I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4522 

To provide for the establishment of an independent, Presidentially-appointed 

Commission to assess the safety of the International Space Station and 

its crew. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 8, 2004 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Science 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of an independent, Presidentially-appointed Commission to assess the safety of 

the International Space Station and its crew. 

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 ‘‘International Space 

5 Station Independent Safety Commission Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For purposes of this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Commis9 sion established under this Act; 
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1 (2) the term ‘‘ISS’’ means the International 

2 Space Station; 

3 (3) the term ‘‘NASA’’ means the National Aer4 onautics and Space Administration; 

5 (4) the term ‘‘NASA Administrator’’ means the 

6 Administrator of NASA; and 

7 (5) the term ‘‘NTSB’’ means the National 

8 Transportation Safety Board. 

9 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

11 an independent, nonpartisan Commission within the exec12 utive branch to discover and assess any vulnerabilities of 

13 the International Space Station that could lead to its de14 struction, compromise the health of its crew, or necessitate 

15 its premature abandonment. 

16 (b) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The Presi17 dent shall issue an executive order establishing a Commis18 sion within 30 days after the date of enactment of this 

19 Act. 

20 SEC. 4. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION. 

21 (a) NUMBER OF COMMISSIONERS.—The Commission 

22 shall consist of 15 members. 

23 (b) SELECTION.—The members of the Commission 

24 shall be chosen in the following manner: 
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1 (1) The Chairman of the NTSB shall be a 

2 member of the Commission. 

3 (2) The President shall appoint the remaining 

4 14 members, and shall designate the Chairman and 

5 Vice Chairman of the Commission from among its 

6 members. 

7 (3) Five of the 14 members appointed by the 

8 President shall be selected by the President in the 

9 following manner: 

10 (A) The majority leader of the Senate, the 

11 minority leader of the Senate, the Speaker of 

12 the House of Representatives, the minority 

13 leader of the House of Representatives, and the 

14 President of the collective-bargaining organiza15 tion including the largest number of NASA en16 gineers, shall each provide to the President a 

17 list of candidates for membership on the Com18 mission. 

19 (B) The President shall select one of the 

20 candidates from each of the 5 lists for member21 ship on the Commission. 

22 (4)(A) With the exception of the Chairman of 

23 the NTSB, no officer or employee of the Federal 

24 Government shall serve as a member of the Commis25 sion. 
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1 (B) No member of the Commission shall have, 

2 or have pending, a contractual relationship with 

3 NASA. 

4 (C) The President may waive the prohibitions 

5 in subparagraphs (A) and (B) with respect to the se6 lection of not more than 2 members of the Commis7 sion. 

8 (5) The President shall not appoint any indi9 vidual as a member of the Commission who has a 

10 current or former relationship with the NASA Ad11 ministrator that the President determines would 

12 constitute a conflict of interest. 

13 (6) To the extent practicable, the President 

14 shall ensure that the members of the Commission in15 clude some individuals with experience relative to 

16 human-carrying spacecraft, as well as some individ17 uals with investigative experience and some individ18 uals with legal experience. 

19 (7) To the extent practicable, the President 

20 shall seek diversity in the membership of the Com21 mission. 

22 (c) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All members of 

23 the Commission shall be appointed no later than 60 days 

24 after issuance of the executive order establishing the Com25 mission. 
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1 (d) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall meet 

2 and begin operations as soon as practicable. 

3 (e) QUORUM; VACANCIES.—After its initial meeting, 

4 the Commission shall meet upon the call of the Chairman 

5 or a majority of its members. Eight members of the Com6 mission shall constitute a quorum. Any vacancy in the 

7 Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled 

8 in the same manner in which the original appointment was 

9 made. 

10 SEC. 5. TASKS OF THE COMMISSION. 

11 The Commission shall, to the extent possible, under12 take the following tasks: 

13 (1) Catalog threats to and vulnerabilities of the 

14 ISS, including design flaws, natural phenomena, 

15 computer software or hardware flaws, sabotage or 

16 terrorist attack, number of crewmembers, and inabil17 ity to adequately deliver replacement parts and sup18 plies, and management or procedural deficiencies. 

19 (2) Make recommendations for corrective ac20 tions. 

21 (3) Provide any additional findings or rec22 ommendations considered by the Commission to be 

23 important, whether or not they are related to ISS 

24 safety. 
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1 (4) Prepare a report to Congress, the Presi2 dent, and the public. 

3 SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

5 (1) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commis6 sion or, on the authority of the Commission, any 

7 subcommittee or member thereof, may, for the pur8 pose of carrying out this Act— 

9 (A) hold such hearings and sit and act at 

10 such times and places, take such testimony, re11 ceive such evidence, administer such oaths; and 

12 (B) subject to paragraph (2)(A), require, 

13 by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and 

14 testimony of such witnesses and the production 

15 of such books, records, correspondence, memo16 randa, papers, and documents, 

17 as the Commission or such designated subcommittee 

18 or designated member may determine advisable. 

19 (2) SUBPOENAS.— 

20 (A) ISSUANCE.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—A subpoena may be 

22 issued under this subsection only— 

23 (I) by the agreement of the 

24 Chairman and the Vice Chairman; or 
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1 (II) by the affirmative vote of 8 

2 members of the Commission. 

3 (ii) SIGNATURE.—Subject to clause 

4 (i), subpoenas issued under this subsection 

5 may be issued under the signature of the 

6 Chairman or any member designated by a 

7 majority of the Commission, and may be 

8 served by any person designated by the 

9 Chairman or by a member designated by a 

10 majority of the Commission. 

11 (B) ENFORCEMENT.— 

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of con13 tumacy or failure to obey a subpoena 

14 issued under subparagraph (A), the United 

15 States district court for the judicial district 

16 in which the subpoenaed person resides, is 

17 served, or may be found, or where the sub18 poena is returnable, may issue an order re19 quiring such person to appear at any des20 ignated place to testify or to produce docu21 mentary or other evidence. Any failure to 

22 obey the order of the court may be pun23 ished by the court as a contempt of that 

24 court. 
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1 (ii) ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT.—In 

2 the case of a failure of a witness to comply 

3 with a subpoena or to testify when sum4 moned under authority of this section, the 

5 Commission may, by majority vote, certify 

6 a statement of fact constituting such fail7 ure to the appropriate United States attor8 ney, who may bring the matter before a 

9 grand jury for its action, under the same 

10 statutory authority and procedures as if 

11 the United States attorney had received a 

12 certification under sections 102 through 

13 104 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

14 States (2 U.S.C. 192 through 194). 

15 (b) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to such 

16 extent and in such amounts as are provided in appropria17 tion Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission 

18 to discharge its duties under this Act. 

19 (c) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may secure 

21 directly from any executive department, bureau, 

22 agency, board, commission, office, independent es23 tablishment, or instrumentality of the Government, 

24 information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics 

25 for the purposes of this Act. Each department, bu-
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1 reau, agency, board, commission, office, independent 

2 establishment, or instrumentality shall, to the extent 

3 authorized by law, furnish such information, sugges4 tions, estimates, and statistics directly to the Com5 mission, upon request made by the Chairman, the 

6 chairman of any subcommittee created by a majority 

7 of the Commission, or any member designated by a 

8 majority of the Commission. 

9 (2) RECEIPT, HANDLING, STORAGE, AND DIS10 SEMINATION.—Information shall be received, han11 dled, stored, and disseminated by members of the 

12 Commission and its staff consistent with all applica13 ble statutes, regulations, and Executive orders. 

14 (d) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

15 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 

16 The Administrator of General Services shall provide 

17 to the Commission on a reimbursable basis adminis18 trative support and other services for the perform19 ance of the Commission’s tasks. 

20 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—In 

21 addition to the assistance prescribed in paragraph 

22 (1), departments and agencies of the United States 

23 may provide to the Commission such services, funds, 

24 facilities, staff, and other support services as they 
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1 may determine advisable and as may be authorized 

2 by law. 

3 (3) NASA ENGINEERING AND SAFETY CEN4 TER.—The NASA Engineering and Safety Center 

5 shall provide data and technical support as re6 quested by the Commission. 

7 (e) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

8 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

9 the same conditions as departments and agencies of the 

10 United States. 

11 SEC. 7. PUBLIC MEETINGS, INFORMATION, AND HEARINGS. 

12 (a) PUBLIC MEETINGS AND RELEASE OF PUBLIC

13 VERSIONS OF REPORTS.—The Commission shall— 

14 (1) hold public hearings and meetings to the ex15 tent appropriate; and 

16 (2) release public versions of the reports re17 quired under this Act. 

18 (b) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—Any public hearings of the 

19 Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent 

20 with the protection of information provided to or developed 

21 for or by the Commission as required by any applicable 

22 statute, regulation, or Executive order. 

23 SEC. 8. STAFF OF COMMISSION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.— 
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1 (1) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION.—The 

2 Chairman, in consultation with Vice Chairman, in 

3 accordance with rules agreed upon by the Commis4 sion, may appoint and fix the compensation of a 

5 staff director and such other personnel as may be 

6 necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its 

7 functions, without regard to the provisions of title 5, 

8 United States Code, governing appointments in the 

9 competitive service, and without regard to the provi10 sions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 

11 of such title relating to classification and General 

12 Schedule pay rates, except that no rate of pay fixed 

13 under this paragraph may exceed the equivalent of 

14 that payable for a position at level V of the Execu15 tive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United 

16 States Code. Employees of NASA shall not be ap17 pointed to the staff of the Commission. 

18 (2) PERSONNEL AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The executive director 

20 and any personnel of the Commission shall be 

21 considered employees under section 2105 of 

22 title 5, United States Code, for purposes of 

23 chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, and 90 of 

24 that title. 
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1 (B) MEMBERS OF COMMISSION.—Subpara2 graph (A) does not apply to members of the 

3 Commission. 

4 (b) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government em5 ployee, except for an employee of NASA, may be detailed 

6 to the Commission without reimbursement from the Com7 mission, and such detailee shall retain the rights, status, 

8 and privileges of his or her regular employment without 

9 interruption. 

10 (c) CONSULTANT SERVICES.—The Commission may 

11 procure the services of experts and consultants in accord12 ance with section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but 

13 at rates not to exceed the daily rate paid a person occu14 pying a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule 

15 under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code. Any 

16 consultant or expert whose services are procured under 

17 this subsection shall disclose any contract or association 

18 it has with NASA or any NASA contractor. 

19 SEC. 9. COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES. 

20 (a) COMPENSATION.—Each member of the Commis21 sion may be compensated at not to exceed the daily equiva22 lent of the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position 

23 at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 

24 of title 5, United States Code, for each day during which 
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1 that member is engaged in the actual performance of the 

2 duties of the Commission. 

3 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from their 

4 homes or regular places of business in the performance 

5 of services for the Commission, members of the Commis6 sion shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 

7 in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons em8 ployed intermittently in the Government service are al9 lowed expenses under section 5703(b) of title 5, United 

10 States Code. 

11 SEC. 10. SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR COMMISSION MEM12 BERS AND STAFF. 

13 The appropriate Federal agencies or departments 

14 shall cooperate with the Commission in expeditiously pro15 viding to the Commission members and staff appropriate 

16 security clearances to the extent possible pursuant to ex17 isting procedures and requirements. No person shall be 

18 provided with access to classified information under this 

19 Act without the appropriate security clearances. 

20 SEC. 11. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND TERMINATION. 

21 (a) INTERIM REPORTS.—The Commission may sub22 mit to the President and Congress interim reports con23 taining such findings, conclusions, and recommendations 

24 for corrective actions as have been agreed to by a majority 

25 of Commission members. 
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1 (b) FINAL REPORT.—The Commission shall submit 

2 to the President and Congress, and make concurrently 

3 available to the public, a final report containing such find4 ings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective ac5 tions as have been agreed to by a majority of Commission 

6 members. Such report shall include any minority views or 

7 opinions not reflected in the majority report. 

8 (c) TERMINATION.— 

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

10 authorities of this Act with respect to the Commis11 sion, shall terminate 60 days after the date on which 

12 the final report is submitted under subsection (b). 

13 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES BEFORE TER14 MINATION.—The Commission may use the 60-day 

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

16 of concluding its activities, including providing testi17 mony to committees of Congress concerning its re18 ports and disseminating the final report. 

19 (d) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES REVIEW.— 

20 The NASA Administrator shall enter into an arrangement 

21 with the National Academy of Sciences for a review of 

22 compliance with the recommendations of the Commission. 

23 The National Academy of Sciences may consult with 

24 former members of the Commission as appropriate. The 

25 NASA Administrator shall transmit a report to the Con-
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1 gress containing the results of the review not later than 

2 18 months after the date the final report of the Commis3 sion is submitted under section 11(b). 

4 SEC. 12. FUNDING. 

5 Such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act are 

6 authorized to be appropriated. Sums authorized by this 

7 Act shall remain available until the termination of the 

8 Commission. 

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