104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 497

AN ACT

To create the National Gambling Impact and Policy

Commission.
104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 497

AN ACT

To create the National Gambling Impact and Policy

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 ‘‘National Gambling Im3 pact and Policy Commission Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

5 There is established a commission to be known as the

6 National Gambling Impact and Policy Commission (in this

7 Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

8 SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP.

9 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—

10 (1) GENERALLY.—The Commission shall be

11 composed of 9 members, appointed from persons

12 specially qualified by training and experience to per13 form the duties of the Commission, as follows:

14 (A) three appointed by the Speaker of the

15 House of Representatives;

16 (B) three appointed by the majority leader

17 of the Senate; and

18 (C) three appointed by the President of the

19 United States.

20 (2) CONSULTATION BEFORE APPOINTMENT.—

21 Before the appointment of members of the Commis22 sion (including to any vacancies), the appointing au23 thorities shall consult with each other to assure that

24 the overall membership of the Commission reflects a

25 fair and equitable representation of various points of

26 view.
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1 (3) TIMING OF APPOINTMENTS.—The appoint2 ing authorities shall make their appointments to the

3 Commission not later than 60 days after the date of

4 the enactment of this Act.

5 (b) DESIGNATION OF THE CHAIRMAN.—The Speaker

6 of the House of Representatives and majority leader of

7 the Senate shall designate a Chairman and Vice Chairman

8 from among the members of the Commission.

9 (c) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—Mem10 bers shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. Any

11 vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but

12 shall be filled in the same manner as the original appoint13 ment.

14 (d) INITIAL MEETING.—No later than 60 days after

15 the date on which all members of the Commission have

16 been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meet17 ing.

18 (e) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the

19 call of the Chairman.

20 (f) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the

21 Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser num22 ber of members may hold hearings.

23 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

24 (a) STUDY.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty of the

2 Commission to conduct a comprehensive legal and

3 factual study of—

4 (A) gambling in the United States, includ5 ing State-sponsored lotteries, casino gambling,

6 pari-mutuel betting, and sports betting; and

7 (B) existing Federal, State, and local pol8 icy and practices with respect to the legalization

9 or prohibition of gambling activities and to for10 mulate and propose such changes in those poli11 cies and practices as the Commission shall

12 deem appropriate.

13 (2) MATTERS STUDIED.—The matters studied

14 by the Commission shall include—

15 (A) the economic impact of gambling on

16 the United States, States, political subdivisions

17 of States, and Indian tribes, both in its positive

18 and negative aspects;

19 (B) the economic impact of gambling on

20 other businesses;

21 (C) an assessment and review of political

22 contributions and their influence on the devel23 opment of public policy regulating gambling;

24 (D) an assessment of the relationship be25 tween gambling and crime;
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1 (E) an assessment of the impact of patho2 logical, or problem gambling on individuals,

3 families, social institutions, criminal activity

4 and the economy;

5 (F) a review of the demographics of gam6 blers;

7 (G) a review of the effectiveness of existing

8 practices in law enforcement, judicial adminis9 tration, and corrections to combat and deter il10 legal gambling and illegal activities related to

11 gambling;

12 (H) a review of the costs and effectiveness

13 of State, Federal, and Tribal gambling regu14 latory policy;

15 (I) an assessment of the effects of adver16 tising concerning gambling, including—

17 (i) whether advertising has increased

18 participation in gambling activity;

19 (ii) the effects of various types of ad20 vertising, including the sponsorship of

21 sporting events;

22 (iii) the relationship between advertis23 ing and the amount of the prize to be

24 awarded; and
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1 (iv) an examination of State lottery

2 advertising practices, including the process

3 by which States award lottery advertising

4 contracts;

5 (J) a review of gambling that uses inter6 active technology, including the Internet;

7 (K) a review of the extent to which casino

8 gambling provides economic opportunity to resi9 dents of economically depressed regions and to

10 Indian tribes;

11 (L) a review of the effect of revenues de12 rived from State-sponsored gambling on State

13 budgets; and

14 (M) such other relevant issues and topics

15 as considered appropriate by the Chairman of

16 the Commission.

17 (b) REPORT.—No later than 2 years after the Com18 mission first meets, the Commission shall submit a report

19 to the President and the Congress which shall contain a

20 detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the

21 Commission, together with its recommendations for such

22 legislation and administrative actions as it considers ap23 propriate.

24 SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

25 (a) HEARINGS AND SUBPOENAS.—
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1 (1) The Commission may hold such hearings,

2 sit and act at such times and places, administer

3 such oaths, take such testimony, receive such evi4 dence, and require by subpoena the attendance and

5 testimony of such witnesses and the production of

6 such materials as the Commission considers advis7 able to carry out the purposes of this Act.

8 (2) ATTENDANCE OF WITNESSES.—The attend9 ance of witnesses and the production of evidence

10 may be required from any place within the United

11 States.

12 (3) FAILURE TO OBEY A SUBPOENA.—If a per13 son refuses to obey a subpoena issued under para14 graph (1), the Commission may apply to a United

15 States district court for an order requiring that per16 son to appear before the Commission to give testi17 mony, produce evidence, or both, relating to the

18 matter under investigation. The application may be

19 made within the judicial district where the hearing

20 is conducted or where that person is found, resides,

21 or transacts business. Any failure to obey the order

22 of the court may be punished by the court as civil

23 contempt.

24 (4) SERVICE OF SUBPOENAS.—The subpoenas

25 of the Commission shall be served in the manner
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1 provided for subpoenas issued by a United States

2 district court under the Federal Rules of Civil Pro3 cedure for the United States district courts.

4 (5) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—All process of any

5 court to which application is to be made under para6 graph (3) may be served in the judicial district in

7 which the person required to be served resides or

8 may be found.

9 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The

10 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart11 ment or agency such information as the Commission con12 siders necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

13 Upon request of the Chairman of the Commission, the

14 head of such department or agency may furnish such in15 formation to the Commission.

16 (c) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any

17 Federal Government employee may be detailed to the

18 Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall

19 be without interruption or loss of civil service status or

20 privilege.

21 SEC. 6. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

22 (a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Subject to the

23 limitation provided in subsection (e), each member of the

24 Commission who is not an officer or employee of the Fed25 eral Government shall be compensated at a rate equal to
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1 the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay pre2 scribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under sec3 tion 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (in4 cluding travel time) during which such member is engaged

5 in the performance of the duties of the Commission. All

6 members of the Commission who are officers or employees

7 of the United States shall serve without compensation in

8 addition to that received for their services as officers or

9 employees of the United States.

10 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Subject to the limitation

11 provided in subsection (e), the members of the Commis12 sion shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem

13 in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees

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

15 United States Code, while away from their homes or regu16 lar places of business in the performance of services for

17 the Commission.

18 (c) STAFF.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairman of the Com20 mission may, without regard to the civil service laws

21 and regulations, appoint and terminate an executive

22 director and such other additional personnel as may

23 be necessary to enable the Commission to perform

24 its duties. The employment of an executive director

25 shall be subject to confirmation by the Commission.
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1 (2) COMPENSATION.—Subject to the require2 ments of subsection (e), the executive director shall

3 be compensated at the rate payable for level V of the

4 Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5,

5 United States Code. The Chairman of the Commis6 sion may fix the compensation of other personnel

7 without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and

8 subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United

9 States Code, relating to classification of positions

10 and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate

11 of pay for such personnel may not exceed the rate

12 payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under

13 section 5316 of such title.

14 (d) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT15 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairman of the Commission may

16 procure temporary and intermittent services under section

17 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individ18 uals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual

19 rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive

20 Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

21 (e) LIMITATION.—No payment may be made under

22 the authority of this section except to the extent provided

23 for in advance in an appropriation for this purpose.
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1 SEC. 7. TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.

2 The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the

3 date on which the Commission submits its report under

4 section 4.

Passed the House of Representatives March 5,

1996.

Attest:

Clerk.