I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2450

To provide for the establishment of an independent, Presidentially-appointed 

investigative Commission in the event of incidents in the Nation’s human 

space flight program that result in loss of crew, passengers, or the 

spacecraft, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2003

Mr. GORDON (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. COOPER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. 

LAMPSON, Mr. HALL, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. 

WEINER, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. HONDA, Mr. FROST, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. 

DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. WYNN, Mr. BAIRD, and Ms. EDDIE BERNICE

JOHNSON of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Science 

A BILL

To provide for the establishment of an independent, Presidentially-appointed investigative Commission in the event 

of incidents in the Nation’s human space flight program 

that result in loss of crew, passengers, or the spacecraft, 

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Space Flight 

5 Independent Investigation Commission Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 For purposes of this Act—

3 (1) the term ‘‘incident’’ means either an acci4 dent or a deliberate act; 

5 (2) the term ‘‘NASA’’ means the National Aer6 onautics and Space Administration; 

7 (3) the term ‘‘NASA Administrator’’ means the 

8 Administrator of NASA; and 

9 (4) the term ‘‘NTSB’’ means the National 

10 Transportation Safety Board. 

11 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

13 an independent, nonpartisan Commission within the exec14 utive branch to investigate any incident that results in the 

15 loss of—

16 (1) a Space Shuttle; 

17 (2) the International Space Station or its oper18 ational viability; 

19 (3) any other United States space vehicle car20 rying humans; 

21 (4) any space vehicle carrying United States 

22 citizens; or 

23 (5) a crew member or passenger of any space 

24 vehicle described in this subsection. 

25 (b) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The Presi26 dent shall issue an executive order establishing a Commis-
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1 sion within 7 days after an incident specified in subsection 

2 (a). 

3 SEC. 4. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION. 

4 (a) NUMBER OF COMMISSIONERS.—A Commission 

5 established pursuant to this Act shall consist of 15 mem6 bers. 

7 (b) SELECTION.—The members of a Commission es8 tablished pursuant to this Act shall be chosen in the fol9 lowing manner: 

10 (1) The Chairman of the NTSB shall be a 

11 member of the Commission. 

12 (2) The President shall appoint the remaining 

13 14 members, and shall designate the Chairman and 

14 Vice Chairman of the Commission from among its 

15 members. 

16 (3) Four of the 14 members appointed by the 

17 President shall be selected by the President in the 

18 following manner: 

19 (A) The Majority Leader of the Senate, 

20 the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker 

21 of the House of Representatives, and the Mi22 nority Leader of the House of Representatives 

23 shall each provide to the President a list of can24 didates for membership on the Commission. 
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1 (B) The President shall select one of the 

2 candidates from each of the 4 lists for member3 ship on the Commission. 

4 (4) With the exception of the Chairman of the 

5 NTSB, no officer or employee of the Federal Gov6 ernment shall serve as a member of the Commission. 

7 (5) No member of the Commission shall have, 

8 or have pending, a contractual relationship with 

9 NASA. The President shall not appoint any indi10 vidual as a member of a Commission under this sec11 tion who has a current or former relationship with 

12 the NASA Administrator that the President deter13 mines would constitute a conflict of interest. 

14 (6) To the extent practicable, the President 

15 shall ensure that the members of the Commission in16 clude some individuals with experience relative to the 

17 human carrying spacecraft being investigated, as 

18 well as some individuals with investigative experience 

19 and some individuals with legal experience. 

20 (7) To the extent practicable, the President 

21 shall seek diversity in the membership of the Com22 mission. 

23 (c) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All members of 

24 the Commission shall be appointed no later than 30 days 

25 after the incident. 
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1 (d) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall meet 

2 and begin operations as soon as practicable. 

3 (e) QUORUM; VACANCIES.—After its initial meeting, 

4 the Commission shall meet upon the call of the Chairman 

5 or a majority of its members. Eight members of the Com6 mission shall constitute a quorum. Any vacancy in the 

7 Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled 

8 in the same manner in which the original appointment was 

9 made. 

10 SEC. 5. TASKS OF THE COMMISSION. 

11 A Commission established pursuant to this Act shall, 

12 to the extent possible, undertake the following tasks: 

13 (1) Investigate the incident. 

14 (2) Determine the cause of the incident. 

15 (3) Identify all contributing factors to the cause 

16 of the incident. 

17 (4) Make recommendations for corrective ac18 tions. 

19 (5) Provide any additional findings or rec20 ommendations deemed by the Commission to be im21 portant, whether or not they are related to the spe22 cific incident under investigation. 

23 (6) Prepare a report to Congress, the Presi24 dent, and the public.
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1 SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—

3 (1) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—A Commission 

4 established pursuant to this Act or, on the authority 

5 of the Commission, any subcommittee or member 

6 thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out this 

7 Act—

8 (A) hold such hearings and sit and act at 

9 such times and places, take such testimony, re10 ceive such evidence, administer such oaths; and 

11 (B) subject to paragraph (2)(A), require, 

12 by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and 

13 testimony of such witnesses and the production 

14 of such books, records, correspondence, memo15 randa, papers, and documents, 

16 as the Commission or such designated subcommittee 

17 or designated member may determine advisable. 

18 (2) SUBPOENAS.—

19 (A) ISSUANCE.—

20 (i) IN GENERAL.—A subpoena may be 

21 issued under this subsection only—

22 (I) by the agreement of the 

23 Chairman and the Vice Chairman; or 

24 (II) by the affirmative vote of 8 

25 members of the Commission. 
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1 (ii) SIGNATURE.—Subject to clause 

2 (i), subpoenas issued under this subsection 

3 may be issued under the signature of the 

4 Chairman or any member designated by a 

5 majority of the Commission, and may be 

6 served by any person designated by the 

7 Chairman or by a member designated by a 

8 majority of the Commission. 

9 (B) ENFORCEMENT.—

10 (i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of con11 tumacy or failure to obey a subpoena 

12 issued under subsection (a), the United 

13 States district court for the judicial district 

14 in which the subpoenaed person resides, is 

15 served, or may be found, or where the sub16 poena is returnable, may issue an order re17 quiring such person to appear at any des18 ignated place to testify or to produce docu19 mentary or other evidence. Any failure to 

20 obey the order of the court may be pun21 ished by the court as a contempt of that 

22 court. 

23 (ii) ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT.—In 

24 the case of any failure of any witness to 

25 comply with any subpoena or to testify 
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1 when summoned under authority of this 

2 section, the Commission may, by majority 

3 vote, certify a statement of fact consti4 tuting such failure to the appropriate 

5 United States attorney, who may bring the 

6 matter before the grand jury for its action, 

7 under the same statutory authority and 

8 procedures as if the United States attorney 

9 had received a certification under sections 

10 102 through 104 of the Revised Statutes 

11 of the United States (2 U.S.C. 192 

12 through 194). 

13 (b) CONTRACTING.—A Commission established pur14 suant to this Act may, to such extent and in such amounts 

15 as are provided in appropriation Acts, enter into contracts 

16 to enable the Commission to discharge its duties under 

17 this Act. 

18 (c) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Commission established 

20 pursuant to this Act is authorized to secure directly 

21 from any executive department, bureau, agency, 

22 board, commission, office, independent establish23 ment, or instrumentality of the Government, infor24 mation, suggestions, estimates, and statistics for the 

25 purposes of this Act. Each department, bureau, 
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1 agency, board, commission, office, independent es2 tablishment, or instrumentality shall, to the extent 

3 authorized by law, furnish such information, sugges4 tions, estimates, and statistics directly to the Com5 mission, upon request made by the Chairman, the 

6 chairman of any subcommittee created by a majority 

7 of the Commission, or any member designated by a 

8 majority of the Commission. 

9 (2) RECEIPT, HANDLING, STORAGE, AND DIS10 SEMINATION.—Information shall only be received, 

11 handled, stored, and disseminated by members of 

12 the Commission and its staff consistent with all ap13 plicable statutes, regulations, and Executive orders. 

14 (d) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

15 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.—

16 The Administrator of General Services shall provide 

17 to a Commission established pursuant to this Act on 

18 a reimbursable basis administrative support and 

19 other services for the performance of the Commis20 sion’s tasks. 

21 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—In 

22 addition to the assistance prescribed in paragraph 

23 (1), departments and agencies of the United States 

24 may provide to the Commission such services, funds, 

25 facilities, staff, and other support services as they 
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1 may determine advisable and as may be authorized 

2 by law. 

3 (e) POSTAL SERVICES.—A Commission established 

4 pursuant to this Act may use the United States mails in 

5 the same manner and under the same conditions as de6 partments and agencies of the United States. 

7 SEC. 7. PUBLIC MEETINGS, INFORMATION, AND HEARINGS. 

8 (a) PUBLIC MEETINGS AND RELEASE OF PUBLIC

9 VERSIONS OF REPORTS.—A Commission established pur10 suant to this Act shall—

11 (1) hold public hearings and meetings to the ex12 tent appropriate; and 

13 (2) release public versions of the reports re14 quired under this Act. 

15 (b) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—Any public hearings of a 

16 Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent 

17 with the protection of information provided to or developed 

18 for or by the Commission as required by any applicable 

19 statute, regulation, or Executive order. 

20 SEC. 8. STAFF OF COMMISSION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—

22 (1) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION.—The 

23 Chairman, in consultation with Vice Chairman, in 

24 accordance with rules agreed upon by a Commission 

25 established pursuant to this Act, may appoint and
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1 fix the compensation of a staff director and such 

2 other personnel as may be necessary to enable the 

3 Commission to carry out its functions, without re4 gard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, 

5 governing appointments in the competitive service, 

6 and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 

7 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relat8 ing to classification and General Schedule pay rates, 

9 except that no rate of pay fixed under this sub10 section may exceed the equivalent of that payable for 

11 a position at level V of the Executive Schedule under 

12 section 5316 of title 5, United States Code. Employ13 ees of NASA shall not be appointed to the staff of 

14 a Commission. 

15 (2) PERSONNEL AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The executive director 

17 and any personnel of a Commission established 

18 pursuant to this Act who are employees shall be 

19 employees under section 2105 of title 5, United 

20 States Code, for purposes of chapters 63, 81, 

21 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, and 90 of that title. 

22 (B) MEMBERS OF COMMISSION.—Subpara23 graph (A) shall not be construed to apply to 

24 members of a Commission established pursuant 

25 to this Act. 
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1 (b) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government em2 ployee, except for an employee of NASA, may be detailed 

3 to a Commission established pursuant to this Act without 

4 reimbursement from the Commission, and such detailee 

5 shall retain the rights, status, and privileges of his or her 

6 regular employment without interruption. 

7 (c) CONSULTANT SERVICES.—A Commission estab8 lished pursuant to this Act is authorized to procure the 

9 services of experts and consultants in accordance with sec10 tion 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at rates not 

11 to exceed the daily rate paid a person occupying a position 

12 at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 

13 of title 5, United States Code. Any consultant or expert 

14 whose services are procured under this subsection shall 

15 disclose any contract or association it has with NASA or 

16 any NASA contractor. 

17 SEC. 9. COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES. 

18 (a) COMPENSATION.—Each member of a Commission 

19 established pursuant to this Act may be compensated at 

20 not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of 

21 basic pay in effect for a position at level IV of the Execu22 tive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States 

23 Code, for each day during which that member is engaged 

24 in the actual performance of the duties of the Commission. 
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1 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from their 

2 homes or regular places of business in the performance 

3 of services for the Commission, members of the Commis4 sion shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 

5 in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons em6 ployed intermittently in the Government service are al7 lowed expenses under section 5703(b) of title 5, United 

8 States Code. 

9 SEC. 10. SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR COMMISSION MEM10 BERS AND STAFF. 

11 The appropriate Federal agencies or departments 

12 shall cooperate with a Commission established pursuant 

13 to this Act in expeditiously providing to the Commission 

14 members and staff appropriate security clearances to the 

15 extent possible pursuant to existing procedures and re16 quirements. No person shall be provided with access to 

17 classified information under this Act without the appro18 priate security clearances. 

19 SEC. 11. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND TERMINATION. 

20 (a) INTERIM REPORTS.—A Commission established 

21 pursuant to this Act may submit to the President and 

22 Congress interim reports containing such findings, conclu23 sions, and recommendations for corrective actions as have 

24 been agreed to by a majority of Commission members. 
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1 (b) FINAL REPORT.—A Commission established pur2 suant to this Act shall submit to the President and Con3 gress, and make concurrently available to the public, a 

4 final report containing such findings, conclusions, and rec5 ommendations for corrective actions as have been agreed 

6 to by a majority of Commission members. Such report 

7 shall include any minority views or opinions not reflected 

8 in the majority report. 

9 (c) TERMINATION.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Commission established 

11 pursuant to this Act, and all the authorities of this 

12 Act with respect to that Commission, shall terminate 

13 60 days after the date on which the final report is 

14 submitted under subsection (b). 

15 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES BEFORE TER16 MINATION.—A Commission may use the 60-day pe17 riod referred to in paragraph (1) for the purpose of 

18 concluding its activities, including providing testi19 mony to committees of Congress concerning its re20 ports and disseminating the final report. 

21 SEC. 12. ROLE OF NTSB. 

22 The NTSB shall assume responsibility for the inves23 tigation of any incident described in section 3(a) imme24 diately upon the occurrence of that incident. The NTSB 

25 shall transfer responsibility for the investigation to a Com-
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1 mission established pursuant to this Act as soon as the 

2 Commission holds its initial meeting under section 4(d). 

3 SEC. 13. FUNDING. 

4 Such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act are 

5 authorized to be appropriated. Sums authorized by this 

6 Act shall remain available until the termination of the 

7 Commission for which they are appropriated.

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