Report of the Legislative Liaison Committee

April 5, 2019

On March 26, 2019, the Federal Judges Association presented, in partnership with the Federal Magistrate Judges Association and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, a Reception for Members of Congress and Staff.

The Reception took place in the LBJ Room of the United States Capitol from 5 to 7 PM.

Attending on behalf of the FJA were USDJ Cynthia Rufe (Pennsylvania Eastern), incoming FJA President; USDJ Mal Manion (Pennsylvania Middle), member of the Legislative Liaison Committee; USDJ Dave Proctor (Alabama Northern), Board member and member of the Legislative Liaison Committee; and USDJ Chuck Simpson (Kentucky Western), Executive Committee and Chair of the Legislative Liaison Committee.

The NCBJ had a delegation of about 8 Bankruptcy Judges, and the Federal Magistrate Judges Association had a delegation of about 20 Magistrate Judges.

Attendance by Members and Staff was better than at the last Reception about 18 months ago. Three Senators attended, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY). Others included Sen. John Boozman (AR) and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS).

Ten House Members attended, including Hon. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA); Hon. (OH), Hon. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (DC), Hon. Richard Cohen (TN), Hon. Kathy Porter (CA), Hon. (AL), Hon. (TX), Hon. (TN), Hon. Greg Stanton (AZ) and Hon. Bob Anderholt (AL).

Twenty-Five Congressional Staff also attended, including Leader McConnell’s legal Counsel, Tiffany Ge and Dan Ashworth, Legislative Assistant for Judicial matters to Hon. Doug Collins (GA). Rep. Collins is Ranking Member and former Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Judge Rufe reports that Mr. Ashworth was interested in setting up a meeting meeting between Rep. Collins and the FJA.

The AO was represented by Director Jim Duff, Assistant Director Lee Ann Bennett and Legislative Affairs Officer David Best as well as Richard Jaffe, John Hilton, Peter Owen and Supreme Court Fellow Abigail Willie.

The Reception provided an opportunity to renew and strengthen relationships as well as to form new ones. All who attended felt that the Reception provided a relaxed atmosphere to interact with Members and Staff without the focus of any specific legislative issue. This paves the way for when more focused contact is needed in the future.

The three sponsoring organizations felt that the Spring Reception was a better fit into Congressional schedules than the previous Fall Receptions. Under discussion among the organizations now is future activity: whether to have the next function in 2020, an Election year, or whether to defer to 2021, when the dust has settled. Some direction from the Board will be appreciated.

Respectfully Submitted,

Charles R. Simpson III

Chair, Legislative Liaison Committee