I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5161 

To establish a commission to study the removal of Mexican-Americans to 

Mexico during 1929–1941, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2006 

Ms. SOLIS (for herself, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. HONDA, Mr. 

EMANUEL, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. LEE, and Ms. ZOE

LOFGREN of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a commission to study the removal of MexicanAmericans to Mexico during 1929–1941, 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 ‘‘Commission on Mexi5 can-American Removal during 1929–1941 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) From 1929 through 1941, Federal, State, 

9 and local Government authorities and certain private 


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1 sector entities throughout the United States under2 took an aggressive program to forcibly remove indi3 viduals of Mexican ancestry from the United States. 

4 (2) As many as two million individuals of Mexi5 can ancestry were forcibly removed to Mexico, as 

6 many as 1.2 million of whom were United States 

7 citizens. 

8 (3) These men, women, and children were re9 moved outside the United States in response to pub10 lic pressure to curtail the employment of Mexican11 Americans, most of whom were United States citi12 zens or residing legally in the United States, during 

13 the Depression. 

14 (4) Massive raids were conducted on Mexican15 American communities, and many of the people who 

16 were removed were never able to return to the 

17 United States, their country of birth. 

18 (5) These raids targeted individuals of Mexican 

19 ancestry, with Federal, State, and local Government 

20 authorities and certain private sector entities charac21 terizing these individuals as ‘‘illegal aliens’’ even 

22 when such individuals were United States citizens or 

23 permanent legal residents. 

24 (6) These raids also separated such United 

25 States citizens and permanent legal residents from 


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1 their families and deprived them of their livelihoods 

2 and constitutional rights. 

3 (7) No official inquiry into this matter has been 

4 made. 

5 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab6 lish a fact finding commission to determine whether 

7 United States citizens and permanent legal residents were 

8 forcibly removed to Mexico from 1929 to 1941 in violation 

9 of law as a result of past directives of Federal, State and 

10 local governments and the impact of such removal on 

11 those individuals, their families, and the Mexican-Amer12 ican community in the United States, and to recommend 

13 appropriate remedies. 

14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

15 There is established a commission to be known as the 

16 ‘‘Commission on Mexican-American Removal during 

17 1929–1941’’. 

18 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

19 The Commission shall— 

20 (1) review the facts and circumstances sur21 rounding the removal of certain United States citi22 zens and permanent legal residents to Mexico, and 

23 the impact of such actions on these individuals, their 

24 families, and the Mexican-American community in 

25 the United States; 


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1 (2) review past directives of Federal, State, and 

2 local governments that required the removal of these 

3 individuals to Mexico and any other information re4 lated to these directives; and 

5 (3) submit to Congress a written report of its 

6 findings and recommendations. 

7 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP. 

8 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission 

9 shall be composed of seven members, who shall be ap10 pointed within 90 days after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act as follows: 

12 (1) Three members appointed by the President. 

13 (2) Two members appointed by the Speaker of 

14 the House of Representatives, in consultation with 

15 the minority leader of the House of Representatives. 

16 (3) Two members appointed by the President 

17 pro tempore of the Senate, in consultation with the 

18 minority leader of the Senate. 

19 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—Members appointed under 

20 subsection (a) shall possess knowledge or expertise related 

21 to human rights, civil rights, immigration, labor, business, 

22 or other pertinent qualifications. 

23 (c) TERM OF OFFICE.—Each member shall be ap24 pointed for the life of the Commission. 


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1 (d) QUORUM.—Four members of the Commission 

2 shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold 

3 hearings. 

4 (e) INITIAL MEETING.—The initial meeting of the 

5 Commission shall be called by the President within one 

6 hundred and twenty days after the date of the enactment 

7 of this Act, or within thirty days after the date on which 

8 legislation is enacted making appropriations to carry out 

9 this Act, whichever is later. 

10 (f) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 

11 Commission shall elect a chairperson and vice chairperson 

12 from among its members. The term of office of each shall 

13 be for the life of the Commission. 

14 (g) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall 

15 not affect its powers and shall be filled in the same man16 ner in which the original appointment was made. 

17 (h) BASIC PAY.— 

18 (1) RATE OF PAY.—Each member of the Com19 mission who is not otherwise employed by the United 

20 States shall receive compensation at a rate equal to 

21 the daily rate prescribed for level IV of the Execu22 tive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 

23 States Code, for each day, including travel time, 

24 such member is engaged in the actual performance 

25 of the duties of the Commission. 


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1 (2) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION OF FED2 ERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member of the Commission 

3 who is a full-time officer or employee of the United 

4 States may not receive additional pay, allowances, or 

5 benefits by reason of their service on the Commis6 sion. 

7 (3) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the 

8 Commission shall receive travel expenses, including 

9 per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with 

10 sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States 

11 Code. 

12 SEC. 6. POWERS. 

13 (a) HEARINGS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission or on the 

15 authorization of the Commission, any subcommittee 

16 or member thereof, may for the purpose of carrying 

17 out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act at times and 

18 places, take testimony, and receive evidence as the 

19 Commission or any subcommittee or member con20 siders appropriate. 

21 (2) LOCATION.—The Commission may hold 

22 public hearings in any city of the United States that 

23 it finds appropriate. 

24 (b) SUBPOENA POWER.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may issue 

2 subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of 

3 witnesses and the production of any evidence relat4 ing to any matter under investigation by the Com5 mission which the Commission is empowered to in6 vestigate by this Act. 

7 (2) FAILURE TO OBEY A SUBPOENA.—If a per8 son refuses to obey a subpoena issued under para9 graph (1), the Commission may apply to a United 

10 States district court for an order requiring that per11 son to appear before the Commission to give testi12 mony, produce evidence, or both, relating to the 

13 matter under investigation. The application may be 

14 made within the judicial district where the hearing 

15 is conducted or where such person is found, resides, 

16 or transacts business. Any failure to obey the order 

17 of the court may be punished by the court as civil 

18 contempt. 

19 (3) SERVICE OF SUBPOENA.—A subpoena of 

20 the Commission shall be served in the manner pro21 vided for subpoenas issued by a United States dis22 trict court under the Federal Rules of Civil Proce23 dure for the United States district courts. 

24 (4) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—All process of any 

25 court to which application is made under paragraph 


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1 (2) may be served in the judicial district in which 

2 the person required to be served resides or may be 

3 found. 

4 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 

5 may secure directly from any department or agency of the 

6 United States, or from any State or local government, in7 formation necessary to enable it to carry out this Act. 

8 Upon request of any member, the head of such department 

9 or agency shall furnish such information to the Commis10 sion. 

11 (d) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—To the extent or in the 

12 amounts provided in advance in appropriation Acts, the 

13 Commission may contract with and compensate govern14 ment and private agencies or persons for any services, sup15 plies, or other activities necessary to enable the Commis16 sion to carry out its duties under this Act. 

17 SEC. 7. STAFF. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may appoint and 

19 fix the pay of such additional staff as it considers appro20 priate. 

21 (b) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

22 LAWS.—Any staff of the Commission may be appointed 

23 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States 

24 Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, 

25 and may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:31 Apr 13, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5161.IH H5161

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1 ter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relat2 ing to classification and General Schedule pay rates. 

3 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission 

4 may procure temporary and intermittent services under 

5 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

6 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon re7 quest of the Commission, the Administrator of General 

8 Services shall provide to the Commission, on a reimburs9 able basis, the administrative support services necessary 

10 for the Commission to carry out its duties under this Act. 

11 SEC. 8. REPORT. 

12 The Commission shall submit to Congress a written 

13 report not later than the date which is one year after the 

14 date of the initial meeting called pursuant to section 5(d) 

15 of this Act. The report shall contain a detailed statement 

16 of the findings and conclusions of the Commission, to17 gether with its recommendations for legislative actions 

18 that the Commission considers appropriate. 

19 SEC. 9. TERMINATION. 

20 The Commission shall terminate 30 days after sub21 mitting the report under section 8. 

22 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

2 means the Commission on Mexican-American Re3 moval during 1929–1941. 

4 (2) MEMBER.—The term ‘‘member’’ means a 

5 member of the Commission. 

6 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

7 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

8 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other 

9 commonwealth, possession, or territory of the United 

10 States. 

Æ 


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