Chuck is a member of the Judiciary Committee and Chairman
of the Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee.
One of the Senate's original standing committees, the Committee
on the Judiciary
was first authorized on December 10, 1816. Its wide-ranging areas
of jurisdiction include:
- Federal courts and judges.
- Immigration and naturalization.
- Bankruptcy.
- Patents and copyrights.
- Mutiny, espionage, and counterfeiting.
- Constitutional amendments.
- Antitrust enforcement.
The federal courts are one of the most important and controversial
branches of the government. As a member of the Judiciary Committee
and as Chairman of the Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee,
Chuck has worked to bring openness, honesty, and efficiency to the
system:
• Honest Confirmations: Chuck has also used his position
as Ranking Member of the Courts Subcommittee to call for an end
to "gotcha" tactics in judicial confirmation battles,
suggesting instead that Senators return to the tradition of openly
discussing questions of judicial philosophy, as was the case with
previous nominees to the Supreme Court and other federal benches.
He continues to push for the appointment of judges who meet his
three requirements: legal excellence, moderation and diversity.
• Preserving the Right to Filibuster: Chuck fought
the efforts that would rewrite Senate rules to ban the use of the
filibuster because he believes the Founding Fathers never intended
any automatic right to consent, majority or otherwise, and that
the Senate is not a “rubber stamp” when it comes to
judicial and executive nominees.
• Televised Trials: Chuck believes that transparency
in our courts is integral to an efficient justice system. He introduced
a bipartisan bill—the Sunshine
in the Courtrooms Act of 2005—to allow television cameras
in federal trials, so that people can see a fair process at work,
regardless of whether or not they agree with the final outcome.
He testified in support of this bill at a November 9, 2005 Judiciary
Committee hearing.
• Telecommunications: Chuck is committed to protecting
consumers from unfair business practices on the part of the wireless
industry. A Schumer Study showed that New York City cell phone users
pay over $82 million per year in unadvertised fees. In response
to this and other unfair business practices on the part of the wireless
industry, Chuck introduced a Cell Phone Users Bill of Rights and
pressed the FCC to call for wireless number portability, which allows
consumers to take their cell phone numbers with them when they switch
carriers.
• Unsolicited Phone Calls and E-mails: Chuck spearheaded
the creation of a “No-Spam” registry by including its
provisions in the CAN SPAM Act, the legislation that created fines
and penalties for repeat spammers.
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