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(1) is authorized to secure directly from any
Federal agency or department any information it
deems necessary to carry out its functions under this
Act, and each such agency or department is author-
ized to cooperate with the Commission and, to the
extent permitted by law, to furnish such information
(other 
than 
information 
described 
in 
section
552(b)(1)(A) of title 5, United States Code) to the
Commission, upon the request of the Commission;
(2) may enter into contracts, subject to the
availability of appropriations for contracting, and
employ such staff experts and consultants as may be
necessary to carry out the duties of the Commission,
as provided by section 3109 of title 5, United States
Code; and
(3) shall establish a multidisciplinary science
and technical advisory panel of experts in the field
of energy to assist the Commission in preparing its
report, including ensuring that the scientific and
technical information considered by the Commission
is based on the best scientific and technical informa-
tion available.
(d) STAFFING.—The chairman of the Commission
may, without regard to the civil service laws and regula-
tions, appoint and terminate an executive director and
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such other additional personnel as may be necessary for
the Commission to perform its duties. The executive direc-
tor shall be compensated at a rate not to exceed the rate
payable for Level IV of the Executive Schedule under
chapter 5136 of title 5, United States Code. The chairman
shall select staff from among qualified citizens of Canada,
Mexico, and the United States of America.
(e) MEETINGS.—
(1) ADMINISTRATION.—All meetings of the
Commission shall be open to the public, except that
a meeting or any portion of it may be closed to the
public if it concerns matters or information de-
scribed in section 552b(c) of title 5, United States
Code. Interested persons shall be permitted to ap-
pear at open meetings and present oral or written
statements on the subject matter of the meeting.
The Commission may administer oaths or affirma-
tions to any person appearing before it.
(2) NOTICE; MINUTES; PUBLIC
AVAILABILITY
OF DOCUMENTS.—
(A) NOTICE.—All open meetings of the
Commission shall be preceded by timely public
notice in the Federal Register of the time,
place, and subject of the meeting.
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(B) MINUTES.—Minutes of each meeting
shall be kept and shall contain a record of the
people present, a description of the discussion
that occurred, and copies of all statements filed.
Subject to section 552 of title 5, United States
Code, the minutes and records of all meetings
and other documents that were made available
to or prepared for the Commission shall be
available for public inspection and copying at a
single location in the offices of the Commission.
(3) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall
hold its first meeting within 30 days after all 16
members have been appointed.
(f) REPORT.—Within 12 months after the effective
date of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress
and the President a final report of its findings and rec-
ommendations regarding North American energy freedom.
(g) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE FOR REPORT AND
REVIEW.—Chapter 5 and chapter 7 of title 5, United
States Code, do not apply to the preparation, review, or
submission of the report required by subsection (f).
(h) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall cease to
exist 90 days after the date on which it submits its final
report.
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(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this chapter
a total of $10,000,000 for the 2 fiscal-year period begin-
ning with fiscal year 2005, such sums to remain available
until expended.
SEC. 2305. NORTH AMERICAN ENERGY FREEDOM POLICY.
Within 90 days after receiving and considering the
report and recommendations of the Commission under sec-
tion 2304, the President shall submit to Congress a state-
ment of proposals to implement or respond to the Commis-
sion’s recommendations for a coordinated, comprehensive,
and long-range national policy to achieve North American
energy freedom by 2025.
TITLE 
XXIV—GRAND 
CANYON
HYDROGEN-POWERED TRANS-
PORTATION DEMONSTRATION
SEC. 2401. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Grand Canyon Hydro-
gen-Powered Transportation Demonstration Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2402. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this title, the term—
(1) ‘‘Departments’’ means the Department of
Energy jointly with the Department of the Interior;
and