, I'd like to thank my colleagues in the Senate, Senators Cornyn and Hutchison, who helped get this bill through the other body. . This measure has passed the House every Congress since 1991, only to the in committee in the Senate. Their leadership paved the way to make this possible for Collin County. In the name of good government, the Federal Government started serving the people of Collin County. GENERAL ORDER NO. 03 -15 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS resolution regarding places of holding court in the sherman division Since 1991, both this court and the Judicial Conference of the Baited States have supported legislation authorizing Plano as a place of holding court in the Sherman Division. http:/ /Wwvv.gpo. gov /fdsys/pkg /CREC- 2003- 11- 19/htnUCREC- 2003 - 11- 19 -pil -PgHl 1586... 9/20/2013