IB 

Union Calendar No. 370 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2615 

[Report No. 114–486] 

To establish the Virgin Islands of the United States Centennial Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 2, 2015 

Ms. PLASKETT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

APRIL 12, 2016 

Additional sponsors: Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 

Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. 

RADEWAGEN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. CLAWSON of 

Florida, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. 

VEASEY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. DANNY K. 

DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

of Texas, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. KELLY of 

Illinois, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. LEE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, 

Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. GABBARD, Ms. BASS, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. 

BEATTY, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. AL

GREEN of Texas, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. CROWLEY, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 

Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. WELCH, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. SCOTT of 

Virginia, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. 

O’ROURKE, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Ms. MENG, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of 

California, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 

York, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, and Ms. PINGREE


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APRIL 12, 2016 

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 italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 2, 2015] 

A BILL 

To establish the Virgin Islands of the United States 

Centennial Commission. 


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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 ‘‘Virgin Islands of the 

5 United States Centennial Commission Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 

7 There is established a commission to be known as the 

8 ‘‘Virgin Islands of the United States Centennial Commis9 sion’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

10 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 

11 The Commission shall— 

12 (1) plan, develop, and carry out such activities 

13 as the Commission determines to be appropriate to 

14 commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Virgin Is15 lands of the United States becoming an unincor16 porated territory of the United States; 

17 (2) provide advice and assistance to Federal, 

18 State, and local governmental agencies, as well as 

19 civic groups to carry out activities to commemorate 

20 the 100th anniversary of the Virgin Islands of the 

21 United States becoming an unincorporated territory 

22 of the United States; and 

23 (3) submit to the President and Congress the re24 ports required pursuant to section 7. 


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1 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 

2 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission 

3 shall be composed of 8 members as follows: 

4 (1) The Assistant Secretary of the Interior for 

5 Insular Affairs or a designee of the Assistant Sec6 retary. 

7 (2) One member appointed by the Governor of 

8 the Virgin Islands of the United States or a designee 

9 of the Governor. 

10 (3) Two Members of the House of Representatives 

11 appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representa12 tives. 

13 (4) One Member of the House of Representatives 

14 appointed by the minority leader of the House of Rep15 resentatives. 

16 (5) Two Members of the Senate appointed by the 

17 majority leader of the Senate. 

18 (6) One Member of the Senate appointed by the 

19 minority leader of the Senate. 

20 (b) TERMS.—Each member of the Commission shall be 

21 appointed for the life of the Commission. 

22 (c) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All members of the 

23 Commission shall be appointed not later than 90 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

25 (d) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission 

26 shall— 


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1 (1) not affect the powers of the Commission; and 

2 (2) be filled in the manner in which the original 

3 appointment was made. 

4 (e) RATES OF PAY.—Members shall not receive com5 pensation for the performance of duties on behalf of the 

6 Commission. 

7 (f) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the Commis8 sion shall be reimbursed for travel and per diem in lieu 

9 of subsistence expenses during the performance of duties of 

10 the Commission while away from home or regular place of 

11 business of the member, in accordance with applicable pro12 visions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 

13 States Code. 

14 (g) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the Com15 mission shall constitute a quorum to conduct business, but 

16 two or more members may hold hearings. 

17 (h) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of the Commis18 sion shall be selected by a majority vote of the members of 

19 the Commission. 

20 SEC. 5. DIRECTOR AND STAFF OF COMMISSION. 

21 (a) DIRECTOR AND STAFF.—The Commission shall ap22 point an executive director and such other additional per23 sonnel as are necessary to enable the Commission to perform 

24 the duties of the Commission. 


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1 (b) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

2 LAWS.—The executive director and staff of the Commission 

3 may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 

4 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the com5 petitive service, and may be paid without regard to the pro6 visions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 

7 such title relating to classification and General Schedule 

8 pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the executive direc9 tor and other staff may not exceed the rate payable for level 

10 III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of such 

11 title. 

12 (c) DETAIL OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Upon request 

13 of the Commission, the Secretary of the Interior or the Ar14 chivist of the United States may detail, on a reimbursable 

15 basis, any of the personnel of the Department of the Interior 

16 or the National Archives and Records Administration, re17 spectively to the Commission to assist the Commission to 

18 perform the duties of the Commission. 

19 (d) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission 

20 may procure such temporary and intermittent services from 

21 experts and consultants as are necessary to enable the Com22 mission to perform the duties of the Commission. 

23 (e) VOLUNTEER AND UNCOMPENSATED SERVICES.— 

24 Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States 

25 Code, the Commission may accept and use voluntary and 


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1 uncompensated services as the Commission determines nec2 essary. 

3 SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

4 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may, for the pur5 pose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act 

6 at times and places, take testimony, and receive evidence 

7 as the Commission considers appropriate. 

8 (b) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United 

9 States mails in the same manner and under the same condi10 tions as other Federal agencies. 

11 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 

12 may secure directly from any Federal agency information 

13 necessary to enable the Commission to perform the duties 

14 of the Commission. Upon request of the chairperson of the 

15 Commission, the head of that Federal agency shall furnish 

16 that information to the Commission. 

17 (d) GIFTS, BEQUESTS, DEVISES.—The Commission 

18 may solicit, accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests, or 

19 devises of money, services, or property, both real and per20 sonal, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of 

21 the Commission. 

22 (e) AVAILABLE SPACE.—Upon the request of the Com23 mission, the Administrator of General Services shall make 

24 available to the Commission, at a normal rental rate for 

25 Federal agencies, such assistance and facilities as may be 


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1 necessary for the Commission to perform the duties of the 

2 Commission. 

3 (f) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Commission may 

4 enter into contracts with and compensate the Federal Gov5 ernment, State and local governments, private entities, or 

6 individuals to enable the Commission to perform the duties 

7 of the Commission. 

8 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

9 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than January 31 of 

10 each year, and annually thereafter until the final report 

11 is submitted pursuant to subsection (b), the Commission 

12 shall submit to the President and the Congress a report 

13 on— 

14 (1) the activities of the Commission; and 

15 (2) the revenue and expenditures of the Commis16 sion, including a list of each gift, bequest, or devise 

17 to the Commission with a value of more than $250, 

18 including the identity of the donor of each gift, be19 quest, or devise. 

20 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than January 31, 

21 2018, the Commission shall submit a final report to the 

22 President and the Congress containing— 

23 (1) a summary of the activities of the Commis24 sion; and 


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1 (2) a final accounting of funds received and ex2 pended by the Commission. 

3 SEC. 8. ANNUAL AUDIT. 

4 The Inspector General of the Department of the Inte5 rior— 

6 (1) may perform an audit of the Commission; 

7 (2) shall make the results of any such audit 

8 available to the public; and 

9 (3) shall transmit such results to the Committee 

10 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 

11 Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Se12 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

13 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal agen16 cy’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ in sec17 tion 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

18 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 

19 several States, the District of Columbia, each territory 

20 or possession of the United States, and each federally 

21 recognized Indian tribe. 

22 SEC. 10. TERMINATION. 

23 The Commission shall terminate on September 30, 

24 2018, or may terminate at an earlier date determined by 


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1 the Commission after the final report is submitted pursuant 

2 to section 7(b). 

3 SEC. 11. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

4 No Federal funds are authorized or may be obligated 

5 to carry out this Act. 


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smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 370 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2615 

[Report No. 114–486] 

A BILL 

To establish the Virgin Islands of the United States 

Centennial Commission. 

APRIL 12, 2016 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS