I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1987 

To establish the Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Mr. RASKIN (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. LEE, Ms. 

JAYAPAL, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. SOTO, Ms. JACKSON

LEE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. 

TAKANO, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. EVANS, and Mr. NADLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the Oversight Commission on Presidential 

Capacity, 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 ‘‘Oversight Commission 

5 on Presidential Capacity Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 

2 There is established a commission in the legislative 

3 branch to be known as the ‘‘Oversight Commission on 

4 Presidential Capacity’’ (in this Act referred to as the 

5 ‘‘Commission’’). The Commission shall serve as the body 

6 provided by law by Congress to carry out section 4 of the 

7 25th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. 

8 SEC. 3. DUTY OF COMMISSION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—If directed by Congress pursuant 

10 to section 5, the Commission shall carry out a medical ex11 amination of the President to determine whether the 

12 President is mentally or physically unable to discharge the 

13 powers and duties of the office, as described under sub14 section (b). 

15 (b) DETERMINATION.—The determination under sub16 section (a) shall be made if the Commission finds that the 

17 President is temporarily or permanently impaired by phys18 ical illness or disability, mental illness, mental deficiency, 

19 or alcohol or drug use to the extent that the person lacks 

20 sufficient understanding or capacity to execute the powers 

21 and duties of the office of President. 

22 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 

23 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission 

24 shall be composed of 11 members, appointed as follows: 

25 (1) Two members appointed by the majority 

26 leader of the Senate. 


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1 (2) Two members appointed by the minority 

2 leader of the Senate. 

3 (3) Two members appointed by the Speaker of 

4 the House of Representatives. 

5 (4) Two members appointed by the minority 

6 leader of the House of Representatives. 

7 (5) Two members— 

8 (A) one of whom is appointed jointly by 

9 the two appointing individuals under para10 graphs (1) through (4) who are members of, or 

11 caucus with, the Democratic party; 

12 (B) one of whom is appointed jointly by 

13 the two appointing individuals under para14 graphs (1) through (4) who are members of, or 

15 caucus with, the Republican party; and 

16 (C) each of whom has served as President, 

17 Vice President, Secretary of State, Attorney 

18 General, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary 

19 of Defense, or Surgeon General. 

20 (6) One member, to serve as Chair of the Com21 mission, appointed by simple majority vote of the 10 

22 members appointed under paragraphs (1) through 

23 (5). 

24 (b) CRITERIA FOR APPOINTMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member appointed to 

2 the Commission under paragraphs (1) through (4) 

3 of subsection (a) shall be a physician. Of the two 

4 members appointed by each individual under such 

5 paragraphs, one shall be a physician with a specialty 

6 in psychiatry. The Chair shall be either a physician 

7 or an individual appointed under paragraph (5) of 

8 subsection (a), or both. 

9 (2) LIMITATIONS.—A member appointed under 

10 subsection (a) may not, at the time the member is 

11 appointed or serving as a member on the Commis12 sion, be— 

13 (A) an elected official to any Federal, 

14 State, or local office; 

15 (B) an employee (as that term is defined 

16 in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code, 

17 including any employee of the United States 

18 Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory Com19 mission); or 

20 (C) a member of the Armed Forces, in21 cluding reserve components thereof. 

22 (3) PHYSICIAN DEFINED.—In this subsection, 

23 the term ‘‘physician’’ means a doctor of medicine li24 censed to practice medicine, surgery, or osteopathy 

25 in a State. 


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1 (c) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member shall receive 

2 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, 

3 in accordance with applicable provisions under subchapter 

4 I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

5 (d) TERMS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member shall be ap7 pointed for a term of 4 years. A member may serve 

8 after the expiration of that member’s term until a 

9 successor has taken office. 

10 (2) APPOINTMENT.—Each member shall be ap11 pointed during the period beginning on the date that 

12 a Presidential election is held and ending on the 

13 date that is 30 days after such election date. 

14 (3) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission 

15 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 

16 appointment was made, not later than 30 days after 

17 the vacancy occurs. Any member appointed to fill a 

18 vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term 

19 for which the member’s predecessor was appointed 

20 shall be appointed only for the remainder of that 

21 term. 

22 SEC. 5. EXAMINATION OF THE PRESIDENT. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—A concurrent resolution described 

24 in this subsection is a concurrent resolution directing the 

25 Commission to conduct an examination of the President 


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1 to determine whether the President is incapacitated, either 

2 mentally or physically, the title of which is ‘‘Directing the 

3 Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity to conduct 

4 an examination of the President’’, and the text of which 

5 consists solely of a directive to the Commission to conduct 

6 the examination. 

7 (b) PROCEDURES.—The provisions of section 2908 

8 (other than subsection (a)) of the Defense Base Closure 

9 and Realignment Act of 1990 shall apply to the consider10 ation of a concurrent resolution described in subsection 

11 (a) in the same manner as such provisions apply to a joint 

12 resolution described in section 2908(a) of such Act. 

13 (c) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of applying sub14 section (b) with respect to such provisions, the following 

15 rules shall apply: 

16 (1) Any reference to the Committee on Armed 

17 Services of the House of Representatives shall be 

18 deemed a reference to the Committee on the Judici19 ary of the House of Representatives and any ref20 erence to the Committee on Armed Services of the 

21 Senate shall be deemed a reference to the Committee 

22 on the Judiciary of the Senate. 

23 (2) Any reference in subsection (c) to a ‘‘20-day 

24 period’’ shall be deemed a reference to a ‘‘48-hour 

25 period’’. 


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1 (3) Any reference in subsection (d) to ‘‘the 

2 third day’’ shall be deemed a reference to ‘‘the first 

3 day’’. 

4 (4) Any reference to the date on which the 

5 President transmits a report shall be deemed a ref6 erence to the date on which a Member of Congress 

7 introduced a concurrent resolution described in sub8 section (a). 

9 (d) EXAMINATION.—Not later than 72 hours after 

10 the adoption by Congress of the concurrent resolution de11 scribed in subsection (a), the Commission shall conduct 

12 the examination described under such subsection. 

13 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 72 hours after 

15 completing the examination under section 4(d), and not16 withstanding the HIPAA privacy regulations (as defined 

17 in section 1180(b)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 1320d–9(b)(3))), the Commission shall submit a 

19 report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and 

20 the President pro tempore of the Senate describing the 

21 findings and conclusions of the examination. 

22 (b) CONSIDERATION.—Any refusal by the President 

23 to undergo such examination shall be taken into considerVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Apr 13, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1987.IH H1987

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1 ation by the Commission in reaching a conclusion in the 

2 report under subsection (a). 

Æ 


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