Citing the $1 million-plus travel cost of the last Maui conference in 2010 and the availability to conferees of such activities as sport fishing and snorkeling, the senators have repeatedly called on the court to cancel the conference or scale it back. In reply, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, has described the conference as an important educational gathering and said the accommodations cost less than many similarly sized hotels on the mainland.