106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1546

AN ACT

To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998

to provide additional administrative authorities to the

United States Commission on International Religious

Freedom, and to make technical corrections to that Act,

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,
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1 SECTION 1. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES OF THE

2 UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTER3 NATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION.—Section

5 201 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998

6 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) is amended—

7 (1) in subsection (c)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting ‘‘(1)

9 IN GENERAL.—The’’;

10 (2) by inserting after the first sentence the fol11 lowing new sentences: ‘‘The term of each member of

12 the Commission appointed to the first two-year term

13 of the Commission shall be considered to have begun

14 on May 15, 1999, and shall end on May 14, 2001,

15 regardless of the date of appointment to the Com16 mission. The term of each member of the Commis17 sion appointed to the second two-year term of the

18 Commission shall begin on May 15, 2001, and shall

19 end on May 14, 2003, regardless of the date of ap20 pointment to the Commission. In the case in which

21 a vacancy in the membership of the Commission is

22 filled during a two-year term of the Commission,

23 such membership on the Commission shall terminate

24 at the end of that two-year term of the Commis25 sion.’’; and
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1 (3) by amending subsection (h) to read as fol2 lows:

3 ‘‘(h) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Adminis4 trator of General Services shall provide to the Commission

5 on a reimbursable basis (or, in the discretion of the Ad6 ministrator, on a non-reimbursable basis) such adminis7 trative support services as the Commission may request

8 to carry out the provisions of this title.’’.

9 (b) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.—The Inter10 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401

11 et seq.) is amended—

12 (1) by striking section 202(f);

13 (2) by redesignating sections 203, 204, 205,

14 and 206 as sections 205, 206, 207, and 209, respec15 tively;

16 (3) by inserting after section 202 the following:

17 ‘‘SEC. 203. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

18 ‘‘(a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commission

19 may, for the purpose of carrying out its duties under this

20 title, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places in the

21 United States, take testimony and receive evidence as the

22 Commission considers advisable to carry out the purposes

23 of this Act.

24 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

25 The Commission may secure directly from any Federal de-
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1 partment or agency such information as the Commission

2 considers necessary to carry out the provisions of this sec3 tion. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission,

4 the head of such department or agency shall furnish such

5 information to the Commission, subject to applicable law.

6 ‘‘(c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use

7 the United States mails in the same manner and under

8 the same conditions as other departments and agencies of

9 the Federal Government.

10 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—The Commis11 sion may adopt such rules and regulations, relating to ad12 ministrative procedure, as may be reasonably necessary to

13 enable it to carry out the provisions of this title.

14 ‘‘(e) VIEWS OF THE COMMISSION.—The Members of

15 the Commission may speak in their capacity as private

16 citizens. Statements on behalf of the Commission shall be

17 issued in writing over the names of the Members. The

18 Commission shall in its written statements clearly describe

19 its statutory authority, distinguishing that authority from

20 that of appointed or elected officials of the United States

21 Government. Oral statements, where practicable, shall in22 clude a similar description.

23 ‘‘(f) TRAVEL.—The Members of the Commission

24 may, with the approval of the Commission, conduct such

25 travel as is necessary to carry out the purpose of this title.
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1 Each trip must be approved by a majority of the Commis2 sion. This provision shall not apply to the Ambassador3 at-Large, whose travel shall not require approval by the

4 Commission.

5 ‘‘SEC. 204. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may, without

7 regard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint

8 and terminate an Executive Director and such other addi9 tional personnel as may be necessary to enable the Com10 mission to perform its duties. The decision to employ or

11 terminate an Executive Director shall be made by an af12 firmative vote of at least six of the nine members of the

13 Commission.

14 ‘‘(b) COMPENSATION.—The Commission may fix the

15 compensation of the Executive Director and other per16 sonnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and

17 subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States

18 Code, relating to classification of positions and General

19 Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the

20 Executive Director and other personnel may not exceed

21 the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule

22 under section 5316 of such title.

23 ‘‘(c) PROFESSIONAL STAFF.—The Commission and

24 the Executive Director shall hire Commission staff on the

25 basis of professional and nonpartisan qualifications. Com-
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1 missioners may not individually hire staff of the Commis2 sion. Staff shall serve the Commission as a whole and may

3 not be assigned to the particular service of a single Com4 missioner or a specified group of Commissioners. This

5 subsection does not prohibit staff personnel from assisting

6 individual members of the Commission with particular

7 needs related to their duties.

8 ‘‘(d) STAFF AND SERVICES OF OTHER FEDERAL

9 AGENCIES.—

10 ‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—The Secretary

11 of State shall assist the Commission by providing on

12 a reimbursable or non-reimbursable basis to the

13 Commission such staff and administrative services

14 as may be necessary and appropriate to perform its

15 functions.

16 ‘‘(2) OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the

17 request of the Commission, the head of any Federal

18 department or agency may detail, on a reimbursable

19 or non-reimbursable basis, any of the personnel of

20 that department or agency to the Commission to as21 sist it in carrying out its functions under this title.

22 The detail of any such personnel shall be without

23 interruption or loss of civil service or Foreign Serv24 ice status or privilege.
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1 ‘‘(e) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—The Executive Direc2 tor shall be required to obtain a security clearance. The

3 Executive Director may request, on a needs-only basis and

4 in order to perform the duties of the Commission, that

5 other personnel of the Commission be required to obtain

6 a security clearance. The level of clearance shall be the

7 lowest necessary to appropriately perform the duties of the

8 Commission.

9 ‘‘(f) COST.—The Commission shall reimburse all ap10 propriate Government agencies for the cost of obtaining

11 clearances for members of the commission, for the execu12 tive director, and for any other personnel.’’;

13 (4) in section 207(a) (as redesignated by this

14 Act), by striking all that follows ‘‘3,000,000’’ and

15 inserting ‘‘to carry out the provisions of this title.’’;

16 and

17 (5) by inserting after section 207 (as redesig18 nated) the following:

19 ‘‘SEC. 208. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND DISCLOSURE.

20 ‘‘(a) COOPERATION WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL OR21 GANIZATIONS, THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, AND CON22 GRESS.—The Commission shall seek to effectively and

23 freely cooperate with all entities engaged in the promotion

24 of religious freedom abroad, governmental and nongovern-
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1 mental, in the performance of the Commission’s duties

2 under this title.

3 ‘‘(b) CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ANTINEPOTISM.—

4 ‘‘(1) MEMBER AFFILIATIONS.—Except as pro5 vided in paragraph (3), in order to ensure the inde6 pendence and integrity of the Commission, the Com7 mission may not compensate any nongovernmental

8 agency, project, or person related to or affiliated

9 with any member of the Commission, whether in

10 that member’s direct employ or not. Staff employed

11 by the Commission may not serve in the employ of

12 any nongovernmental agency, project, or person re13 lated to or affiliated with any member of the Com14 mission while employed by the Commission.

15 ‘‘(2) STAFF COMPENSATION.—Staff of the

16 Commission may not receive compensation from any

17 other source for work performed in carrying out the

18 duties of the Commission while employed by the

19 Commission.

20 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara22 graph (B), paragraph (1) shall not apply to

23 payments made for items such as conference

24 fees or the purchase of periodicals or other

25 similar expenses, if such payments would not
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1 cause the aggregate value paid to any agency,

2 project, or person for a fiscal year to exceed

3 $250.

4 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding sub5 paragraph (A), the Commission shall not give

6 special preference to any agency, project, or

7 person related to or affiliated with any member

8 of the Commission.

9 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the

10 term ‘‘affiliated’’ means the relationship between a

11 member of the Commission and—

12 ‘‘(A) an individual who holds the position

13 of officer, trustee, partner, director, or em14 ployee of an agency, project, or person of which

15 that member, or relative of that member of, the

16 Commission is an officer, trustee, partner, di17 rector, or employee; or

18 ‘‘(B) a nongovernmental agency or project

19 of which that member, or a relative of that

20 member, of the Commission is an officer, trust21 ee, partner, director, or employee.

22 ‘‘(c) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability

24 of appropriations, the Commission may contract

25 with and compensate Government agencies or per-
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1 sons for the conduct of activities necessary to the

2 discharge of its functions under this title. Any such

3 person shall be hired without interruption or loss of

4 civil service or Foreign Service status or privilege.

5 The Commission may not procure temporary and

6 intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title

7 5, United States Code, or under other contracting

8 authority other than that allowed under this title.

9 ‘‘(2) EXPERT STUDY.—In the case of a study

10 requested under section 605 of this Act, the Com11 mission may, subject to the availability of appropria12 tions, contract with experts and shall provide the

13 funds for such a study. The Commission shall not be

14 required to provide the funds for that part of the

15 study conducted by the Comptroller General of the

16 United States.

17 ‘‘(d) GIFTS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to preserve its

19 independence, the Commission may not accept, use,

20 or dispose of gifts or donations of services or prop21 erty. An individual Commissioner or employee of the

22 Commission may not, in his or her capacity as a

23 Commissioner or employee, knowingly accept, use or

24 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property,

25 unless he or she in good faith believes such gifts or
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1 donations to have a value of less than $50 and a cu2 mulative value during a calendar year of less than

3 $100.

4 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not

5 apply to the following:

6 ‘‘(A) Gifts provided on the basis of a per7 sonal friendship with a Commissioner or em8 ployee, unless the Commissioner or employee

9 has reason to believe that the gift was provided

10 because of the Commissioner’s position and not

11 because of the personal friendship.

12 ‘‘(B) Gifts provided on the basis of a fam13 ily relationship.

14 ‘‘(C) The acceptance of training, invita15 tions to attend or participate in conferences or

16 such other events as are related to the conduct

17 of the duties of the Commission, or food or re18 freshment associated with such activities.

19 ‘‘(D) Items of nominal value or gifts of es20 timated value of $10 or less.

21 ‘‘(E) De minimis gifts provided by a for22 eign leader or state, not exceeding a value of

23 $260. Gifts believed by Commissioners to be in

24 excess of $260, but which would create offense

25 or embarrassment to the United States Govern-
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1 ment if refused, shall be accepted and turned

2 over to the United States Government in ac3 cordance with the Foreign Gifts and Decora4 tions Act of 1966 and the rules and regulations

5 governing such gifts provided to Members of

6 Congress.

7 ‘‘(F) Informational materials such as docu8 ments, books, videotapes, periodicals, or other

9 forms of communications.

10 ‘‘(G) Goods or services provided by any

11 agency or component of the Government of the

12 United States, including any commission estab13 lished under the authority of such Government.

14 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT.—In addition to

15 providing the reports required under section 202, the

16 Commission shall provide, each year no later than January

17 1, to the Committees on International Relations and Ap18 propriations of the House of Representatives, and to the

19 Committees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations of

20 the Senate, a financial report detailing and identifying its

21 expenditures for the preceding fiscal year.’’.

22 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

23 209 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998

24 (22 U.S.C. 6436) (as redesignated) is amended by striking
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1 ‘‘4 years after the initial appointment of all the Commis2 sioners’’ and inserting ‘‘on May 14, 2003.’’.

3 SEC. 2. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.

4 (a) PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS.—Section 402(c) of the

5 International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C.

6 6442(c)) is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (1), in the text above subpara8 graph (A), by striking ‘‘and (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4),

9 and (5)’’; and

10 (2) in paragraph (4)—

11 (A) by inserting ‘‘UNDER THIS ACT’’ after

12 ‘‘EXCEPTION FOR ONGOING PRESIDENTIAL AC13 TION’’;

14 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub15 paragraph (B);

16 (C) by striking at the end of subparagraph

17 (C) ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a period; and

18 (D) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘(D)

19 at’’ and inserting ‘‘(5) EXCEPTION FOR ONGO20 ING, MULTIPLE, BROAD-BASED SANCTIONS IN

21 RESPONSE TO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.—

22 At’’.

23 (b) CLERICAL CORRECTION.—Section

24 201(b)(1)(B)(iii) of the International Religious Freedom
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1 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431(b)(1)(B)(iii)) is amended by

2 striking ‘‘three’’ and inserting ‘‘Three’’.

Passed the Senate August 5, 1999.

Attest:

Secretary.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1546

AN ACT

To amend the International Religious Freedom Act

purposes.technical corrections to that Act, and for otherInternational Religious Freedom, and to makethorities to the United States Commission onof 1998 to provide additional administrative au-