Washington briefs for December 6, 2001

Thursday, Dec. 6, 2001 | 9:10 a.m.

Mahan likely to get bench seat soon

WASHINGTON -- The Senate is expected to confirm Clark County District Judge James Mahan as a U.S. District Court judge for Nevada. He appeared at a nomination hearing on Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., are pushing for Mahan's confirmation this month before Congress adjourns for the year. Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday urged Congress to quickly approve pending federal judges this month, echoing a call President Bush has made several times this year.

Mahan "has overseen many of Nevada's most complex and controversial cases since taking the bench and has done so with great care, fairness and prudence," Ensign said in a prepared statement.

Mahan, formerly an attorney in private practice, has been a county district court judge since 1999.

Mahan would be the seventh judge in Nevada's federal judicial district. Congress created two new seats on the bench to tackle an increasing caseload in fast-growing Nevada. The lifetime appointment has an annual salary of $145,100.

House passes bill to cut red tape

WASHINGTON -- The House this week passed a version of legislation introduced by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., aimed at cutting paperwork for doctors who treat Medicare patients.

Doctors have argued that Medicare investigators drown them with regulations aimed at identifying dishonest doctors who file fraudulent Medicare claims. The Medicare bureaucracy is so bloated many doctors simply drop Medicare patients to avoid the hassle, lawmakers have said.

"This legislation will cut away a lot of the red tape, so doctors can spend more time with their patients and less time filling out paperwork," Berkley said in a statement. Berkley hopes the Senate soon will act on similar legislation introduced by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska.