S. 1546

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,

the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine

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.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES OF THE UNITED STATES

COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION.—Section 201 of the

International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et

seq.) is amended—

(1) in subsection (c)—

(A) by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

The’’;

(2) by inserting after the first sentence the following new

sentences: ‘‘The term of each member of the Commission

appointed to the first two-year term of the Commission shall

be considered to have begun on May 15, 1999, and shall end

on May 14, 2001, regardless of the date of appointment to

the Commission. The term of each member of the Commission

appointed to the second two-year term of the Commission shall

begin on May 15, 2001, and shall end on May 14, 2003, regardless of the date of appointment to the Commission. In the

case in which a vacancy in the membership of the Commission

is filled during a two-year term of the Commission, such membership on the Commission shall terminate at the end of that

two-year term of the Commission.’’; and

(3) by amending subsection (h) to read as follows:

‘‘(h) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Administrator of General

Services shall provide to the Commission on a reimbursable basis

(or, in the discretion of the Administrator, on a nonreimbursable

basis) such administrative support services as the Commission may

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

(b) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.—The International Religious

Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) is amended—

(1) by striking section 202(f);

(2) by redesignating sections 203, 204, 205, and 206 as

sections 205, 206, 207, and 209, respectively;

(3) by inserting after section 202 the following:

‘‘SEC. 203. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

‘‘(a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commission may, for the

purpose of carrying out its duties under this title, hold hearings,
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sit and act at times and places in the United States, take testimony

and receive evidence as the Commission considers advisable to

carry out the purposes of this Act.

‘‘(b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The Commission

may secure directly from any Federal department or agency such

information as the Commission considers necessary to carry out

the provisions of this section. Upon request of the Chairperson

of the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall

furnish such information to the Commission, subject to applicable

law.

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

States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions

as other departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—The Commission may

adopt such rules and regulations, relating to administrative procedure, as may be reasonably necessary to enable it to carry out

the provisions of this title.

‘‘(e) VIEWS OF THE COMMISSION.—The Members of the Commission may speak in their capacity as private citizens. Statements

on behalf of the Commission shall be issued in writing over the

names of the Members. The Commission shall in its written statements clearly describe its statutory authority, distinguishing that

authority from that of appointed or elected officials of the United

States Government. Oral statements, where practicable, shall

include a similar description.

‘‘(f) TRAVEL.—The Members of the Commission may, with the

approval of the Commission, conduct such travel as is necessary

to carry out the purpose of this title. Each trip must be approved

by a majority of the Commission. This provision shall not apply

to the Ambassador-at-Large, whose travel shall not require approval

by the Commission.

‘‘SEC. 204. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

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

the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an

Executive Director and such other additional personnel as may

be necessary to enable the Commission to perform its duties. The

decision to employ or terminate an Executive Director shall be

made by an affirmative vote of at least six of the nine members

of the Commission.

‘‘(b) COMPENSATION.—The Commission may fix the compensation of the Executive Director and other personnel without regard

to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53

of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification of positions

and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for

the Executive Director and other personnel may not exceed the

rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section

5316 of such title.

‘‘(c) PROFESSIONAL STAFF.—The Commission and the Executive

Director shall hire Commission staff on the basis of professional

and nonpartisan qualifications. Commissioners may not individually

hire staff of the Commission. Staff shall serve the Commission

as a whole and may not be assigned to the particular service

of a single Commissioner or a specified group of Commissioners.

This subsection does not prohibit staff personnel from assisting

individual members of the Commission with particular needs

related to their duties.
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‘‘(d) STAFF AND SERVICES OF OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—The Secretary of State shall

assist the Commission by providing on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis to the Commission such staff and administrative services as may be necessary and appropriate to perform

its functions.

‘‘(2) OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the request of the

Commission, the head of any Federal department or agency

may detail, on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis, any

of the personnel of that department or agency to the Commission to assist it in carrying out its functions under this title.

The detail of any such personnel shall be without interruption

or loss of civil service or Foreign Service status or privilege.

‘‘(e) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—The Executive Director shall be

required to obtain a security clearance. The Executive Director

may request, on a needs-only basis and in order to perform the

duties of the Commission, that other personnel of the Commission

be required to obtain a security clearance. The level of clearance

shall be the lowest necessary to appropriately perform the duties

of the Commission.

‘‘(f) COST.—The Commission shall reimburse all appropriate

Government agencies for the cost of obtaining clearances for members of the commission, for the executive director, and for any

other personnel.’’;

(4) in section 207(a) (as redesignated by this Act), by

striking all that follows ‘‘3,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘to carry

out the provisions of this title.’’; and

(5) by inserting after section 207 (as redesignated) the

following:

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

‘‘(a) COOPERATION WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS,

THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, AND CONGRESS.—The Commission shall

seek to effectively and freely cooperate with all entities engaged

in the promotion of religious freedom abroad, governmental and

nongovernmental, in the performance of the Commission’s duties

under this title.

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

‘‘(1) MEMBER AFFILIATIONS.—Except as provided in paragraph (3), in order to ensure the independence and integrity

of the Commission, the Commission may not compensate any

nongovernmental agency, project, or person related to or affiliated with any member of the Commission, whether in that

member’s direct employ or not. Staff employed by the Commission may not serve in the employ of any nongovernmental

agency, project, or person related to or affiliated with any

member of the Commission while employed by the Commission.

‘‘(2) STAFF COMPENSATION.—Staff of the Commission may

not receive compensation from any other source for work performed in carrying out the duties of the Commission while

employed by the Commission.

‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph (B), paragraph (1) shall not apply to payments made for items

such as conference fees or the purchase of periodicals or

other similar expenses, if such payments would not cause
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the aggregate value paid to any agency, project, or person

for a fiscal year to exceed $250.

‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A),

the Commission shall not give special preference to any

agency, project, or person related to or affiliated with any

member of the Commission.

‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the term ‘affiliated’

means the relationship between a member of the Commission

and—

‘‘(A) an individual who holds the position of officer,

trustee, partner, director, or employee of an agency, project,

or person of which that member, or relative of that member

of, the Commission is an officer, trustee, partner, director,

or employee; or

‘‘(B) a nongovernmental agency or project of which

that member, or a relative of that member, of the Commission is an officer, trustee, partner, director, or employee.

‘‘(c) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Commission may contract with and compensate

Government agencies or persons for the conduct of activities

necessary to the discharge of its functions under this title.

Any such person shall be hired without interruption or loss

of civil service or Foreign Service status or privilege. The

Commission may not procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, or

under other contracting authority other than that allowed under

this title.

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

section 605 of this Act, the Commission may, subject to the

availability of appropriations, contract with experts and shall

provide the funds for such a study. The Commission shall

not be required to provide the funds for that part of the study

conducted by the Comptroller General of the United States.

‘‘(d) GIFTS.—

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

the Commission may not accept, use, or dispose of gifts or

donations of services or property. An individual Commissioner

or employee of the Commission may not, in his or her capacity

as a Commissioner or employee, knowingly accept, use or dispose of gifts or donations of services or property, unless he

or she in good faith believes such gifts or donations to have

a value of less than $50 and a cumulative value during a

calendar year of less than $100.

‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not apply to the

following:

‘‘(A) Gifts provided on the basis of a personal friendship

with a Commissioner or employee, unless the Commissioner

or employee has reason to believe that the gift was provided

because of the Commissioner’s position and not because

of the personal friendship.

‘‘(B) Gifts provided on the basis of a family relationship.

‘‘(C) The acceptance of training, invitations to attend

or participate in conferences or such other events as are

related to the conduct of the duties of the Commission,

or food or refreshment associated with such activities.
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‘‘(D) Items of nominal value or gifts of estimated value

of $10 or less.

‘‘(E) De minimis gifts provided by a foreign leader

or state, not exceeding a value of $260. Gifts believed

by Commissioners to be in excess of $260, but which would

create offense or embarrassment to the United States

Government if refused, shall be accepted and turned over

to the United States Government in accordance with the

Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 1966 and the rules

and regulations governing such gifts provided to Members

of Congress.

‘‘(F) Informational materials such as documents, books,

videotapes, periodicals, or other forms of communications.

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

component of the Government of the United States,

including any commission established under the authority

of such Government.

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

reports required under section 202, the Commission shall provide,

each year no later than January 1, to the Committees on International Relations and Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and to the Committees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations of the Senate, a financial report detailing and identifying

its expenditures for the preceding fiscal year.’’.

(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 209 of the

International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6436) (as

redesignated) is amended by striking ‘‘4 years after the initial

appointment of all the Commissioners’’ and inserting ‘‘on May 14,

2003’’.

SEC. 2. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.

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

Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(c)) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (1), in the text above subparagraph (A),

by striking ‘‘and (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4), and (5)’’; and

(2) in paragraph (4)—

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

FOR ONGOING PRESIDENTIAL ACTION’’;

(B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph

(B);

(C) by striking at the end of subparagraph (C) ‘‘; and’’

and inserting a period; and

(D) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘(D) at’’ and

inserting ‘‘(5) EXCEPTION FOR ONGOING, MULTIPLE, BROADBASED SANCTIONS IN RESPONSE TO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.—At’’.
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(b) CLERICAL CORRECTION.—Section 201(b)(1)(B)(iii) of the

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

6431(b)(1)(B)(iii)) is amended by striking ‘‘three’’ and inserting

‘‘Three’’.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.