IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5235 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2008 

Received 

JULY 24 (legislative day, JULY 23), 2008 

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

To establish the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ronald Reagan Cen3 tennial Commission Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 

5 There is established a commission to be known as the 

6 ‘‘Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission’’ (in this Act re7 ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

8 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 

9 The Commission shall— 

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

11 as the Commission considers fitting and proper to 

12 honor Ronald Reagan on the occasion of the 100th 

13 anniversary of his birth; 

14 (2) provide advice and assistance to Federal, 

15 State, and local governmental agencies, as well as 

16 civic groups to carry out activities to honor Ronald 

17 Reagan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of 

18 his birth; 

19 (3) develop activities that may be carried out by 

20 the Federal Government to determine whether the 

21 activities are fitting and proper to honor Ronald 

22 Reagan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of 

23 his birth; and 

24 (4) submit to the President and Congress re25 ports pursuant to section 7. 


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1 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 

2 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission 

3 shall be composed of 11 members as follows: 

4 (1) The Secretary of the Interior. 

5 (2) Four members appointed by the President 

6 after considering the recommendations of the Board 

7 of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Foundation. 

8 (3) Two Members of the House of Representa9 tives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Rep10 resentatives. 

11 (4) One Member of the House of Representa12 tives appointed by the minority leader of the House 

13 of Representatives. 

14 (5) Two Members of the Senate appointed by 

15 the majority leader of the Senate. 

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

17 minority leader of the Senate. 

18 (b) EX OFFICIO MEMBER.—The Archivist of the 

19 United States shall serve in an ex officio capacity on the 

20 Commission to provide advice and information to the Com21 mission. 

22 (c) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed for the 

23 life of the Commission. 

24 (d) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All members of 

25 the Commission shall be appointed not later than 90 days 

26 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (e) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission 

2 shall— 

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

4 and 

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

6 appointment was made. 

7 (f) RATES OF PAY.—Members shall serve without 

8 pay. 

9 (g) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the Com10 mission shall be reimbursed for travel and per diem in lieu 

11 of subsistence expenses during the performance of duties 

12 of the Commission while away from home or his or her 

13 regular place of business, in accordance with applicable 

14 provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 

15 United States Code. 

16 (h) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 

17 Commission shall constitute a quorum but a lesser number 

18 may hold hearings. 

19 (i) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of the Commis20 sion shall be elected by a majority vote of the members 

21 of the Commission. 

22 SEC. 5. DIRECTOR AND STAFF OF COMMISSION. 

23 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Commission may appoint an ex24 ecutive director. The executive director may be paid at a 


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1 rate not to exceed the maximum rate of basic pay for GS– 

2 15 of the General Schedule. 

3 (b) STAFF.—The Commission may appoint and fix 

4 the pay of additional personnel as it considers appropriate 

5 except that an individual so appointed may not receive pay 

6 in excess of the maximum rate of basic pay for GS–13 

7 of the General Schedule. 

8 (c) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

9 LAWS.—The executive director and staff of the Commis10 sion may be appointed without regard to the provisions 

11 of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in 

12 the competitive service, and may be paid without regard 

13 to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chap14 ter 53 of such title relating to classification and General 

15 Schedule pay rates, except as provided in subsections (a) 

16 and (b). 

17 (d) DETAIL OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Upon re18 quest of the Commission, the Secretary of the Interior or 

19 the Archivist of the United States may detail, on a reim20 bursable basis, any of the personnel of that department 

21 or agency to the Commission to assist it in carrying out 

22 its duties under this Act. 

23 (e) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission 

24 may procure temporary and intermittent services under 

25 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, but at rates 


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1 for individuals not to exceed the daily equivalent of the 

2 maximum annual rate of basic pay for GS–14 of the Gen3 eral Schedule. 

4 (f) VOLUNTEER AND UNCOMPENSATED SERVICES.— 

5 Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States 

6 Code, the Commission may accept and use voluntary and 

7 uncompensated services as the Commission determines 

8 necessary. 

9 SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

10 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may, for the pur11 pose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act 

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

13 as the Commission considers appropriate. 

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

15 States mails in the same manner and under the same con16 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United 

17 States. 

18 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 

19 may secure directly from any department or agency of the 

20 United States information necessary to enable it to carry 

21 out its duties under this Act. Upon request of the chair22 person of the Commission, the head of that department 

23 or agency shall furnish that information to the Commis24 sion. 


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

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

3 devises of money, services, or property, both real and per4 sonal, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating its work. 

5 (e) AVAILABLE SPACE.—Upon the request of the 

6 Commission, the Administrator of General Services shall 

7 make available nationwide to the Commission, at a normal 

8 rental rate for Federal agencies, such assistance and facili9 ties as may be necessary for the Commission to carry out 

10 its duties under this Act. 

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

12 amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts, the 

13 Commission may enter into contracts with and com14 pensate government and private agencies or persons to en15 able the Commission to discharge its duties under this 

16 Act, without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Stat17 utes (41 U.S.C. 5). 

18 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

19 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Commission shall sub20 mit to the President and the Congress annual reports on 

21 the revenue and expenditures of the Commission, includ22 ing a list of each gift, bequest, or devise to the Commission 

23 with a value of more than $250, together with the identity 

24 of the donor of each gift, bequest, or devise. 


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1 (b) INTERIM REPORTS.—The Commission may sub2 mit to the President and Congress interim reports as the 

3 Commission considers appropriate. 

4 (c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than April 30, 2011, 

5 the Commission shall submit a final report to the Presi6 dent and the Congress containing— 

7 (1) a summary of the activities of the Commis8 sion; 

9 (2) a final accounting of funds received and ex10 pended by the Commission; and 

11 (3) the findings, conclusions, and final rec12 ommendations of the Commission. 

13 SEC. 8. TERMINATION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may terminate 

15 on such date as the Commission may determine after it 

16 submits its final report pursuant to section 7(c), but not 

17 later than May 30, 2011. 

18 (b) FACA NONAPPLICABILITY.—Section 14(b) of the 

19 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2) shall 

20 not apply to the Commission. 

21 SEC. 9. ANNUAL AUDIT AND AUTHORIZATION AND AVAIL22 ABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap24 propriated $1,000,000 to carry out this Act for the period 


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1 encompassing fiscal years 2009 through 2011, but not to 

2 exceed $500,000 in any fiscal year. 

3 (b) AVAILABILITY.— 

4 (1) Amounts appropriated pursuant to sub5 section (a) are authorized to remain available until 

6 expended. 

7 (2) Amounts appropriated pursuant to sub8 section (a) in excess of $500,000 shall be available 

9 for obligation only to the extent matched by an 

10 equal amount of nongovernmental contributions. 

11 (c) ANNUAL AUDIT.—For any fiscal year for which 

12 the Commission receives an appropriation of funds author13 ized under this section, the Inspector General of the De14 partment of the Interior shall perform an audit of the 

15 Commission, shall make the results of the audit available 

16 to the public, and shall transmit such results to the Com17 mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

18 of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Secu19 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 22, 2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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