Senate Appropriations Committee Approves
Funding for Fresno Courthouse Construction

Washington, DC - The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee today approved the FY '02 Treasury-Postal Appropriations Bill, which included $121.23 million of funding for the Fresno Courthouse construction project.

"As a member of the Senate Appropriates Committee, I am pleased to announce that today we were successful in obtaining an appropriation of $121.23 million for the Fresno Courthouse," Senator Feinstein said. "The bottom line -- because the money is also in the House bill, the funding is assured, and the Courthouse will proceed. That is good news for Fresno."

The eight-story, 383,000-square-foot courthouse will be built a couple blocks away from the existing federal building at Fresno and O streets. The new courthouse will replace a 36-year old facility that is seismically deficient, overcrowded, and unsafe.

The judicial district served by the Fresno courthouse ranks sixth in the nation in the number of pending cases, has the eleventh worse crime rate out of 94 districts, and is expected to hold 20 percent of California's total population within a decade

In addition, the Treasury-Postal bill included $13,070,000 for repairs and safety improvements to the Edward Schwartz Federal Building in San Diego, and $11,711,000 for repairs to the Chet Holifield Federal Building in Laguna Niguel.

Feinstein requested this funding as part of her role as a member of the Appropriations Committee. The legislation is expected to be considered by the full Senate next week.

The House approved legislation earlier this week, advocated by Representative Cal Dooley (D-Fresno), that also included funding for the Fresno Courthouse.

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