II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1595

To provide for the establishment of a Commission to Promote a National

Dialogue on Bioethics.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 2, 1998

Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. BOND, Mr. GREGG, Mr. LOTT, Mrs. HUTCHISON,

and Mr. LUGAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To provide for the establishment of a Commission to Promote

a National Dialogue on Bioethics.

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

3 SECTION 1. COMMISSION TO PROMOTE A NATIONAL DIA4 LOGUE ON BIOETHICS.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within

6 the Institute of Medicine a commission to be known as

7 the Commission to Promote a National Dialogue on Bio8 ethics (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’).

9 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—
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1 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com2 mission shall be composed of 25 members, of

3 whom—

4 (A) 6 shall be appointed by the Majority

5 Leader of the Senate;

6 (B) 6 shall be appointed by the Minority

7 Leader of the Senate;

8 (C) 6 shall be appointed by the Speaker of

9 the House of Representatives; and

10 (D) 6 shall be appointed by the Minority

11 Leader of the House of Representatives; and

12 (E) 1, who shall serve as the Chairperson

13 of the Commission, to be appointed jointly by

14 the Majority Leader of the Senate, and the

15 Speaker of the House of Representatives, in

16 consultation with the Minority Leader of the

17 Senate and the Minority Leader of the House

18 of Representatives.

19 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each individual de21 scribed in subparagraph (A) through (D) of

22 paragraph (1) shall ensure that members ap23 pointed to the Commission are representative of

24 the fields of law, theology, philosophy or ethics,

25 medicine, science, and social science.
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1 (B) LIMITATION.—No member of Con2 gress, nor political appointee of the executive

3 branch, shall serve as a member of the Commis4 sion.

5 (3) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—Members

6 of the Commission shall be appointed by not later

7 than December 1, 1998.

8 (4) TERMS OF APPOINTMENT.—A member of

9 the Commission appointed under paragraph (1) shall

10 serve for a term of 3 years. Members may not serve

11 consecutive terms.

12 (5) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at

13 the call of its Chairperson or a majority of its mem14 bers.

15 (6) QUORUM.—A quorum shall consist of 13

16 members of the Commission.

17 (7) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission

18 shall be filled in the same manner in which the origi19 nal appointment was made not later than 30 days

20 after the Commission is given notice of the vacancy

21 and shall not affect the power of the remaining

22 members to execute the duties of the Commission.

23 (8) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Commis24 sion shall receive no additional pay, allowances, or
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1 benefits by reason of their service on the Commis2 sion.

3 (9) EXPENSES.—Each member of the Commis4 sion shall receive travel expenses and per diem in

5 lieu of subsistence in accordance with sections 5702

6 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

7 (c) DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.—The Commission

8 shall provide an independent forum for broad public par9 ticipation and discourse concerning important bioethical

10 issues including cloning, and provide for a report to Con11 gress concerning the findings, conclusions, and rec12 ommendations of the Commission concerning Federal pol13 icy and possible Congressional action.

14 (d) STAFF AND SUPPORT SERVICES.—

15 (1) STAFF.—With the approval of the Commis16 sion, the chairperson of the Commission may ap17 point such personnel as the chairperson considers

18 appropriate.

19 (2) APPLICABILITY OF CIVIL SERVICE LAWS.—

20 The staff of the Commission shall be appointed with21 out regard to the provisions of title 5, United States

22 Code, governing appointments in the competitive

23 service, and shall be paid without regard to the pro24 visions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter
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1 53 of such title (relating to classification and Gen2 eral Schedule pay rates).

3 (3) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—With the

4 approval of the Commission, the chairperson may

5 procure temporary and intermittent services under

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

7 (4) PHYSICAL FACILITIES.—The Administrator

8 of the General Services Administration shall locate

9 suitable office space for the operation of the Com10 mission. The facilities shall serve as the head11 quarters of the Commission and shall include all

12 necessary equipment and incidentals required for the

13 proper functioning of the Commission.

14 (e) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—

15 (1) HEARINGS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES.—For

16 the purpose of carrying out its duties, the Commis17 sion may hold such public hearings and undertake

18 such other activities as the Commission determines

19 to be necessary to carry out its duties.

20 (2) DETAIL OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Upon

21 the request of the Commission, the head of any Fed22 eral agency is authorized to detail, without reim23 bursement, any of the personnel of such agency to

24 the Commission to assist the Commission in carry25 ing out its duties. Any such detail shall not interrupt
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1 or otherwise affect the civil service status or privi2 leges of the Federal employee.

3 (3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon the re4 quest of the Commission, the head of a Federal

5 agency shall provide such technical assistance to the

6 Commission as the Commission determines to be

7 necessary to carry out its duties.

8 (4) USE OF MAILS.—The Commission may use

9 the United States mails in the same manner and

10 under the same conditions as Federal agencies and

11 shall, for purposes of the frank, be considered a

12 commission of Congress as described in section 3215

13 of title 39, United States Code.

14 (5) OBTAINING INFORMATION.—The Commis15 sion may secure directly from any Federal agency

16 information necessary to enable it to carry out its

17 duties, if the information may be disclosed under

18 section 552 of title 5, United States Code. Upon re19 quest of the Chairperson of the Commission, the

20 head of such agency shall furnish such information

21 to the Commission.

22 (6) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—

23 Upon the request of the Commission, the Adminis24 trator of General Services shall provide to the Com-
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1 mission on a reimbursable basis such administrative

2 support services as the Commission may request.

3 (7) PRINTING.—For purposes of costs relating

4 to printing and binding, including the cost of per5 sonnel detailed from the Government Printing Of6 fice, the Commission shall be deemed to be a com7 mittee of the Congress.

8 (f) SUBCOMMITTEES.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall estab10 lish 6 subcommittees, including—

11 (A) a subcommittee on legal issues;

12 (B) a subcommittee on theological issues;

13 (C) a subcommittee on philosophical and

14 ethical issues;

15 (D) a subcommittee on medical issues;

16 (E) a subcommittee on scientific issues;

17 and

18 (F) a subcommittee on social issues.

19 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—With respect to the issues

20 for which each subcommittee has been established,

21 each subcommittee shall be composed of—

22 (A) 1 expert to be appointed by the mem23 bers of the Committee who were appointed

24 under subparagraphs (A) and (C) of subsection

25 (b)(1);
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1 (B) 1 expert to be appointed by the mem2 bers of the Committee who were appointed

3 under subparagraphs (B) and (D) of subsection

4 (b)(1);

5 (C) 1 individual operating in the private

6 sector who is acquainted with the issues but not

7 an expert to be appointed by the members of

8 the Committee who were appointed under sub9 paragraphs (A) and (C) of subsection (b)(1);

10 (D) 1 individual operating in the private

11 sector who is acquainted with the issues but not

12 an expert to be appointed by the members of

13 the Committee who were appointed under sub14 paragraphs (B) and (D) of subsection (b)(1);

15 and

16 (E) 4 members of the commission with rel17 evant expertise.

18 (3) MEETINGS.—Meetings of the subcommittees

19 shall be approved by the Commission.

20 (g) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 1999,

21 and annually thereafter, the Commission shall prepare and

22 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report

23 which shall contain a detailed statement of the rec24 ommendations, findings, and conclusions of the Commis25 sion.
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1 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

3 necessary to carry out this section.

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