I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7069 

To establish the Commission on the COVID–19 Pandemic. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2022 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. COSTA, Mr. EVANS, Mr. BACON, 

Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. TITUS, and Ms. PORTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce, and in addition to the Permanent Select Committee on 

Intelligence, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the Commission on the COVID–19 Pandemic. 

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; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘National Commission on the COVID–19 Pandemic Act’’. 

6 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con7 gress that— 

8 (1) the SARS–CoV–2 (COVID–19) pandemic 

9 has caused immense suffering in the United States, 


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1 having resulted in more than 736,000 American 

2 deaths as of October 2021, and infecting at least 

3 45,000,000; 

4 (2) following other destructive and traumatic 

5 events in our history, including the September 11, 

6 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress has established a 

7 bipartisan commission of experts to study the event 

8 and produce a report and recommendations, and 

9 such an exercise can assist in national healing; 

10 (3) the extent of the loss of life and the eco11 nomic cost of the pandemic demonstrate the high 

12 risks that pandemic diseases can pose to public 

13 health and to national security, and demands a thor14 ough, authoritative, and independent review of the 

15 origin of SARS–CoV–2 as well as United States ac16 tions and policies before and during the pandemic, 

17 and recommendations to Congress and policymakers 

18 as to how we can be better prepared for future pan19 demic diseases, including those that could be caused 

20 by intentional biological attacks; 

21 (4) individuals appointed to the Commission es22 tablished in subsection (b) should be prominent citi23 zens of the United States with national recognition 

24 and significant experience and expertise in— 

25 (A) public health and biosafety; 


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1 (B) epidemiology; 

2 (C) medicine; 

3 (D) emergency management or response; 

4 (E) public administration; 

5 (F) logistics; 

6 (G) organizational management; or 

7 (H) medical intelligence and forensic inves8 tigations; and 

9 (5) it is crucial to better understand and man10 age the increasing likelihood of pandemic threats 

11 (such as the recent threats of severe acute res12 piratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola, the 2009–H1N1 

13 influenza, and COVID–19) and related health issues 

14 that the United States could face during the next 

15 several decades. 

16 SEC. 2. COMMISSION ON THE COVID–19 PANDEMIC. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.—There is es18 tablished in the legislative branch the National Commis19 sion on the COVID–19 Pandemic (in this section referred 

20 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

21 (b) DUTIES.—The Commission shall— 

22 (1) in accordance with subsection (d), conduct 

23 an investigation of all relevant facts and cir24 cumstances regarding the novel coronavirus disease 

25 2019 (in this section referred to as ‘‘COVID–19’’) 


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1 in order to make a full and complete accounting 

2 of— 

3 (A) the preparedness of the United States 

4 for pandemic disease before the outbreak of 

5 COVID–19; 

6 (B) the circumstances surrounding the ini7 tial outbreak and spread of COVID–19; and 

8 (C) the actions taken by the Federal Gov9 ernment, State, local, and Tribal governments, 

10 including with respect to the private sector, civil 

11 society, and relevant international organizations 

12 (including the World Health Organization) in 

13 response to COVID–19; 

14 (2) identify and examine lessons learned regard15 ing pandemic preparedness, response, and recovery 

16 efforts by the Federal Government and State, local, 

17 and Tribal governments, and international partners; 

18 and 

19 (3) submit to the President and Congress, and 

20 make publicly available, such reports as are required 

21 by this section containing findings, conclusions, and 

22 recommendations as the Commission determines ap23 propriate to improve the ability of the United States 

24 to prepare for, detect, prevent, and, if necessary, re25 spond to and recover from epidemics and pandemics 


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1 such as COVID–19 (whether naturally occurring or 

2 caused by State or non-State actors) in a way that 

3 minimizes negative effects on public health, the 

4 economy, and society. 

5 (c) COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION.— 

6 (1) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be com7 posed of 10 members, of whom— 

8 (A) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

9 President, who shall serve as chair of the Com10 mission; 

11 (B) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

12 leader of the House of Representatives (the 

13 Speaker or minority leader, as the case may be) 

14 of the political party that is not the same polit15 ical party as the President, in consultation with 

16 the leader of the Senate (majority or minority 

17 leader, as the case may be) of the same political 

18 party as such leader of the House of Represent19 atives, who shall serve as vice chair of the Com20 mission; 

21 (C) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

22 senior member of the Senate leadership of the 

23 Democratic Party; 


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1 (D) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

2 senior member of the leadership of the House 

3 of Representatives of the Republican Party; 

4 (E) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

5 senior member of the Senate leadership of the 

6 Republican Party; and 

7 (F) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

8 senior member of the leadership of the House 

9 of Representatives of the Democratic Party. 

10 (2) AFFILIATIONS; INITIAL MEETING.— 

11 (A) POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION.—Not 

12 more than 5 members of the Commission shall 

13 be from the same political party. 

14 (B) NONGOVERNMENTAL APPOINTEES.— 

15 An individual appointed to the Commission may 

16 not be an officer or employee of the Federal 

17 Government or any State or local government. 

18 (C) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—An indi19 vidual appointed to the Commission may not 

20 have conflicts of interest, or otherwise have 

21 demonstrated a strong bias toward a particular 

22 conclusion that may prejudice the individual’s 

23 judgement as it pertains to the matters before 

24 the Commission. A senior member of the lead25 ership of either party in the Senate or the 


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1 House of Representatives may raise objections 

2 to appointees who raise such concerns. 

3 (D) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All 

4 members of the Commission shall be appointed 

5 not later than 30 days after the date of enact6 ment of this Act. 

7 (E) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission 

8 shall meet and begin the operations of the Com9 mission as soon as practicable, but not later 

10 than 15 days after appointment of all members 

11 of the Commission. 

12 (3) QUORUM; VACANCIES.—After its initial 

13 meeting, the Commission shall meet upon the call of 

14 the chair or a majority of its members. Six members 

15 of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. Any 

16 vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its pow17 ers, but shall be filled in the same manner in which 

18 the original appointment was made. 

19 (4) IN-PERSON MEETINGS.—The members of 

20 the Commission shall conduct its meetings in person 

21 unless such in-person meetings would pose a health 

22 risk or significant practical challenges. 

23 (d) INVESTIGATION.—The investigation under sub24 section (b)(1) shall address the following: 


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1 (1) The structure, coordination, management, 

2 policies, procedures, and actions of the Federal Gov3 ernment, State, local, and Tribal governments, and 

4 nongovernmental entities in response to the COVID– 

5 19 pandemic. 

6 (2) The effectiveness of communications to the 

7 public concerning the pandemic and the public 

8 health response, including physical distancing prac9 tices, the use of masks, and other non-pharma10 ceutical interventions intended to reduce the spread 

11 of COVID–19. 

12 (3) The role of international cooperation in re13 sponding to the pandemic, including the role of 

14 international organizations such as the World 

15 Health Organization and China’s Government’s co16 operation in the global investigation of COVID–19. 

17 (4) The availability of personal protective equip18 ment for health workers and first responders, and 

19 the availability of other relevant medical equipment 

20 and supplies, including the role of the Strategic Na21 tional Stockpile. 

22 (5) The role of the Federal Government in the 

23 development, testing, production, and distribution of 

24 treatments and vaccines for COVID–19. 


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1 (6) The preparedness and capacity of the health 

2 care system of the United States, including hos3 pitals, physicians, community health centers, and 

4 laboratories. 

5 (7) The link between variations in the language 

6 that individuals use to describe a novel virus or dis7 ease and how such language may contribute to or 

8 conversely help to prevent an increase in incidents of 

9 stigma, discrimination, and harassment against an 

10 identifiable group of people and the communities in 

11 which they live. 

12 (8) The origins of the novel coronavirus that 

13 causes COVID–19. Such an investigation shall in14 clude engaging with willing partner governments and 

15 experts from around the world, seeking access to all 

16 relevant records on the virus cultures, isolates, 

17 genomic sequences, databases, and patient speci18 mens, and personnel of interest. The investigation 

19 shall fully and without prejudice explore the likely 

20 origins of COVID–19, as addressed in the August, 

21 27, 2020, Office of the Director of National Intel22 ligence unclassified summary of the Intelligence 

23 Community assessment on COVID–19 origins, in24 cluding natural exposure to an infected animal and 

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1 tation, animal handling, or sampling by the Wuhan 

2 Institute of Virology, or another lab conducting simi3 lar research. 

4 (9) Any other subject the Commission deter5 mines relevant to understanding the origins of 

6 COVID–19, the United States response to COVID– 

7 19, and developing recommendations to prepare for 

8 future pandemics. 

9 (e) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

11 (A) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The 

12 Commission or, as delegated by the chair and 

13 vice chair, any subcommittee or member there14 of, may, for the purpose of carrying out this 

15 section— 

16 (i) hold such hearings and sit and act 

17 at such times and places, take such testi18 mony, receive such evidence, administer 

19 such oaths, as the Commission or such 

20 designated subcommittee or designated 

21 member may determine advisable; and 

22 (ii) subject to subparagraph (B)(i), 

23 require, by subpoena or otherwise, the at24 tendance and testimony of such witnesses 

25 and the production of such books, records, 


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1 correspondence, memoranda, papers, and 

2 documents, as the Commission or such 

3 designated subcommittee or designated 

4 member may determine advisable. 

5 (B) ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENAS.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—A subpoena may be 

7 issued under this paragraph only— 

8 (I) by the agreement of the chair 

9 and the vice chair; or 

10 (II) by the affirmative vote of 6 

11 members of the Commission. 

12 (ii) SIGNATURE.—Subject to clause 

13 (i), subpoenas issued under this paragraph 

14 may be issued under the signature of the 

15 chair or any member designated by a ma16 jority of the Commission, and may be 

17 served by any person designated by the 

18 chair or by a member designated by a ma19 jority of the Commission. 

20 (C) ENFORCEMENT OF SUBPOENAS.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of con22 tumacy or failure to obey a subpoena 

23 issued under this paragraph, the United 

24 States district court for the judicial district 

25 in which the subpoenaed person resides, is 


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1 served, or may be found, or where the sub2 poena is returnable, may issue an order re3 quiring such person to appear at any des4 ignated place to testify or to produce docu5 mentary or other evidence. Any failure to 

6 obey the order of the court may be pun7 ished by the court as a contempt of that 

8 court. 

9 (ii) ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT.—In 

10 the case of any failure of any witness to 

11 comply with any subpoena or to testify 

12 when summoned under authority of this 

13 section, the Commission may, by majority 

14 vote, certify a statement of fact consti15 tuting such failure to the appropriate 

16 United States attorney, who shall bring the 

17 matter before the grand jury for its action, 

18 under the same statutory authority and 

19 procedures as if the United States attorney 

20 had received a certification under sections 

21 102 through 104 of the Revised Statutes 

22 of the United States (2 U.S.C. 192 

23 through 194). 

24 (2) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to 

25 such extent and in such amounts as are provided in 


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1 appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to enable 

2 the Commission to discharge its duties under this 

3 section. 

4 (3) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL, STATE, 

5 LOCAL, AND TRIBAL AGENCIES.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission is au7 thorized to secure directly from any executive 

8 department, bureau, agency, board, commission, 

9 office, independent establishment, or instrumen10 tality of the Federal Government or a State, 

11 local, or Tribal government information, sugges12 tions, estimates, and statistics for the purposes 

13 of this section. Each department, bureau, agen14 cy, board, commission, office, independent es15 tablishment, or instrumentality shall, to the 

16 fullest extent permitted by law, furnish such in17 formation, suggestions, estimates, and statistics 

18 directly to the Commission, upon request made 

19 by the chair, the chair of any subcommittee cre20 ated by a majority of the Commission, or any 

21 member designated by a majority of the Com22 mission. 

23 (B) RECEIPT, HANDLING, STORAGE, AND

24 DISSEMINATION.—Information shall only be re25 ceived, handled, stored, and disseminated by 


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1 members of the Commission and its staff con2 sistent with all applicable statutes, regulations, 

3 and Executive orders. 

4 (C) NON-INTERFERENCE WITH PUBLIC

5 HEALTH DUTIES.—The Commission and its 

6 staff shall seek information and testimony in a 

7 manner that ensures Federal, State, local, and 

8 Tribal individuals and entities and private sec9 tor individuals and entities are able to prioritize 

10 activities related to the pandemic response. 

11 (4) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

12 (A) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRA13 TION.—The Administrator of General Services 

14 shall provide to the Commission on a reimburs15 able basis administrative support and other 

16 services for the performance of the Commis17 sion’s functions. 

18 (B) INTELLIGENCE AND INVESTIGATIVE

19 SUPPORT.—The Director of National Intel20 ligence, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of 

21 Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human 

22 Services, and the Attorney General shall, to the 

23 extent authorized by law, support the duties of 

24 the Commission by providing information, intel25 ligence, analysis, recommendations, estimates, 


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1 and statistics directly to the Commission, upon 

2 request made by the chair of the Commission, 

3 the chair of any subcommittee created by a ma4 jority of the Commission, or any member des5 ignated by a majority of the Commission. 

6 (C) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGEN7 CIES.—In addition to the assistance prescribed 

8 in subparagraph (A), departments and agencies 

9 of the United States may provide to the Com10 mission such services, funds, facilities, staff, 

11 and other support services as they may deter12 mine advisable and as may be authorized by 

13 law. 

14 (5) DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW OF INTEL15 LIGENCE RELATED TO COVID–19.— 

16 (A) COMMENCEMENT OF REVIEW.—Not 

17 later than 30 days after the date of the initial 

18 meeting of the Commission, the Director of Na19 tional Intelligence shall, in coordination with 

20 the Director of the Federal Bureau of Inves21 tigation, the Director of the Central Intelligence 

22 Agency, and the heads of such other elements 

23 of the intelligence community as the Director of 

24 National Intelligence considers appropriate, 

25 commence a declassification review of any and 


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1 all information the Commission determines nec2 essary relating to the origin of COVID–19. 

3 (B) COMPLETION OF REVIEW.—Not later 

4 than 90 days after the date of the initial meet5 ing of the Commission, the Director of National 

6 Intelligence shall complete the review described 

7 in subparagraph (A) and determine what addi8 tional information relating to the origin of 

9 COVID–19 can be appropriately declassified 

10 and shared with the public. 

11 (C) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—The Direc12 tor of National Intelligence shall submit to Con13 gress an unclassified report that contains the 

14 additional information described in subpara15 graph (B) with only such redactions as the Di16 rector determines necessary to protect sources 

17 and methods without altering or obscuring such 

18 information. 

19 (6) GIFTS.—The Commission may not accept, 

20 use, and dispose of gifts or donations of services or 

21 property. 

22 (7) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may 

23 use the United States mails in the same manner and 

24 under the same conditions as departments and agen25 cies of the United States. 


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1 (f) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM2 MITTEE ACT.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Advisory Com4 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the 

5 Commission. 

6 (2) PRESUMPTION FOR PUBLIC MEETINGS.— 

7 (A) OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.—The Commis8 sion shall make its hearings and meetings open 

9 to the public unless the chair and vice chair de10 termine by consensus, on a case-by-case basis, 

11 that the hearing or meeting should be closed to 

12 the public. 

13 (B) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Any 

14 public meeting or hearing of the Commission 

15 shall be conducted in a manner consistent with 

16 the protection of information provided to or de17 veloped for or by the Commission as required 

18 by any applicable statute, regulation, or Execu19 tive order. 

20 (g) STAFF OF COMMISSION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 (A) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION.— 

23 The chair and vice chair, in accordance with 

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1 tor and such other personnel as may be nec2 essary to enable the Commission to carry out 

3 its functions, without regard to the provisions 

4 of title 5, United States Code, governing ap5 pointments in the competitive service, and with6 out regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and 

7 subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relat8 ing to classification and General Schedule pay 

9 rates, except that no rate of pay fixed under 

10 this subsection may exceed the equivalent of 

11 that payable for a position at level V of the Ex12 ecutive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 

13 United States Code. The chair shall ensure that 

14 any internships with the Commission are paid 

15 positions. 

16 (B) PERSONNEL AS FEDERAL EMPLOY17 EES.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—The staff director 

19 and any personnel of the Commission who 

20 are employees shall be employees under 

21 section 2105 of title 5, United States 

22 Code, for purposes of chapters 63, 81, 83, 

23 84, 85, 87, 89, and 90 of that title. 


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1 (ii) MEMBERS OF COMMISSION.— 

2 Clause (i) shall not be construed to apply 

3 to members of the Commission. 

4 (2) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government em5 ployee may be detailed to the Commission without 

6 reimbursement from the Commission, and such 

7 detailee shall retain the rights, status, and privileges 

8 of his or her regular employment without interrup9 tion. 

10 (3) CONSULTANT SERVICES.—The Commission 

11 is authorized to procure the services of experts and 

12 consultants in accordance with section 3109 of title 

13 5, United States Code, but at rates not to exceed the 

14 daily rate paid a person occupying a position at level 

15 IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of 

16 title 5, United States Code. 

17 (h) COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.— 

18 (1) COMPENSATION.—Each member of the 

19 Commission may be compensated at not to exceed 

20 the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay 

21 in effect for a position at level IV of the Executive 

22 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 

23 States Code, for each day during which that member 

24 is engaged in the actual performance of the duties 

25 of the Commission. 


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1 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from 

2 their homes or regular places of business in the per3 formance of services for the Commission, members 

4 of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, 

5 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the 

6 same manner as persons employed intermittently in 

7 the Government service are allowed expenses under 

8 section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

9 (i) SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR COMMISSION MEM10 BERS AND STAFF.—The appropriate Federal agencies or 

11 departments shall cooperate with the Commission in expe12 ditiously providing to the Commission members and staff 

13 appropriate security clearances to the extent possible pur14 suant to existing procedures and requirements, except that 

15 no person shall be provided with access to classified infor16 mation under this section without the appropriate security 

17 clearances. 

18 (j) REPORTS OF COMMISSION.— 

19 (1) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis21 sion shall submit to the President and Congress, and 

22 make publicly available, an interim report containing 

23 such findings, conclusions, and recommendations for 

24 corrective measures as have been agreed to by a ma25 jority of Commission members. 


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1 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the date 

2 described in paragraph (3)(A), the Commission shall 

3 submit to the President and Congress, and make 

4 publicly available, a final report containing such 

5 findings, conclusions, and recommendations for cor6 rective measures as have been agreed to by a major7 ity of Commission members. 

8 (3) DEADLINE.— 

9 (A) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date de10 scribed in this subparagraph is 20 months after 

11 the date of the initial meeting of the Commis12 sion, unless not fewer than 8 members of the 

13 Commission vote for an extension of not more 

14 than 120 days. 

15 (B) NUMBER OF EXTENSIONS.—The Com16 mission may make not more than 1 extension 

17 under subparagraph (A). 

18 (C) NOTIFICATION.—The Commission 

19 shall notify the President, Congress, and the 

20 public of each extension under subparagraph 

21 (A). 

22 (k) TERMINATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, and all the 

24 authorities of this section, shall terminate 90 days 


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1 after the date on which the final report is submitted 

2 under subsection (j)(2). 

3 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES BEFORE TER4 MINATION.—The Commission may use the 90-day 

5 period referred to in paragraph (1) for the purpose 

6 of concluding its activities, including providing testi7 mony to committees of Congress concerning its re8 ports, disseminating the final report, and explaining 

9 to the public such reports and the conclusions of the 

10 Commission. 

11 (l) FUNDING.— 

12 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Com14 mission such sums as may be necessary for any fis15 cal year. 

16 (2) DURATION OF AVAILABILITY.—Amounts 

17 made available to the Commission under paragraph 

18 (1) shall remain available until the termination of 

19 the Commission. 

20 (3) NOTICE.—The chair shall promptly notify 

21 Congress if the chair determines that the amounts 

22 made available to the Commission under paragraph 

23 (1) are insufficient for the Commission to carry out 

24 its duties, including during an extended period de25 scribed in subsection (j)(3). 


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1 (m) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) The terms ‘‘chair’’ and ‘‘vice chair’’ refer to 

3 the chair and vice chair of the Commission ap4 pointed under subsection (c)(1). 

5 (2) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

6 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Amer7 ican Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Is8 lands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar9 iana Islands. 

Æ 


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