May 18, 2021

Correa & House Judiciary Committee Pass Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Seniors, Improve Federal Law

House Judiciary Committee Advances 5 bills to House Floor with Bipartisan Cooperation.

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Lou Correa joined his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee to consider important legislation to address the needs of Americans. This bipartisan and productive legislative markup passed numerous bills that address issues faced by countless Americans.

Rep. Lou Correa said, "The American people send us to Washington to help our neighbors live better lives, and the House Judiciary Committee is where much of the important policy work is done. I'm proud of the work my colleagues and I accomplished today. The bipartisan agreements the Committee came to help all Americans. When we put partisanship aside and work together, we can make government work for everyone."

The House Judiciary Committee passed five bills including The Elder Abuse Protection Act and The Criminal Judicial Administration Act.

Watch the full committee markup On YouTube.

The bills brought before the Committee are:

H.R. 2922 - The Elder Abuse Protection Act of 2021

“Elder Abuse Protection Act of 2021,” would make permanent in statute the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Elder Justice Initiative. The legislation would also assign a number of responsibilities to the Elder Justice Initiative, including an obligation to post elder abuse prevention resources online and would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to publish Spanish-language elder fraud and abuse materials. Additionally, the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute would authorize the Department to continue to operate the National Elder Fraud hotline and require coordination with the Office of Tribal Justice to address elder fraud on reservations. This bill was introduced by Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) on April 30, 2021. The Committee approved a prior version of this bill, H.R. 8169, by voice vote last Congress. 

H.R. 2694 - The Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021

H.R. 2694, the “Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021,” amends current law to give courts the discretion, in the interest of justice, to order the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) to furnish, when financially necessary, transportation and subsistence expenses (lodging and food) for released defendants to return home from court proceedings, and subsistence while attending such proceedings. The bill also amends current law to grant magistrate judges the authority to rule on post-judgment motions in cases for which they had trial jurisdiction. 

Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) introduced H.R. 2694 on April 20, 2021 on a bipartisan basis, along with Representatives Chip Roy (R-TX), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), and Van Taylor (R-TX). Last Congress, the Committee approved H.R. 8124, the prior, identical version of this bill, by voice vote and the House passed the bill by voice vote. 

H.R. 2746 - To amend title 28, United States Code, to redefine the eastern and middle judicial districts of North Carolina

H.R. 2746 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 forty miles away) entirely within the Eastern District. 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 extends 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

H.R. 3239 - To make improvements in the enactment of title 41, United States Code, into a positive law title and to improve the Code; and H.R. 3241, “To make improvements in the enactment of title 54, United States Code, into a positive law title and to improve the Code”. 

The House has assigned to the Judiciary Committee responsibility for the “Revision and codification of the Statutes of the United States.” 28 In modern practice, this responsibility entails periodically updating the United States Code (“the Code”). Currently organized in 54 titles based on subject matter, the Code contains all of the general and permanent laws of the United States. Congress created the Code in 1926 to compile federal laws into a sensible, up-to-date collection that would spare people the labor of searching for laws in the chronologically-organized volumes of the Statutes at Large.29 To date, 25 of these 54 titles have been enacted into “positive law,” which means the text of these titles is itself the law,30 while the remaining titles are “non-positive,” meaning that they organize federal statutes for users’ convenience, but do not themselves have the force of law.

### 

Rep. Lou Correa represents California's 46th Congressional District. He serves as Chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Management, and Accountability, and is a Member of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Agriculture Committee. Read more here.