S. 227: Improving Access to Our Courts Act

Bill · 118th Congress (2023–2024). Became law, 30 Jul 2024 · Public Law 118-73. Introduced 2 Feb 2023.

Official title: A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to provide an additional place for holding court for the Pecos Division of the Western District of Texas, and for other purposes.

Vote results

How each member voted

White House

Signed (1): Joseph Biden (D, President).

Senate

Agreed to by unanimous consent: the record lists no member’s position.

House

Yea (404): Harold Rogers (R-KY-5); Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ-4); Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD-5); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9); Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-11); Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ-6); Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT-3); Maxine Waters (D-CA-43); Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-12); Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-2); Ken Calvert (R-CA-41); James E. Clyburn (D-SC-6); Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA-16); Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-3); Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY-7); Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS-2); Frank D. Lucas (R-OK-3); Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-37); Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-18); Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3); Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL-4); Danny K. Davis (D-IL-7); Diana DeGette (D-CO-1); James P. McGovern (D-MA-2); Brad Sherman (D-CA-32); Adam Smith (D-WA-9); Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-5); Barbara Lee (D-CA-12); John B. Larson (D-CT-1); Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA-31); Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL-9); Mike Thompson (D-CA-4); Pete Sessions (R-TX-17); Sam Graves (R-MO-6); Rick Larsen (D-WA-2); Betty McCollum (D-MN-4); Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA-8); Joe Wilson (R-SC-2); Michael C. Burgess (R-TX-26); John R. Carter (R-TX-31); Tom Cole (R-OK-4); Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-26); Mike Rogers (R-AL-3); David Scott (D-GA-13); Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA-38); Darrell Issa (R-CA-48); Jim Costa (D-CA-21); Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28); Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5); Al Green (D-TX-9); Michael T. McCaul (R-TX-10); Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-5); Gwen Moore (D-WI-4); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25); Doris O. Matsui (D-CA-7); Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL-12); Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16); Kathy Castor (D-FL-14); Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY-9); Steve Cohen (D-TN-9); Joe Courtney (D-CT-2); Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA-4); Jim Jordan (R-OH-4); Doug Lamborn (R-CO-5); John P. Sarbanes (D-MD-3); Adrian Smith (R-NE-3); Robert E. Latta (R-OH-5); Robert J. Wittman (R-VA-1); André Carson (D-IN-7); Steve Scalise (R-LA-1); Tim Walberg (R-MI-5); Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA-11); Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2); James A. Himes (D-CT-4); Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO-3); Tom McClintock (R-CA-5); Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1); Bill Posey (R-FL-8); Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15); Paul Tonko (D-NY-20); Mike Quigley (D-IL-5); Judy Chu (D-CA-28); Bill Foster (D-IL-11); Larry Bucshon (R-IN-8); Eric A. "Rick" Crawford (R-AR-1); Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-4); Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3); Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann (R-TN-3); Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ-9); H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9); Andy Harris (R-MD-1); Bill Huizenga (R-MI-4); William R. Keating (D-MA-9); Mike Kelly (R-PA-16); David Schweikert (R-AZ-1); Austin Scott (R-GA-8); Terri A. Sewell (D-AL-7); Daniel Webster (R-FL-11); Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL-24); Steve Womack (R-AR-3); Dina Titus (D-NV-1); Kweisi Mfume (D-MD-7); Mark E. Amodei (R-NV-2); Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1); Suzan K. DelBene (D-WA-1); Thomas Massie (R-KY-4); Andy Barr (R-KY-6); Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3); Ami Bera (D-CA-6); Julia Brownley (D-CA-26); Matt Cartwright (D-PA-8); Tony Cárdenas (D-CA-29); Lois Frankel (D-FL-22); Richard Hudson (R-NC-9); Jared Huffman (D-CA-2); Hakeem S. Jeffries (D-NY-8); David P. Joyce (R-OH-14); Daniel T. Kildee (D-MI-8); Derek Kilmer (D-WA-6); Ann M. Kuster (D-NH-2); Grace Meng (D-NY-6); Scott Perry (R-PA-10); Scott H. Peters (D-CA-50); Mark Pocan (D-WI-2); Raul Ruiz (D-CA-25); Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14); Mark Takano (D-CA-39); Juan Vargas (D-CA-52); Marc A. Veasey (D-TX-33); Ann Wagner (R-MO-2); Randy K. Weber, Sr. (R-TX-14); Brad R. Wenstrup (R-OH-2); Roger Williams (R-TX-25); Robin L. Kelly (D-IL-2); Jason Smith (R-MO-8); Katherine M. Clark (D-MA-5); Alma S. Adams (D-NC-12); Donald Norcross (D-NJ-1); Pete Aguilar (D-CA-33); Rick W. Allen (R-GA-12); Brian Babin (R-TX-36); Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (D-VA-8); Mike Bost (R-IL-12); Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA-2); Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA-1); Ed Case (D-HI-1); Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-10); Debbie Dingell (D-MI-6); Tom Emmer (R-MN-6); Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-3); Garret Graves (R-LA-6); Glenn Grothman (R-WI-6); J. French Hill (R-AR-2); Ted Lieu (D-CA-36); Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11); John R. Moolenaar (R-MI-2); Alexander X. Mooney (R-WV-2); Seth Moulton (D-MA-6); Dan Newhouse (R-WA-4); Gary J. Palmer (R-AL-6); David Rouzer (R-NC-7); Elise M. Stefanik (R-NY-21); Norma J. Torres (D-CA-35); Bruce Westerman (R-AR-4); Bradley Scott Schneider (D-IL-10); David G. Valadao (R-CA-22); Trent Kelly (R-MS-1); Darin LaHood (R-IL-16); Warren Davidson (R-OH-8); James Comer (R-KY-1); Jodey C. Arrington (R-TX-19); Don Bacon (R-NE-2); Jim Banks (R-IN-3); Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA-44); Jack Bergman (R-MI-1); Andy Biggs (R-AZ-5); Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE-AL); Salud O. Carbajal (D-CA-24); J. Luis Correa (D-CA-46); Neal P. Dunn (R-FL-2); Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13); A. Drew Ferguson IV (R-GA-3); Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1); Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-34); Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5); Steven Horsford (D-NV-4); Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7); Ro Khanna (D-CA-17); Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8); David Kustoff (R-TN-8); Brian J. Mast (R-FL-21); Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19); Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8); John H. Rutherford (R-FL-5); Lloyd Smucker (R-PA-11); Darren Soto (D-FL-9); Ron Estes (R-KS-4); Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34); John R. Curtis (R-UT-3); Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY-3); Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-8); Michael Cloud (R-TX-27); Troy Balderson (R-OH-12); Kevin Hern (R-OK-1); Joseph D. Morelle (D-NY-25); Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-5); Susan Wild (D-PA-7); Colin Z. Allred (D-TX-32); James R. Baird (R-IN-4); Tim Burchett (R-TN-2); Sean Casten (D-IL-6); Ben Cline (R-VA-6); Angie Craig (D-MN-2); Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-2); Sharice Davids (D-KS-3); Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4); Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16); Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-7); Russ Fulcher (R-ID-1); Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX-29); Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-IL-4); Jared F. Golden (D-ME-2); Lance Gooden (R-TX-5); Mark E. Green (R-TN-7); Michael Guest (R-MS-3); Josh Harder (D-CA-9); Jahana Hayes (D-CT-5); Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6); Dusty Johnson (R-SD-AL); John Joyce (R-PA-13); Susie Lee (D-NV-3); Mike Levin (D-CA-49); Lucy McBath (D-GA-7); Daniel Meuser (R-PA-9); Carol D. Miller (R-WV-1); Joe Neguse (D-CO-2); Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14); Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5); Chris Pappas (D-NH-1); Dean Phillips (D-MN-3); Katie Porter (D-CA-47); Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7); Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA-14); John W. Rose (R-TN-6); Kim Schrier (D-WA-8); Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-7); Abigail Davis Spanberger (D-VA-7); Greg Stanton (D-AZ-4); Pete Stauber (R-MN-8); Bryan Steil (R-WI-1); W. Gregory Steube (R-FL-17); Haley M. Stevens (D-MI-11); William R. Timmons IV (R-SC-4); Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12); Lori Trahan (D-MA-3); David J. Trone (D-MD-6); Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14); Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ-2); Michael Waltz (R-FL-6); Claudia Tenney (R-NY-24); Dan Bishop (R-NC-8); Gregory F. Murphy (R-NC-3); Mike Garcia (R-CA-27); Thomas P. Tiffany (R-WI-7); Ryan K. Zinke (R-MT-1); Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-4); Cliff Bentz (R-OR-2); Stephanie I. Bice (R-OK-5); Lauren Boebert (R-CO-3); Jamaal Bowman (D-NY-16); Kat Cammack (R-FL-3); Jerry L. Carl (R-AL-1); Andrew S. Clyde (R-GA-9); Byron Donalds (R-FL-19); Pat Fallon (R-TX-4); Randy Feenstra (R-IA-4); Michelle Fischbach (R-MN-7); Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-5); Scott Franklin (R-FL-18); Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY-2); Carlos A. Gimenez (R-FL-28); Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23); Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14); Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-1); Ashley Hinson (R-IA-2); Ronny Jackson (R-TX-13); Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51); Young Kim (R-CA-40); Jake LaTurner (R-KS-2); Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-3); Nancy Mace (R-SC-1); Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11); Tracey Mann (R-KS-1); Kathy E. Manning (D-NC-6); Lisa C. McClain (R-MI-9); Mary E. Miller (R-IL-15); Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-1); Barry Moore (R-AL-2); Blake D. Moore (R-UT-1); Frank J. Mrvan (D-IN-1); Troy E. Nehls (R-TX-22); Jay Obernolte (R-CA-23); Burgess Owens (R-UT-4); August Pfluger (R-TX-11); Matthew M. Rosendale, Sr. (R-MT-2); Deborah K. Ross (D-NC-2); Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27); Victoria Spartz (R-IN-5); Michelle Steel (R-CA-45); Marilyn Strickland (D-WA-10); Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15); Beth Van Duyne (R-TX-24); Nikema Williams (D-GA-5); Troy A. Carter (D-LA-2); Melanie A. Stansbury (D-NM-1); Jake Ellzey (R-TX-6); Shontel M. Brown (D-OH-11); Mike Carey (R-OH-15); Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20); Mike Flood (R-NE-1); Brad Finstad (R-MN-1); Mary Sattler Peltola (D-AK-AL); Patrick Ryan (D-NY-18); Rudy Yakym III (R-IN-2); Mark Alford (R-MO-4); Becca Balint (D-VT-AL); Aaron Bean (R-FL-4); Josh Brecheen (R-OK-2); Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13); Eric Burlison (R-MO-7); Greg Casar (D-TX-35); Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR-5); Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-6); Mike Collins (R-GA-10); Elijah Crane (R-AZ-2); Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30); Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY-4); Donald G. Davis (D-NC-1); Monica De La Cruz (R-TX-15); Christopher R. Deluzio (D-PA-17); John S. Duarte (R-CA-13); Chuck Edwards (R-NC-11); Mike Ezell (R-MS-4); Valerie P. Foushee (D-NC-4); Maxwell Frost (D-FL-10); Russell Fry (R-SC-7); Robert Garcia (D-CA-42); Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA-3); Daniel S. Goldman (D-NY-10); Harriet M. Hageman (R-WY-AL); Erin Houchin (R-IN-9); Val T. Hoyle (D-OR-4); Wesley Hunt (R-TX-38); Glenn Ivey (D-MD-4); Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL-1); John James (R-MI-10); Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37); Thomas H. Kean, Jr. (R-NJ-7); Jennifer A. Kiggans (R-VA-2); Kevin Kiley (R-CA-3); Nick LaLota (R-NY-1); Greg Landsman (D-OH-1); Nicholas A. Langworthy (R-NY-23); Michael Lawler (R-NY-17); Laurel M. Lee (R-FL-15); Summer L. Lee (D-PA-12); Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13); Morgan Luttrell (R-TX-8); Seth Magaziner (D-RI-2); Richard McCormick (R-GA-6); Morgan McGarvey (D-KY-3); Robert Menendez (D-NJ-8); Max L. Miller (R-OH-7); Cory Mills (R-FL-7); Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-1); Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23); Kevin Mullin (D-CA-15); Wiley Nickel (D-NC-13); Zachary Nunn (R-IA-3); Andrew Ogles (R-TN-5); Brittany Pettersen (D-CO-7); Delia C. Ramirez (D-IL-3); Andrea Salinas (D-OR-6); Hillary J. Scholten (D-MI-3); Keith Self (R-TX-3); Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17); Dale W. Strong (R-AL-5); Emilia Strong Sykes (D-OH-13); Shri Thanedar (D-MI-13); Jill N. Tokuda (D-HI-2); Derrick Van Orden (R-WI-3); Gabe Vasquez (D-NM-2); Brandon Williams (R-NY-22); Jennifer L. McClellan (D-VA-4); Gabe Amo (D-RI-1); Celeste Maloy (R-UT-2); Timothy M. Kennedy (D-NY-26); Vince Fong (R-CA-20); Michael A. Rulli (R-OH-6); Greg Lopez (R-CO-4); Adam B. Schiff (D-CA-30); Kelly Armstrong (R-ND-AL); Andy Kim (D-NJ-3); Jeff Jackson (D-NC-14).

Nay (3): Ralph Norman (R-SC-5); Chip Roy (R-TX-21); Bob Good (R-VA-5).

Not voting (24): Richard E. Neal (D-MA-1); Kay Granger (R-TX-12); Michael K. Simpson (R-ID-2); Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ-7); C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-2); Michael R. Turner (R-OH-10); Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-5); Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC-10); John Garamendi (D-CA-8); Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20); Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-1); Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12); Dwight Evans (D-PA-3); Clay Higgins (R-LA-3); Jason Crow (D-CO-6); Greg Pence (R-IN-6); Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11); Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10); Cori Bush (D-MO-1); Julia Letlow (R-LA-5); Yadira Caraveo (D-CO-8); Marcus J. Molinaro (R-NY-19); Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-9); Matt Gaetz (R-FL-1).

Speaker, not listed (1): Mike Johnson (R-LA-4).

Not in office (13): LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10); Erica Lee Carter (D-TX-18); Tony Wied (R-WI-8); Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18); Brian Higgins (D-NY-26); Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20); Bill Johnson (R-OH-6); David N. Cicilline (D-RI-1); Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ-10); Chris Stewart (R-UT-2); Ken Buck (R-CO-4); Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8); George Santos (R-NY-3).

Summary

Main subject: Amends title 28 of the United States Code to add one place for holding court in the Pecos Division of the Western District of Texas and one in the Western District of Washington. Sec. 2

Its core areas: Places for holding court in the Pecos Division of the Western District of Texas; Places for holding court in the Western District of Washington.

Unexpected Items: 0 provisions

What it does

Written automatically from the official text by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model. Written 30 Sep 2026 and published after the automatic checks, without a person reading it first. Every line names the section it came from.

Sources