672
HR 3230 EAS
(ii) One shall be appointed by the Minority
Leader of the Senate (in consultation with the Major-
ity Leader of the Senate).
(iii) Two shall be appointed by the Speaker of
the House of Representatives (in consultation with the
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives).
(iv) One shall be appointed by the Minority
Leader of the House of Representatives (in consulta-
tion with the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives).
(v) Three shall be appointed by the Secretary of
Energy.
(B) Members shall be appointed for the life of the Com-
mission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect
its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the
original appointment.
(C) The chairman of the Commission shall be des-
ignated from among the members of the Commission ap-
pointed under subparagraph (A) by the Majority Leader
of the Senate, in consultation with the Minority Leader of
the Senate.
(2) The members of the Commission shall establish pro-
cedures for the activities of the Commission, including pro-
cedures for calling meetings, requirements for quorums, and
the manner of taking votes.
673
HR 3230 EAS
(c) DUTIES.—(1) The Commission shall develop a plan
for recruiting and retaining within the Department of En-
ergy nuclear weapons complex such scientific, engineering,
and technical personnel as the Commission determines ap-
propriate in order to permit the Department to maintain
over the long term a safe and reliable nuclear weapons
stockpile without engaging in underground testing.
(2) In developing the plan, the Commission shall—
(A) identify actions that the Secretary may un-
dertake to attract qualified scientific, engineering,
and technical personnel to the nuclear weapons com-
plex of the Department; and
(B) review and recommend improvements to the
on-going efforts of the Department to attract such per-
sonnel to the nuclear weapons complex.
(d) REPORT.—Not later than March 15, 1998, the
Commission shall submit to the Secretary and to Congress
a report containing the plan developed under subsection (c).
The report may include recommendations for legislation
and administrative action.
(e) COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.—(1) Each
member of the Commission who is not an officer or em-
ployee of the Federal Government shall be compensated at
a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of
basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule
674
HR 3230 EAS
under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each
day (including travel time) during which such member is
engaged in the performance of the duties of the Commission.
All members of the Commission who are officers or employ-
ees of the United States shall serve without compensation
in addition to that received for their services as officers or
employees of the United States.
(2) The members of the Commission shall be allowed
travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence,
at rates authorized for employees of agencies under sub-
chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while
away from their homes or regular places of business in the
performance of services for the Commission.
(3) The Commission may, without regard to the civil
service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate such
personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission
to perform its duties. The Commission may fix the com-
pensation of the personnel of the Commission without re-
gard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of
chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating to classi-
fication of positions and General Schedule pay rates.
(4) Any Federal Government employee may be detailed
to the Commission without reimbursement, and such detail
shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status
or privilege.
675
HR 3230 EAS
(f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate
30 days after the date on which the Commission submits
its report under subsection (d).
(g) APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The provisions of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not
apply to the activities of the Commission.
(h) FUNDING.—Of the amounts authorized to be appro-
priated pursuant to section 3101, not more than $1,000,000
shall be available for the activities of the Commission under
this section. Funds made available to the Commission under
this section shall remain available until expended.
SEC. 3160. SENSE OF SENATE REGARDING RELIABILITY AND
SAFETY OF REMAINING NUCLEAR FORCES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate makes the following find-
ings:
(1) The United States is committed to proceeding
with a robust science-based stockpile stewardship pro-
gram with respect to production of nuclear weapons,
and to maintaining nuclear weapons production ca-
pabilities and capacities, that are adequate—
(A) to ensure the safety, reliability, and
performance of the United States nuclear arse-
nal; and
(B) to meet such changing national security
requirements as may result from international
676
HR 3230 EAS
developments or technical problems with nuclear
warheads.
(2) The United States is committed to reestab-
lishing and maintaining production of nuclear weap-
ons at levels that are sufficient—
(A) to satisfy requirements for the safety,
reliability, and performance of United States nu-
clear weapons; and
(B) to demonstrate and sustain production
capabilities and capacities.
(3) The United States is committed to maintain-
ing the nuclear weapons laboratories and protecting
core nuclear weapons competencies.
(4) The United States is committed to ensuring
the rapid access to a new production source of tritium
within the next decade, as it currently has no mean-
ingful capability to produce tritium, a component
that is essential to the performance of modern nuclear
weapons.
(5) The United States reserves the right, consist-
ent with United States law, to resume underground
nuclear testing to maintain confidence in the United
States’ stockpile of nuclear weapons if warhead design
flaws or aging of nuclear weapons result in problems
677
HR 3230 EAS
that a robust stockpile stewardship program cannot
solve.
(6) The United States is committed to funding
the Nevada Test Site at a level that maintains the
ability of the United States to resume underground
nuclear testing within one year after a national deci-
sion to do so is made.
(7) The United States reserves the right to invoke
the supreme national interest of the United States
and withdraw from any future arms control agree-
ment to limit underground nuclear testing.
(b) SENSE
OF
THE SENATE REGARDING PRESI-
DENTIAL CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS.—It is the sense
of the Senate that the President should consult closely with
Congress regarding United States policy and practices to
ensure confidence in the safety and reliability of the nuclear
stockpile of the United States.
(c) SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING NOTIFICATION
AND CONSULTATION.—It is the sense of the Senate that,
upon a determination by the President that a problem with
the safety or reliability of the nuclear stockpile has occurred
and that the problem cannot be corrected within the stock-
pile stewardship program, the President shall—
(1) immediately notify Congress of the problem;
and