and rights and protections that apply to employees whose 
pay is disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate or the 
Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representa-
tives, all employees of the Commission shall be treated as 
employees whose pay is disbursed by the Secretary of the 
Senate or the Chief Administrative Officer of the House 
of Representatives and the Commission shall be treated 
as an employing office of the Senate or the House of Rep-
resentatives. 
SEC. 205. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than May 1 of each 
year, the Commission shall submit a report to the Presi-
dent, the Secretary of State, and Congress setting forth 
its recommendations for United States policy options 
based on its evaluations under section 202. 
(b) CLASSIFIED FORM OF REPORT.—The report may 
be submitted in classified form, together with a public 
summary of recommendations, if the classification of in-
formation would further the purposes of this Act. 
(c) INDIVIDUAL
OR
DISSENTING
VIEWS.—Each 
member of the Commission may include the individual or 
dissenting views of the member. 
SEC. 206. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS. 
The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 
shall not apply to the Commission. 
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SEC. 207. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated to the Commission $3,500,000 for each of the fis-
cal years 2017 to 2020 to carry out the provisions of this 
title. 
(b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts authorized 
to be appropriated under subsection (a) shall remain avail-
able until the earlier of— 
(1) the date on which they have been expended; 
or 
(2) the date on which the Commission is termi-
nated under section 209. 
(c) LIMITATION.—In each fiscal year, the Commis-
sion shall only be authorized to expend amounts that have 
been appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) if the Com-
mission submits the annual financial report required 
under section 208(e) to the appropriate congressional 
committees. 
SEC. 208. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND DISCLOSURE. 
(a) COOPERATION WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGA-
NIZATIONS, THE DEPARTMENT
OF STATE, AND CON-
GRESS.—The Commission shall seek to effectively and 
freely cooperate with all entities engaged in the promotion 
of initiatives relating to the International Decade for Peo-
ple of African Descent abroad, governmental and non-
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governmental, in the performance of the Commission’s du-
ties under this title. 
(b) CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ANTINEPOTISM.— 
(1) MEMBER
AFFILIATIONS.—Except as pro-
vided in paragraph (3), in order to ensure the inde-
pendence and integrity of the Commission, the Com-
mission may not compensate any nongovernmental 
agency, project, or person related to or affiliated 
with any member of the Commission, whether in 
that member’s direct employ or not. Staff employed 
by the Commission may not serve in the employ of 
any nongovernmental agency, project, or person re-
lated to or affiliated with any member of the Com-
mission while employed by the Commission. 
(2) STAFF COMPENSATION.—Staff of the Com-
mission may not receive compensation from any 
other source for work performed in carrying out the 
duties of the Commission while employed by the 
Commission. 
(3) EXCEPTION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), paragraph (1) shall not apply to 
payments made for items such as conference 
fees or the purchase of periodicals or other 
similar expenses, if such payments would not 
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cause the aggregate value paid to any agency, 
project, or person for a fiscal year to exceed 
$250. 
(B) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding sub-
paragraph (A), the Commission shall not give 
special preference to any agency, project, or 
person related to or affiliated with any member 
of the Commission. 
(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the term 
‘‘affiliated’’ means the relationship between a mem-
ber of the Commission and— 
(A) an individual who holds the position of 
officer, trustee, partner, director, or employee 
of an agency, project, or person of which that 
member, or relative of that member of, the 
Commission is an officer, trustee, partner, di-
rector, or employee; or 
(B) a nongovernmental agency or project 
of which that member, or a relative of that 
member, of the Commission is an officer, trust-
ee, partner, director, or employee. 
(c) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—Subject to the avail-
ability of appropriations, the Commission may contract 
with and compensate Government agencies or persons for 
the conduct of activities necessary to the discharge of its 
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functions under this title. Any such person shall be hired 
without interruption or loss of civil service or Foreign 
Service status or privilege. The Commission may procure 
temporary and intermittent services under the authority 
of section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, except 
that the Commission may not expend more than $250,000 
in any fiscal year to procure such services. 
(d) GIFTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to preserve its inde-
pendence, the Commission may not accept, use, or 
dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. 
An individual Commissioner or employee of the 
Commission may not, in his or her capacity as a 
Commissioner or employee, knowingly accept, use or 
dispose of gifts or donations of services or property, 
unless he or she in good faith believes such gifts or 
donations to have a value of less than $50 and a cu-
mulative value during a calendar year of less than 
$100. 
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 
apply to the following: 
(A) Gifts provided on the basis of a per-
sonal friendship with a Commissioner or em-
ployee, unless the Commissioner or employee 
has reason to believe that the gift was provided 
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because of the Commissioner’s position and not 
because of the personal friendship. 
(B) Gifts provided on the basis of a family 
relationship. 
(C) The acceptance of training, invitations 
to attend or participate in conferences or such 
other events as are related to the conduct of the 
duties of the Commission, or food or refresh-
ment associated with such activities. 
(D) Items of nominal value or gifts of esti-
mated value of $10 or less. 
(E) De minimis gifts provided by a foreign 
leader or state, not exceeding a value of $260. 
Gifts believed by Commissioners to be in excess 
of $260, but which would create offense or em-
barrassment to the United States Government 
if refused, shall be accepted and turned over to 
the United States Government in accordance 
with the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 
1966 and the rules and regulations governing 
such gifts provided to Members of Congress. 
(F) Informational materials such as docu-
ments, books, videotapes, periodicals, or other 
forms of communications. 
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(G) Goods or services provided by any 
agency or component of the Government of the 
United States, including any commission estab-
lished under the authority of such Government. 
(e) ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT.—In addition to 
providing the reports required under section 202, the 
Commission shall provide, each year no later than January 
1, to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Appropria-
tions of the House of Representatives, and to the Commit-
tees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations of the Sen-
ate, a financial report detailing and identifying its expend-
itures for the preceding fiscal year. 
SEC. 209. TERMINATION. 
The Commission shall terminate on September 30, 
2026. 
TITLE III—SPECIAL ADVISER ON 
THE 
INTERNATIONAL 
DEC-
ADE FOR PEOPLE OF AFRI-
CAN DESCENT 
SEC. 301. SPECIAL ADVISER ON THE INTERNATIONAL DEC-
ADE FOR PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT. 
It is the sense of the Congress that— 
(1) there should be within the Executive Office 
of the President a Special Adviser to the President 
on the International Decade for People of African 
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Descent, whose position should be comparable to 
that of a director within the Executive Office of the 
President; 
(2) the Special Adviser should serve as a re-
source for executive branch officials, particularly of-
ficials in the Department of Education, the Depart-
ment of the Treasury, the Department of Justice, 
and other relevant Federal departments and agen-
cies, in compiling and maintaining information on 
the facts and circumstances of promoting the Inter-
national Decade for People of African Descent, and 
making policy recommendations; and 
(3) the Special Adviser should serve as liaison 
with the Ambassador at Large for the International 
Decade for People of African Descent, the United 
States Commission on the International Decade for 
People of African Descent, Congress and, as advis-
able, nongovernmental organizations. 
Æ 
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