maximum annual rate of basic pay for GS–14 of the Gen-
eral Schedule. 
(f) VOLUNTEER AND UNCOMPENSATED SERVICES.— 
Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States 
Code, the Commission may accept and use voluntary and 
uncompensated services as the Commission determines 
necessary. 
SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 
(a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may, for the pur-
pose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act 
at times and places, take testimony, and receive evidence 
as the Commission considers appropriate. 
(b) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United 
States mails in the same manner and under the same con-
ditions as other departments and agencies of the United 
States. 
(c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 
may secure directly from any department or agency of the 
United States information necessary to enable it to carry 
out its duties under this Act. Upon request of the chair-
person of the Commission, the head of that department 
or agency shall furnish that information to the Commis-
sion. 
(d) GIFTS, BEQUESTS, DEVISES.—The Commission 
may solicit, accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests, or 
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devises of money, services, or property, both real and per-
sonal, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating its work. 
(e) AVAILABLE SPACE.—Upon the request of the 
Commission, the Administrator of General Services shall 
make available nationwide to the Commission, at a normal 
rental rate for Federal agencies, such assistance and facili-
ties as may be necessary for the Commission to carry out 
its duties under this Act. 
(f) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—To the extent or in the 
amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts, the 
Commission may enter into contracts with and com-
pensate government and private agencies or persons to en-
able the Commission to discharge its duties under this 
Act, without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Stat-
utes (41 U.S.C. 5). 
SEC. 7. REPORTS. 
(a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Commission shall sub-
mit to the President and the Congress annual reports on 
the revenue and expenditures of the Commission, includ-
ing a list of each gift, bequest, or devise to the Commission 
with a value of more than $250, together with the identity 
of the donor of each gift, bequest, or devise. 
(b) INTERIM REPORTS.—The Commission may sub-
mit to the President and Congress interim reports as the 
Commission considers appropriate. 
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(c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than April 30, 2011, 
the Commission shall submit a final report to the Presi-
dent and the Congress containing— 
(1) a summary of the activities of the Commis-
sion; 
(2) a final accounting of funds received and ex-
pended by the Commission; and 
(3) the findings, conclusions, and final rec-
ommendations of the Commission. 
SEC. 8. TERMINATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may terminate 
on such date as the Commission may determine after it 
submits its final report pursuant to section 7(c), but not 
later than May 30, 2011. 
(b) FACA NONAPPLICABILITY.—Section 14(b) of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2) shall 
not apply to the Commission. 
SEC. 9. ANNUAL AUDIT AND AUTHORIZATION AND AVAIL-
ABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap-
propriated $1,000,000 to carry out this Act for the period 
encompassing fiscal years 2009 through 2011, but not to 
exceed $500,000 in any fiscal year. 
(b) AVAILABILITY.— 
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(1) Amounts appropriated pursuant to sub-
section (a) are authorized to remain available until 
expended. 
(2) Amounts appropriated pursuant to sub-
section (a) in excess of $500,000 shall be available 
for obligation only to the extent matched by an 
equal amount of nongovernmental contributions. 
(c) ANNUAL AUDIT.—For any fiscal year for which 
the Commission receives an appropriation of funds author-
ized under this section, the Inspector General of the De-
partment of the Interior shall perform an audit of the 
Commission, shall make the results of the audit available 
to the public, and shall transmit such results to the Com-
mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Secu-
rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 
TITLE II—STAR-SPANGLED BAN-
NER AND WAR OF 1812 BICEN-
TENNIAL COMMISSION ACT 
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Star-Spangled Banner 
and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission Act’’. 
SEC. 202. STAR-SPANGLED BANNER AND WAR OF 1812 BI-
CENTENNIAL COMMISSION. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
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(1) the War of 1812 served as a crucial test for 
the United States Constitution and the newly estab-
lished democratic Government; 
(2) vast regions of the new multiparty democ-
racy, including the Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mex-
ico and the Niagara Frontier, were affected by the 
War of 1812 including the States of Alabama, Con-
necticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, 
Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mary-
land, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, New 
Jersey, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, 
Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South 
Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, 
West Virginia, and the District of Columbia; 
(3) the British occupation of American territory 
along the Great Lakes and in other regions, the burn-
ing of Washington, DC, the American victories at 
Fort McHenry, New Orleans, and Plattsburgh, among 
other battles, had far reaching effects on American so-
ciety; 
(4) at the Battle of Baltimore, Francis Scott Key 
wrote the poem that celebrated the flag and later was 
titled ‘‘the Star-Spangled Banner’’; 
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