I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2450
To provide for the establishment of an independent, Presidentially-appointed 
investigative Commission in the event of incidents in the Nation’s human 
space flight program that result in loss of crew, passengers, or the 
spacecraft, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 12, 2003
Mr. GORDON (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, 
Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. COOPER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. 
LAMPSON, Mr. HALL, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. 
WEINER, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. HONDA, Mr. FROST, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. 
DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. WYNN, Mr. BAIRD, and Ms. EDDIE BERNICE 
JOHNSON of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Science 
A BILL 
To provide for the establishment of an independent, Presi-
dentially-appointed investigative Commission in the event 
of incidents in the Nation’s human space flight program 
that result in loss of crew, passengers, or the spacecraft, 
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Space Flight 
Independent Investigation Commission Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘incident’’ means either an acci-
dent or a deliberate act; 
(2) the term ‘‘NASA’’ means the National Aer-
onautics and Space Administration; 
(3) the term ‘‘NASA Administrator’’ means the 
Administrator of NASA; and 
(4) the term ‘‘NTSB’’ means the National 
Transportation Safety Board. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 
an independent, nonpartisan Commission within the exec-
utive branch to investigate any incident that results in the 
loss of—
(1) a Space Shuttle; 
(2) the International Space Station or its oper-
ational viability; 
(3) any other United States space vehicle car-
rying humans; 
(4) any space vehicle carrying United States 
citizens; or 
(5) a crew member or passenger of any space 
vehicle described in this subsection. 
(b) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The Presi-
dent shall issue an executive order establishing a Commis-
sion within 7 days after an incident specified in subsection 
(a). 
SEC. 4. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION. 
(a) NUMBER OF COMMISSIONERS.—A Commission 
established pursuant to this Act shall consist of 15 mem-
bers. 
(b) SELECTION.—The members of a Commission es-
tablished pursuant to this Act shall be chosen in the fol-
lowing manner: 
(1) The Chairman of the NTSB shall be a 
member of the Commission. 
(2) The President shall appoint the remaining 
14 members, and shall designate the Chairman and 
Vice Chairman of the Commission from among its 
members. 
(3) Four of the 14 members appointed by the 
President shall be selected by the President in the 
following manner: 
(A) The Majority Leader of the Senate, 
the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, and the Mi-
nority Leader of the House of Representatives 
shall each provide to the President a list of can-
didates for membership on the Commission.
(B) The President shall select one of the 
candidates from each of the 4 lists for member-
ship on the Commission. 
(4) With the exception of the Chairman of the 
NTSB, no officer or employee of the Federal Gov-
ernment shall serve as a member of the Commission. 
(5) No member of the Commission shall have, 
or have pending, a contractual relationship with 
NASA. The President shall not appoint any indi-
vidual as a member of a Commission under this sec-
tion who has a current or former relationship with 
the NASA Administrator that the President deter-
mines would constitute a conflict of interest. 
(6) To the extent practicable, the President 
shall ensure that the members of the Commission in-
clude some individuals with experience relative to the 
human carrying spacecraft being investigated, as 
well as some individuals with investigative experience 
and some individuals with legal experience. 
(7) To the extent practicable, the President 
shall seek diversity in the membership of the Com-
mission. 
(c) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All members of 
the Commission shall be appointed no later than 30 days 
after the incident.
(d) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall meet 
and begin operations as soon as practicable. 
(e) QUORUM; VACANCIES.—After its initial meeting, 
the Commission shall meet upon the call of the Chairman 
or a majority of its members. Eight members of the Com-
mission shall constitute a quorum. Any vacancy in the 
Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled 
in the same manner in which the original appointment was 
made. 
SEC. 5. TASKS OF THE COMMISSION. 
A Commission established pursuant to this Act shall, 
to the extent possible, undertake the following tasks: 
(1) Investigate the incident. 
(2) Determine the cause of the incident. 
(3) Identify all contributing factors to the cause 
of the incident. 
(4) Make recommendations for corrective ac-
tions. 
(5) Provide any additional findings or rec-
ommendations deemed by the Commission to be im-
portant, whether or not they are related to the spe-
cific incident under investigation. 
(6) Prepare a report to Congress, the Presi-
dent, and the public.
SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—A Commission 
established pursuant to this Act or, on the authority 
of the Commission, any subcommittee or member 
thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out this 
Act—
(A) hold such hearings and sit and act at 
such times and places, take such testimony, re-
ceive such evidence, administer such oaths; and 
(B) subject to paragraph (2)(A), require, 
by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and 
testimony of such witnesses and the production 
of such books, records, correspondence, memo-
randa, papers, and documents, 
as the Commission or such designated subcommittee 
or designated member may determine advisable. 
(2) SUBPOENAS.—
(A) ISSUANCE.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—A subpoena may be 
issued under this subsection only—
(I) by the agreement of the 
Chairman and the Vice Chairman; or 
(II) by the affirmative vote of 8 
members of the Commission.
(ii) SIGNATURE.—Subject to clause 
(i), subpoenas issued under this subsection 
may be issued under the signature of the 
Chairman or any member designated by a 
majority of the Commission, and may be 
served by any person designated by the 
Chairman or by a member designated by a 
majority of the Commission. 
(B) ENFORCEMENT.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of con-
tumacy or failure to obey a subpoena 
issued under subsection (a), the United 
States district court for the judicial district 
in which the subpoenaed person resides, is 
served, or may be found, or where the sub-
poena is returnable, may issue an order re-
quiring such person to appear at any des-
ignated place to testify or to produce docu-
mentary or other evidence. Any failure to 
obey the order of the court may be pun-
ished by the court as a contempt of that 
court. 
(ii) ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT.—In 
the case of any failure of any witness to 
comply with any subpoena or to testify