H.R. 51 — what changed

Circuit Court— Section 41 of title 28, United States Code, is amended—

in the first column, by striking “District of Columbia” and inserting “Capital”; and

in the second column, by striking “District of Columbia” and inserting “Capital; Washington, Douglass Commonwealth”.

District Court— Section 88 of such title is amended—

in the heading, by striking “District of Columbia” and inserting “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital”;

by amending the first paragraph to read as follows:

in the second paragraph, by striking “Washington” and inserting “the Capital”.

Clerical amendment— The item relating to section 88 in the table of sections for chapter 5 of such title is amended to read as follows:

Conforming amendments relating to Court of Appeals— Title 28, United States Code, is amended as follows:

Appointment of judges— Section 44(a) of such title is amended in the first column by striking “District of Columbia” and inserting “Capital”.

Terms of Court— Section 48(a) of such title is amended—

in the first column, by striking “District of Columbia” and inserting “Capital”;

in the second column, by striking “District of Columbia” and inserting “Capital”.

Appointment of independent counsels by chief judge of circuit— Section 49 of such title is amended by striking “District of Columbia” each place it appears and inserting “Capital”.

Circuit Court jurisdiction over certification of death penalty counsels— Section 2265(c)(2) of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia Circuit” and inserting “the Capital Circuit”.

Circuit Court jurisdiction over review of Federal agency orders— Section 2343 of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia Circuit” and inserting “the Capital Circuit”.

Conforming amendments relating to District Court— Title 28, United States Code, is amended as follows:

Appointment and number of District Court judges— Section 133(a) of such title is amended in the first column by striking “District of Columbia” and inserting “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital”.

District Court jurisdiction of tax cases brought against United States— Section 1346(e) of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia” and inserting “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital”.

District Court jurisdiction over proceedings for forfeiture of foreign property— Section 1355(b)(2) of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia” and inserting “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital”.

District Court jurisdiction over civil actions brought against a foreign state— Section 1391(f)(4) of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia” and inserting “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital”.

District Court jurisdiction over actions brought by corporations against United States— Section 1402(a)(2) of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia” and inserting “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital”.

Venue in District Court of certain actions brought by employees of Executive Office of the President— Section 1413 of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia” and inserting “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital”.

Venue in District Court of action enforcing foreign judgment— Section 2467(c)(2)(B) of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia” and inserting “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital”.

Conforming amendments relating to other courts— Title 28, United States Code, is amended as follows:

Appointment of bankruptcy judges— Section 152(a)(2) of such title is amended in the first column by striking “District of Columbia” and inserting “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital”.

Location of Court of Federal Claims— Section 173 of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia” and inserting “the Capital”.

Duty station of judges of Court of Federal Claims— Section 175 of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia” each place it appears and inserting “the Capital”.

Duty station of judges for purposes of traveling expenses— Section 456(b) of such title is amended to read as follows:

Court accommodations for Federal Circuit and Court of Federal Claims— Section 462(d) of such title is amended by striking “the District of Columbia” and inserting “the Capital”.

Places of holding court of Court of Federal Claims— Section 798(a) of such title is amended—

by striking “Washington, District of Columbia” and inserting “the Capital”; and

by striking “the District of Columbia” and inserting “the Capital”.

Service of process on foreign parties at State Department office— Section 1608(a)(4) of such title is amended by striking “Washington, District of Columbia” and inserting “the Capital”.

Service of process in property cases at Attorney General office— Section 2410(b) of such title is amended by striking “Washington, District of Columbia” and inserting “the Capital”.

Definition— Section 451 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new undesignated paragraph:

References in other laws— Any reference in any Federal law (other than a law amended by this section), rule, or regulation—

to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia shall be deemed to refer to the United States Court of Appeals for the Capital;

to the District of Columbia Circuit shall be deemed to refer to the Capital Circuit; and

to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia shall be deemed to refer to the United States District Court for Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital.

Effective date— This section and the amendments made by this section shall take effect upon the admission of the State into the Union.

Establishment— There is established the Statehood Transition Commission (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Commission”).

In general— The Commission shall be composed of 18 members as follows:

The Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia.

In general— The appointments of the members of the Commission shall be made not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Effect of lack of appointment by appointment date— If one or more appointments under any of the subparagraphs of paragraph (1) is not made by the appointment date specified in subparagraph (A), the authority to make such appointment or appointments shall expire, and the number of members of the Commission shall be reduced by the number equal to the number of appointments so not made.

Term of service— Each member shall be appointed for the life of the Commission.

Vacancy— A vacancy in the Commission shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was made.

No compensation— Members shall serve without pay, but shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code.

Chair and vice chair— The Chair and Vice Chair of the Commission shall be elected by the members of the Commission—

with respect to the Chair, from among the members described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (1); and

with respect to the Vice Chair, from among the members described in subparagraphs (F) and (G) of paragraph (1).

Director— The Commission shall have a Director, who shall be appointed by the Chair.

Other staff— The Director may appoint and fix the pay of such additional personnel as the Director considers appropriate.

Non-applicability of certain civil service laws— The Director and staff of the Commission may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, except that an individual so appointed may not receive pay in excess of the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

Experts and consultants— The Commission may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individuals not to exceed the daily equivalent of the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

Duties— The Commission shall advise the President, Congress, the Mayor (or, upon the admission of the State into the Union, the chief executive officer of the State), and the Council (or, upon the admission of the State into the Union, the legislature of the State) concerning an orderly transition to statehood for the District of Columbia or the State (as the case may be) and to a reduced geographical size of the seat of the Government of the United States, including with respect to property, funding, programs, projects, and activities.

Hearings and sessions— The Commission may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and receive evidence as the Commission considers appropriate.

Obtaining official data— The Commission may secure directly from any department or agency of the United States information necessary to enable it to carry out this Act. Upon request of the Chair of the Commission, the head of that department or agency shall furnish that information to the Commission.

Mails— The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the United States.

Administrative support services— Upon the request of the Commission, the Administrator of General Services shall provide to the Commission the administrative support services necessary for the Commission to carry out its responsibilities under this Act.

In general— The Commission shall meet at the call of the Chair.

Initial meeting— The Commission shall hold its first meeting not later than the earlier of—

30 days after the date on which all members of the Commission have been appointed; or

if the number of members of the Commission is reduced under subsection (b)(2)(B), 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Quorum— A majority of the members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may hold hearings.

Reports— The Commission shall submit such reports as the Commission considers appropriate or as may be requested by the President, Congress, or the District of Columbia (or, upon the admission of the State into the Union, the State).

Termination— The Commission shall cease to exist 2 years after the date of the admission of the State into the Union.