I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 497

To create the National Gambling Impact and Policy Commission.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 11, 1995

Mr. WOLF introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary

A BILL

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Gambling Im5 pact and Policy Commission Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

7 There is established a commission to be known as the

8 National Gambling Impact and Policy Commission (in this

9 Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).
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1 SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP.

2 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission

3 shall be composed of 9 members appointed from persons

4 specially qualified by training and experience, of which one

5 should be a Governor of a State, to perform the duties

6 of the Commission as follows:

7 (1) three appointed by the Speaker of the

8 House of Representatives;

9 (2) three appointed by the majority leader of

10 the Senate; and

11 (3) three appointed by the President of the

12 United States.

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

14 of the House of Representatives and majority leader of

15 the Senate shall designate a Chairman and Vice Chairman

16 from among the members of the Commission.

17 (c) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—Mem18 bers shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. Any

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

20 shall be filled in the same manner as the original appoint21 ment.

22 (d) INITIAL MEETING.—No later than 30 days after

23 the date on which all members of the Commission have

24 been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meet25 ing as directed by the President.
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1 (e) MEETINGS.—After the initial meeting, the Com2 mission shall meet at the call of the Chairman.

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

4 Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser num5 ber of members may hold hearings.

6 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

7 (a) STUDY.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty of the

9 Commission to conduct a comprehensive legal and

10 factual study of gambling in the United States and

11 existing Federal, State, and local policy and prac12 tices with respect to the legalization or prohibition of

13 gambling activities and to formulate and propose

14 such changes in those policies and practices as the

15 Commission shall deem appropriate.

16 (2) MATTERS STUDIED.—The matters studied

17 by the Commission shall include—

18 (A) the economic impact of gambling on

19 the United States, States, political subdivisions

20 of States, and Native American tribes;

21 (B) the economic impact of gambling on

22 other businesses;

23 (C) an assessment and review of the politi24 cal contributions and influence of gambling
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1 businesses and promoters on the development of

2 public policy regulating gambling;

3 (D) an assessment of the relationship be4 tween gambling and crime;

5 (E) an assessment of the impact of patho6 logical, or problem gambling on individuals,

7 families, social institutions, criminal activity

8 and the economy;

9 (F) a review of the demographics of gam10 blers;

11 (G) a review of the effectiveness of existing

12 practices in law enforcement, judicial adminis13 tration, and corrections to combat and deter il14 legal gambling and illegal activities related to

15 gambling;

16 (H) a review of the costs and effectiveness

17 of State and Federal gambling regulatory pol18 icy, including whether Indian gaming should be

19 regulated by States instead of the Federal Gov20 ernment; and

21 (I) such other relevant issues and topics as

22 considered appropriate by the Chairman of the

23 Commission.

24 (b) REPORT.—No later than three years after the

25 Commission first meets, the Commission shall submit a
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1 report to the President and the Congress which shall con2 tain a detailed statement of the findings and conclusions

3 of the Commission, together with its recommendations for

4 such legislation and administrative actions as it considers

5 appropriate.

6 SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

7 (a) HEARINGS AND SUBPOENAS.—

8 (1) The Commission may hold such hearings,

9 sit and act at such times and places, administer

10 such oaths, take such testimony, receive such evi11 dence, and require by subpoena the attendance and

12 testimony of such witnesses and the production of

13 such materials as the Commission considers advis14 able to carry out the purposes of this Act.

15 (2) ATTENDANCE OF WITNESSES.—The attend16 ance of witnesses and the production of evidence

17 may be required from any place within the United

18 States.

19 (3) FAILURE TO OBEY A SUBPOENA.—If a per20 son refuses to obey a subpoena issued under para21 graph (1), the Commission may apply to a United

22 States district court for an order requiring that per23 son to appear before the Commission to give testi24 mony, produce evidence, or both, relating to the

25 matter under investigation. The application may be
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1 made within the judicial district where the hearing

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

3 or transacts business. Any failure to obey the order

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

5 contempt.

6 (4) SERVICE OF SUBPOENAS.—The subpoenas

7 of the Commission shall be served in the manner

8 provided for subpoenas issued by a United States

9 district court under the Federal Rules of Civil Pro10 cedure for the United States district courts.

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

12 court to which application is to be made under para13 graph (3) may be served in the judicial district in

14 which the person required to be served resides or

15 may be found.

16 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The

17 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart18 ment or agency such information as the Commission con19 siders necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

20 Upon request of the Chairman of the Commission, the

21 head of such department or agency shall furnish such in22 formation to the Commission.

23 SEC. 6. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

24 (a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Each member of

25 the Commission who is not an officer or employee of the
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1 Federal Government shall be compensated at a rate equal

2 to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay pre3 scribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under sec4 tion 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (in5 cluding travel time) during which such member is engaged

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

7 members of the Commission who are officers or employees

8 of the United States shall serve without compensation in

9 addition to that received for their services as officers or

10 employees of the United States.

11 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com12 mission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per

13 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employ14 ees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title

15 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or

16 regular places of business in the performance of services

17 for 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.—The executive director

2 shall be compensated at the rate payable for level V

3 of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title

4 5, United States Code. The Chairman of the Com5 mission may fix the compensation of other personnel

6 without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and

7 subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United

8 States Code, relating to classification of positions

9 and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate

10 of pay for such personnel may not exceed the rate

11 payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under

12 section 5316 of such title.

13 (d) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any

14 Federal Government employee may be detailed to the

15 Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall

16 be without interruption or loss of civil service status or

17 privilege.

18 (e) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT19 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairman of the Commission may

20 procure temporary and intermittent services under section

21 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individ22 uals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual

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

24 Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
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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.

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