The National Conference of Federal Trial Judges is the home in the ABA for District, Magistrate and Bankruptcy Judges, as well as Judges of the Tax Court, Court of International Trade and Court of Federal Claims. We are a source of speakers for other Sections, but more importantly, we work with the leadership of the Judicial Division and the ABA to be sure that issues of concern to the federal judiciary are at the top of the ABA priority list. The ABA has been extremely active in working for pay restoration to the federal judiciary and in resisting efforts to circumscribe judicial independence, and in successfully assisting us in pursuing legislative solutions to issues such as redaction authority and the need to provide tax relief to judges who must sell stock to avoid conflicts. We are active in programming at the midyear and annual meetings of the ABA, we actively pursue issues of concern to us in the ABA House of Delegates, and we work closely with the ABA Governmental Affairs Office and with the Administrative Office's Governmental Affairs staff to make contacts with members of Congress and other entities who can address our concerns, and we work with other similarly minded organizations, such as the Federal Judges Association, the Federal Bar Association, and Justice at Stake, as well as with the Judicial Branch Committee of the Judicial Conference, to accomplish the goals of the NCFTJ. We also pursue educational programs for the public, and are preparing a video of federal judges speaking on the separation of powers for middle and high school students, and we will be undertaking a new project on increasing interpretation services in federal courts.

I hope that you will join us in our work and contact me whenever an issue arises on which you think the NCFTJ, the Judicial Division, and the ABA should be involved, and that you will contact me when you wish to get active in our work.

I thank you for the invaluable service you perform and I look forward to working with each of you.

Honorable Samuel Bufford, Chair