Union Calendar No. 423

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4999

[Report No. 103–775]

A BILL

To amend the United States Commission on Civil

Rights Act of 1983.

OCTOBER 3, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 423

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4999

[Report No. 103–775]

To amend the United States Commission on Civil Rights Act of 1983.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 19, 1994

Mr. EDWARDS of California introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

OCTOBER 3, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italics]

A BILL

To amend the United States Commission on Civil Rights

Act of 1983.

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 ‘‘Civil Rights Commission

5 Amendments Act of 1994’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF 1983 ACT.

2 That the portion of the United States Commission on

3 Civil Rights Act of 1983 which follows the enacting clause

4 is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

6 ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘Civil Rights Commis7 sion Act of 1983’.

8 ‘‘SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

9 ‘‘(a) GENERALLY.—There is established the United

10 States Commission on Civil Rights (hereinafter in this Act

11 referred to as the ‘Commission’).

12 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com13 posed of 8 members. Not more than 4 of the members shall

14 at any one time be of the same political party. The initial

15 membership of the Commission shall be the members of the

16 United States Commission on Civil Rights on September

17 30, 1994. Thereafter vacancies in the membership of the

18 Commission shall continue to be appointed as follows:

19 ‘‘(1) 4 members of the Commission shall be ap20 pointed by the President.

21 ‘‘(2) 2 members of the Commission shall be ap22 pointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate,

23 upon the recommendations of the majority leader and

24 the minority leader, and of the members appointed

25 not more than one shall be appointed from the same

26 political party.
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1 ‘‘(3) 2 members of the Commission shall be ap2 pointed by the Speaker of the House of Representa3 tives upon the recommendations of the majority leader

4 and the minority leader, and of the members ap5 pointed not more than one shall be appointed from

6 the same political party.

7 ‘‘(c) TERMS.—The term of office of each member of the

8 Commission shall be 6 years. The term of each member of

9 the Commission in the initial membership of the Commis10 sion shall expire on the date such term would have expired

11 as of September 30, 1994.

12 ‘‘(d) CHAIRPERSON.—(1) Except as provided in para13 graphs (2) and (3), the individuals serving as Chairperson

14 and Vice Chairperson of the United States Commission on

15 Civil Rights on September 30, 1994 shall initially fill those

16 roles on the Commission.

17 ‘‘(2) Thereafter the President may, with the concur18 rence of a majority of the Commission’s members, designate

19 a Chairperson or Vice Chairperson, as the case may be,

20 from among the Commission’s members.

21 ‘‘(3) The President shall, with the concurrence of a ma22 jority of the Commission’s members, fill a vacancy by des23 ignating a Chairperson or Vice Chairperson, as the case

24 may be, from among the Commission’s members.
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1 ‘‘(4) The Vice Chairperson shall act in place of the

2 Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson.

3 ‘‘(e) REMOVAL OF MEMBERS.—The President may re4 move a member of the Commission only for neglect of duty

5 or malfeasance in office.

6 ‘‘(f) QUORUM.—5 members of the Commission con7 stitute a quorum of the Commission.

8 ‘‘SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

9 ‘‘(a) GENERALLY.—The Commission—

10 ‘‘(1) shall investigate allegations in writing

11 under oath or affirmation relating to deprivations—

12 ‘‘(A) because of color, race, religion, sex,

13 age, disability, or national origin; or

14 ‘‘(B) as a result of any pattern or practice

15 of fraud;

16 of the right of citizens of the United States to vote

17 and have votes counted; and

18 ‘‘(2) shall—

19 ‘‘(A) study and collect information relating

20 to;

21 ‘‘(B) make appraisals of the laws and poli22 cies of the Federal Government with respect to;

23 ‘‘(C) serve as a national clearinghouse for

24 information relating to; and
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1 ‘‘(D) prepare public service announcements

2 and advertising campaigns to discourage;

3 discrimination or denials of equal protection of the

4 laws under the Constitution of the United States be5 cause of color, race, religion, sex, age, disability, or

6 national origin, or in the administration of justice.

7 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS ON INVESTIGATORY DUTIES.—Noth8 ing in this or any other Act shall be construed as authoriz9 ing the Commission, its advisory committees, or any person

10 under its supervision or control, to inquire into or inves11 tigate any membership practices or internal operations of

12 any fraternal organization, any college or university frater13 nity or sorority, any private club, or any religious organi14 zation.

15 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.—

16 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Commission shall

17 submit to the President and Congress at least one re18 port annually that monitors Federal civil rights en19 forcement efforts in the United States.

20 ‘‘(2) OTHER REPORTS GENERALLY.—The Com21 mission shall submit such other reports to the Presi22 dent and the Congress as the Commission, the Con23 gress, or the President shall deem appropriate.

24 ‘‘(d) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—The Commission may

25 constitute such advisory committees as it deems advisable.
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1 The Commission shall establish at least one such committee

2 in each State and the District of Columbia composed of citi3 zens of that State or District.

4 ‘‘(e) HEARINGS AND ANCILLARY MATTERS.—

5 ‘‘(1) POWER TO HOLD HEARINGS.—The Commis6 sion, or on the authorization of the Commission, any

7 subcommittee of two or more members of the Commis8 sion, at least one of whom shall be of each major po9 litical party, may, for the purpose of carrying out

10 this Act, hold such hearings and act at such times

11 and places as the Commission or such authorized sub12 committee deems advisable. Each member of the Com13 mission shall have the power to administer oaths and

14 affirmations in connection with the proceedings of the

15 Commission. The holding of a hearing by the Com16 mission or the appointment of a subcommittee to hold

17 a hearing pursuant to this paragraph must be ap18 proved by a majority of the Commission, or by a ma19 jority of the members present at a meeting when a

20 quorum is present.

21 ‘‘(2) POWER TO ISSUE SUBPOENAS.—The Com22 mission may issue subpoenas for the attendance of

23 witnesses and the production of written or other mat24 ter. Such a subpoena may not require the presence of

25 a witness more than 100 miles outside the place
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1 wherein the witness is found or resides or is domiciled

2 or transacts business, or has appointed an agent for

3 receipt of service of process. In case of contumacy or

4 refusal to obey a subpoena, the Attorney General may

5 in a Federal court of appropriate jurisdiction obtain

6 an appropriate order to enforce the subpoena.

7 ‘‘(3) WITNESS FEES.—A witness attending any

8 proceeding of the Commission shall be paid the same

9 fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the courts

10 of the United States.

11 ‘‘(4) DEPOSITIONS AND INTERROGATORIES.—The

12 Commission may use depositions and written inter13 rogatories to obtain information and testimony about

14 matters that are the subject of a Commission hearing

15 or report.

16 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION RELATING TO ABORTION.—Nothing

17 in this or any other Act shall be construed as authorizing

18 the Commission, its advisory committees, or any other per19 son under its supervision or control to study and collect,

20 make appraisals of, or serve as a clearinghouse for any in21 formation about laws and policies of the Federal Govern22 ment or any other governmental authority in the United

23 States, with respect to abortion.

24 ‘‘SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

25 ‘‘(a) STAFF.—
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1 ‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—There shall be a full-time staff

2 director for the Commission who shall—

3 ‘‘(A) serve as the administrative head of the

4 Commission; and

5 ‘‘(B) be appointed by the President with the

6 concurrence of a majority of the Commission.

7 ‘‘(2) OTHER PERSONNEL.—Within the limitation

8 of its appropriations, the Commission may—

9 ‘‘(A) appoint such other personnel as it

10 deems advisable, under the civil service and clas11 sification laws; and

12 ‘‘(B) procure services, as authorized in sec13 tion 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at

14 rates for individuals not in excess of the daily

15 equivalent paid for positions at the maximum

16 rate for GS–15 of the General Schedule under

17 section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.

18 ‘‘(b) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—

19 ‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—Each member of the Commis20 sion who is not otherwise in the service of the Govern21 ment of the United States shall receive a sum equiva22 lent to the compensation paid at level IV of the Exec23 utive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United

24 States Code, prorated on an daily basis for time spent

25 in the work of the Commission.
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1 ‘‘(2) PERSONS OTHERWISE IN GOVERNMENT

2 SERVICE.—Each member of the Commission who is

3 otherwise in the service of the Government of the

4 United States shall serve without compensation in ad5 dition to that received for such other service, but while

6 engaged in the work of the Commission shall be paid

7 actual travel expenses and per diem in lieu of subsist8 ence expenses when away from such member’s usual

9 place of residence, under subchapter I of chapter 57

10 of title 5, United States Code.

11 ‘‘(c) VOLUNTARY OR UNCOMPENSATED PERSONNEL.—

12 The Commission shall not accept or use the services of vol13 untary or uncompensated persons. This limitation shall

14 apply with respect to services of members of the Commission

15 as it does with respect to services by other persons.

16 ‘‘(d) RULES.—

17 ‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—The Commission may make

18 such rules as are necessary to carry out the purposes

19 of this Act.

20 ‘‘(2) CONTINUATION OF OLD RULES.—Except as

21 inconsistent with this Act, and until modified by the

22 Commission, the rules of the Commission on Civil

23 Rights in effect on September 30, 1994 shall be the

24 initial rules of the Commission.
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1 ‘‘(e) COOPERATION.—All Federal agencies shall cooper2 ate fully with the Commission to the end that it may effec3 tively carry out its functions and duties.

4 ‘‘SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated, to carry out

6 this Act $9,500,000 for fiscal year 1995. None of the sums

7 authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 1995 may be

8 used to create additional regional offices.

9 ‘‘SEC. 6. TERMINATION.

10 ‘‘This Act shall terminate on September 30, 1995.’’