II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2988

To establish a National Commission on Space.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 27, 2000

Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. BREAUX, Mr. BOND, and Mr. HOLLINGS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To establish a National Commission on Space.

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 ‘‘Millennium National

5 Commission on Space Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 It is the purpose of this Act to establish a National

8 Commission on Space that will assist the United States—

9 (1) to define the long-range needs of the Nation

10 that may be fulfilled through the peaceful uses of

11 space;
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1 (2) to maintain the Nation’s preeminence in

2 space science, technology, and applications;

3 (3) to promote the peaceful exploration and uti4 lization of the space environment; and

5 (4) to articulate goals and develop options for

6 the future direction of the Nation’s civilian space

7 program in coordination with commercial space ac8 tivities.

9 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

10 The Congress finds and declares that—

11 (1) the National Aeronautics and Space Admin12 istration, the lead civilian space agency, as estab13 lished in the National Aeronautics and Space Act of

14 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.), has conducted a

15 space program that has been an unparalleled suc16 cess, providing significant economic, social, sci17 entific, and national security benefits, and helping to

18 maintain international stability and good will;

19 (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Act of

20 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.) has provided the pol21 icy framework for achieving this success, and con22 tinues to be a sound statutory basis for national ef23 forts in space;

24 (3) the United States has entered an era of

25 international competition and cooperation in space,
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1 and therefore this Nation must strengthen the com2 mitment of its public and private technical, financial,

3 and institutional resources, so that the United

4 States will not lose its leadership position during the

5 coming decade;

6 (4) the private sector is a major participant in

7 the utilization of the space environment;

8 (5) the Nation continues its commitment to a

9 permanently manned space station in low Earth

10 orbit, and future national efforts in space will ben11 efit from the presence of such a station;

12 (6) the separation of the civilian and military

13 space programs is essential to ensure the continued

14 health and vitality of both; and

15 (7) the identification of long range goals and

16 policy options for the United States civilian space

17 program through a high level, representational pub18 lic forum will assist the President and Congress in

19 formulating future policies for the United States ci20 vilian space program.

21 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall, no earlier

23 than February 1, 2001, and no later than May 1, 2001,

24 establish, and appoint the members of, a National Com25 mission on Space.
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1 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

2 (1) APPOINTMENTS.—The Commission shall

3 consist of 15 members, appointed for the life of the

4 Commission, of whom 10 shall be appointed as fol5 lows:

6 (A) 3 members shall be appointed from a

7 list of 6 individuals nominated by the Majority

8 Leader of the Senate in consultation with the

9 chairman of the Senate Committee on Com10 merce, Science, and Transportation.

11 (B) 3 members shall be appointed from a

12 list of 6 individuals nominated by the Speaker

13 of the House of Representatives in consultation

14 with the chairman of the House Committee on

15 Science.

16 (C) 2 members shall be appointed from a

17 list of 4 individuals nominated by the Minority

18 Leader of the Senate in consultation with the

19 ranking member of the Senate Committee on

20 Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

21 (D) 2 members shall be appointed from a

22 list of 4 individuals nominated by the Minority

23 Leader of the House of Representatives in con24 sultation with the ranking member of the

25 House Committee on Science.
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1 (2) CHAIRMAN; VICE CHAIRMAN.—The Presi2 dent shall designate 1 of the members of the Com3 mission appointed under this subsection to serve as

4 Chairman, and 1 of the members to serve as Vice

5 Chairman. The Vice Chairman shall perform the

6 functions of the Chairman in the Chairman’s ab7 sence.

8 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members shall be se10 lected from among individuals from Federal, State,

11 and local governments, industry, business, labor,

12 academia, and the general population who, by reason

13 of their background, education, training, or experi14 ence, possess expertise in scientific, technological,

15 and commercial pursuits, as well as the use and im16 plications of the use of such pursuits.

17 (2) FEDERAL OFFICERS OR EMPLOYEES.—Not

18 more than 3 members may be employees of the Fed19 eral Government.

20 (3) FIRST TIME SERVICE.—Not less than 5

21 members shall be individuals who have never before

22 been appointed to serve on a Commission established

23 by the Federal Government.

24 (d) COMPENSATION.—Members who are not other25 wise officers or employees of the United States shall be
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1 paid at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the min2 imum rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Execu3 tive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States

4 Code, for each day, including travel time, during which

5 such members are engaged in the actual performance of

6 the duties of the Commission. While away from their

7 homes or regular places of business, such members shall

8 be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of

9 subsistence, in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703

10 of title 5, United States Code.

11 (e) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The President shall ap12 point 1 individual from each of the following Federal de13 partments and agencies to serve as ex officio, advisory,

14 non-voting members of the Commission (if such depart15 ment or agency does not already have a member appointed

16 to the Commission pursuant to subsection (a)):

17 (1) National Aeronautics and Space Adminis18 tration.

19 (2) Department of State.

20 (3) Department of Defense.

21 (4) Department of Transportation.

22 (5) Department of Commerce.

23 (6) Department of Agriculture.

24 (7) Department of the Interior.

25 (8) National Science Foundation.
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1 (9) Office of Science and Technology Policy.

2 (10) Department of Energy.

3 (f) CONGRESSIONAL ADVISORY MEMBERS.—The

4 President of the Senate shall appoint 2 advisory members

5 of the Commission from among the Members of the Senate

6 and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall ap7 point 2 advisory members of the Commission from among

8 the Members of the House of Representatives. Such mem9 bers shall not participate, except in an advisory capacity,

10 in the formulation of the findings and recommendations

11 of the Commission.

12 (g) REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES FOR EX OFFI13 CIO AND CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS.—Members of the

14 Commission appointed under subsection (e) or (f) shall not

15 be entitled to receive compensation for service relating to

16 the performance of the duties of the Commission, but shall

17 be entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses incurred

18 while in the actual performance of the duties of the Com19 mission.

20 (h) STAFF.—The Commission shall appoint and fix

21 the compensation of such personnel as it deems advisable.

22 The Chairman of the Commission shall be responsible

23 for—
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1 (1) the assignment of duties and responsibilities

2 among such personnel and their continuing super3 vision; and

4 (2) the use and expenditures of funds available

5 to the Commission.

6 In carrying out the provisions of this subsection, the

7 Chairman shall act in accordance with the general policies

8 of the Commission.

9 (i) AGENCY ASSISTANCE.—To the extent permitted

10 by law, the Commission may secure directly from any ex11 ecutive department, agency, or independent instrumen12 tality of the Federal Government any information it deems

13 necessary to carry out its functions under this Act. Each

14 such department, agency, and instrumentality shall co15 operate with the Commission and, to the extent permitted

16 by law and upon request of the Chairman of the Commis17 sion, furnish such information to the Commission.

18 (j) INFORMATION-GATHERING ACTIVITIES.—The

19 Commission may hold hearings, receive public comment

20 and testimony, initiate surveys, and undertake other ap21 propriate activities to gather the information necessary to

22 carry out its activities under section 5 of this Act.

23 (k) DETAILED EMPLOYEES.—

24 (1) AUTHORITY TO DETAIL.—Upon request of

25 the chairman of the Commission, the head of any
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1 Federal department or agency may detail any of the

2 personnel of the department or agency to the Com3 mission to assist it in carrying out its duties under

4 this Act.

5 (2) REIMBURSEMENT.—Any Federal Govern6 ment employee may be detailed to the Commission

7 with or without reimbursement, and any such detail

8 shall be without interruption or loss of civil service

9 status or privilege.

10 (l) SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE.—

11 (1) SUPPORT.—The Office of Science and Tech12 nology Policy shall provide support services to the

13 Commission.

14 (2) ASSISTANCE.—The Comptroller General of

15 the United States may provide assistance, including

16 the detailing of employees, to the Commission in ac17 cordance with an agreement entered into with the

18 Commission.

19 (m) OTHER AUTHORITY.—The Commission may pro20 cure by contract, to the extent funds are available, the

21 temporary or intermittent services of experts or consult22 ants pursuant to section 3109 of title 5, United States

23 Code. The Commission shall give public notice of any such

24 contract before entering into that contract.
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1 (n) APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—Except as otherwise

2 provided in this Act, the Commission is subject to the Fed3 eral Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).

4 (o) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro5 priated to the Commission $2,500,000 for fiscal year

6 2001, and $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, to carry out

7 its duties under this Act.

8 (p) SUNSET.—The Commission shall cease to exist

9 60 days after it has submitted the plan required by section

10 5(c) of this Act.

11 SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT.

12 (a) STUDY.—The Commission shall study existing

13 and proposed space activities and formulate an agenda for

14 the United States civilian space program. The Commission

15 shall identify long range goals, opportunities, and policy

16 options for United States civilian space activity for the

17 next 20 years. In carrying out this responsibility, the Com18 mission shall take into consideration—

19 (1) the Nation’s plans for a permanently

20 manned space station in low Earth orbit;

21 (2) present and future scientific, economic, so22 cial, environmental, and foreign policy needs of the

23 United States, and methods by which space science,

24 technology, and applications initiatives might ad25 dress those needs;
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1 (3) the adequacy of the Nation’s public and pri2 vate capability in fulfilling the needs identified in

3 paragraph (2);

4 (4) how a cooperative interchange between Fed5 eral agencies on research and technology develop6 ment, and technology transfer programs can benefit

7 the civilian space program;

8 (5) opportunities for, and constraints on, the

9 use of outer space toward the achievement of Fed10 eral program objectives or national needs;

11 (6) current and emerging issues and concerns

12 that may arise through the utilization of space re13 search, technology development, and applications;

14 (7) the Commission shall analyze the findings

15 of the reviews specified in paragraphs (1) through

16 (6) of this subsection, and develop options and rec17 ommendations for a long range national civilian

18 space policy plan.

19 (b) ESTIMATES OF REQUIREMENTS.—Options and

20 recommendations submitted in accordance with subsection

21 (c) of this section shall include, to the extent appropriate,

22 an estimate of costs and time schedules, institutional re23 quirements, and statutory modifications necessary for im24 plementation of such options and recommendations.
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1 (c) REPORT.—Within 15 months after the date of the

2 establishment of the Commission, the Commission shall

3 submit to the President and to the Committee on Com4 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the

5 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives,

6 a long range plan for United States civilian space activity

7 incorporating the results of the studies conducted under

8 this section, together with recommendations for such legis9 lation as the Commission determines to be appropriate.

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