United States Commission on Civil Rights Act of 1983
PL 98-183 (H.R.2230), enacted 11/30/1983

PUBLIC LAW 98-183—NOV. 30, 1983 
97 STAT. 1301 
Public Law 98-188 
98th Congress 
An Act 
To amend the Civil Rights Act of 1957 to extend the life of the Civil Rights 
Commission, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may 
be cited as the "United States Commission on Civil Rights Act of 
1983". 
ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION 
SEC. 2. (a) There is estabUshed a Commission on Civil Rights 
(hereafter in this Act referred to as the "Commission"). 
(b)(1) The Commission shall be composed of eight members. Not 
more than four of the members shall at any one time be of the same 
political party. Members of the Commission shall be appointed as 
follows: 
(A) four members of the Commission shall be appointed by the 
President; 
(B) two members of the Commission shall be appointed by the 
President pro tempore of the Senate, upon the recommenda-
tions of the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader, and of 
the members appointed not more than one shall be appointed 
from the same political party; and 
(C) two members of the Commission shall be appointed by the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives upon the recommenda-
tions of the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader, and of 
the members appointed not more than one shall be appointed 
from the same political party. 
(2) The term of office of each member of the Commission shall be 
six years; except that (A) members first taking office shall serve as 
designated by the President, subject to the provisions of paragraph 
(3), for terms of three years, and (B) any member appointed to fill a 
vacancy shall serve for the remainder of the term for which his 
predecessor was appointed. 
(3) The President shall designate terms of members first appointed 
under paragraph (2) so that two members appointed under clauses 
(B) and (C) of paragraph (1) and two members appointed under 
clause (A) of paragraph (1) are designated for terms of three years 
and two members appointed under clauses (B) and (C) of paragraph 
(1) and two members appointed under clause (A) of paragraph (1) are 
designated for terms of six years. No more than two persons of the 
same political party shall be designated for three year terms. 
(c) The President shall designate a Chairman and a Vice Chair-
man from among the Commission's members with the concurrence 
of a majority of the Commission's members. The Vice Chairman 
shall act in the place and stead of the Chairman in the absence of 
the Chairman. 
(d) The President may remove a member of the Commission only 
for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. 
Nov. 30, 1983 
[H.R. 2230] 
United States 
Commission on 
Civil Rights Act 
of 1983. 
42 u s e 1975 
note. 
42 u s e 1975. 
Membership. 
Term of office. 
Removal of 
member. 
97 STAT. 1302 
PUBLIC LAW 98-183—NOV. 30, 1983 
Quorum. 
(e) Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers and 
shall be filled in the same manner, and subject to the same limita-
tion with respect to party affiliation as the original appointment 
was made. 
(f) Five members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. 
Publication in 
Federal 
Register. 
42 u s e 1975a. 
Legal counsel. 
Evidence or 
testimony. 
Commission 
report. 
Filing of answer. 
RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COMMISSION HEARINGS 
SEC. 3. (a) At least thirty days prior to the commencement of any 
hearing, the Commission shall cause to be published in the Federal 
Register notice of the date on which such hearing is to commence, 
the place at which it is to be held and the subject of the hearing. The 
Chairman, or one designated by him to act as Chairman at a hearing 
of the Commission, shall announce in an opening statement the 
subject of the hearing. 
(b) A copy of the Commission's rules shall be made available to 
any witness before the Commission, and a witness compelled to 
appear before the Commission or required to produce written or 
other matter shall be served with a copy of the Commission's rules 
at the time of service of the subpena. 
(c) Any person compelled to appear in person before the Commis-
sion shall be accorded the right to be accompanied and advised by 
counsel, who shall have the right to subject his client to reasonable 
examination, and to make objections on the record and to argue 
briefly the basis for such objections. The Commission shall proceed 
with reasonable dispatch to conclude any hearing in which it is 
engaged. Due regard shall be had for the convenience and necessity 
of witnesses. 
(d) The Chairman or Acting Chairman may punish breaches of 
order and decorum by censure and exclusion from the hearings. 
(e) If the Commission determines that evidence or testimony at 
any hearing may tend to defame, degrade, or incriminate any 
person, it shall receive such evidence or testimony or summary of 
such evidence or testimony in executive session. The Commission 
shall afford any person defamed, degraded, or incriminated by such 
evidence or testimony an opportunity to appear and be heard in 
executive session, with a reasonable number of additional witnesses 
requested by him, before deciding to use such evidence or testimony. 
In the event the Commission determines to release or use such 
evidence or testimony in such manner as to reveal publicly the 
identity of the person defamed, degraded, or incriminated, such 
evidence or testimony, prior to such public release or use, shall be 
given at a public session, and the Commission shall afford such 
person an opportunity to appear as a voluntary witness or to file a 
sworn statement in his behalf and to submit brief and pertinent 
sworn statements of others. The Commission shall receive and 
dispose of requests from such person to subpena additional wit-
nesses. If a report of the Commission tends to defame, degrade or 
incriminate any person, then the report shall be delivered to such 
person thirty days before the report shall be made public in order 
that such person may make a timely answer to the report. Each 
person so defamed, degraded or incriminated in such report may file 
with the Commission a verified answer to the report not later than 
twenty days after service of the report upon him. Upon a showing of 
good cause, the Commission may grant the person an extension of 
time within which to file such answer. Each answer shall plainly 
and concisely state the facts and law constituting the person's reply 
PUBLIC LAW 98-183—NOV. 30, 1983 
97 STAT. 1303 
or defense to the charges or allegations contained in the report. 
Such answer shall be published as an appendix to the report. The 
right to answer within these time limitations and to have the 
answer annexed to the Commission report shall be limited only by 
the Commission's power to except from the answer such matter as it 
determines has been inserted scandalously, prejudiciously or unnec-
essarily. 
(f) Except as provided in this section and section 6(f) of this Act, 
the Chairman shall receive and the Commission shall dispose of 
requests to subpena additional witnesses. 
(g) No evidence or testimony or summary of evidence or testimony 
taken in executive session may be released or used in public sessions 
without the consent of the Commission. Whoever releases or uses in 
public without the consent of the Commission such evidence or 
testimony taken in executive session shall be fined not more than 
$1,000, or imprisoned for not more than one year. 
(h) In the discretion of the Commission, witnesses may submit 
brief and pertinent sworn statements in writing for inclusion in the 
record. The Commission shall determine the pertinency of testimony 
and evidence adduced at its hearings. 
(i) Every person who submits data or evidence shall be entitled to 
retain or, on payment of lawfully prescribed costs, procure a copy or 
transcript thereof, except that a witness in a hearing held in 
executive session may for good cause be limited to inspection of the 
official transcript of his testimony. Transcript copies of public ses-
sions may be obtained by the public upon the payment of the cost 
thereof. An accurate transcript shall be made of the testimony of all 
witnesses at all hearings, either public or executive sessions, of the 
Commission or of any subcommittee thereof. 
(j) A witness attending any session of the Commission shall be 
paid the same fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the courts 
of the United States. Mileage payments shall be tendered to the 
witness upon service of a subpena issued on behalf of the Commis-
sion or any subcommittee thereof. 
(k) The Commission shall not issue any subpena for the attend-
ance and testimony of witnesses or for the production of written or 
other matter which would require the presence of the party subpe-
naed at a hearing to be held outside of the State wherein the witness 
is found or resides or is domiciled or transacts business, or has 
appointed an agent for receipt of service of process except that, in 
any event, the Commission may issue subpenas for the attendance 
and testimony of witnesses and the production of written or other 
matter at a hearing held within fifty miles of the place where the 
witness is found or resides or is domiciled or transacts business or 
has appointed an agent for receipt of service of process. 
(1) The Commission shall separately state and currently publish in 
the Federal Register (1) descriptions of its central and field organiza-
tions including the established places at which, and methods 
whereby, the public may secure information or make requests; (2) 
statements of the general course and method by which its functions 
are channeled and determined; and (3) rules adopted as authorized 
by law. No person shall in any manner be subject to or required to 
resort to rules, organization, or procedure not so published. 
(m) The provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5 of the 
United States Code, relating to administrative procedure and free-
dom of information, shall, to the extent not inconsistent with this 
section, apply to the Commission established under this Act. 
Evidence or 
testimony, 
release. 
Fine or 
imprisonment. 
Transcripts. 
Fees and mileage 
payments. 
Subpena. 
Publication in 
Federal 
Register. 
5 u s e 551. 
97 STAT. 1304 
PUBLIC LAW 98-183—NOV. 30, 1983 
COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION 
42 use 1975b. 
SEC. 4. (a) Each member of the Commission who is not otherwise 
in the service of the Government of the United States shall receive a 
sum equivalent to the compensation paid at level IV of the Federal 
Executive Salary Schedule, pursuant to section 5315 of title 5, 
United States Code, prorated on a daily basis for each day spent in 
the work of the Commission, shall be paid actual travel expenses, 
and per diem in lieu of subsistence expenses when away from his 
usual place of residence, in accordance with section 5703 of title 5 of 
the United States Code. 
(b) Each member of the Commission who is otherwise in the 
service of the Government of the United States shall serve without 
compensation in addition to that received for such other service, but 
while engaged in the work of the Commission shall be paid actual 
travel expenses, and per diem in lieu of subsistence expenses when 
away from his usual place of residence, in accordance with sub-
5 use 5701. 
chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5 of the United States Code. 
42 u s e 1975c. 
Prohibited 
investigations. 
DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION 
SEC. 5. (a) The Commission shall— 
(1) investigate allegations in writing under oath or affirma-
tion that certain citizens of the United States are being 
deprived of their right to vote and have that vote counted by 
reason of their color, race, religion, sex, age, handicap, or 
national origin; which writing, under oath or affirmation, shall 
set forth the facts upon which such belief or beliefs are based; 
(2) study and collect information concerning legal develop-
ments constituting discrimination or a denial of equal protec-
tion of the laws under the Constitution because of race, color, 
religion, sex, age, handicap, or national origin or in the adminis-
tration of justice; 
(3) appraise the laws and policies of the Federal Government 
with respect to discrimination or denials of equal protection of 
the laws under the Constitution because of race, color, religion, 
sex, age, handicap, or national origin or the administration of 
justice; 
(4) serve as national clearinghouse for information in respect 
to discrimination or denials of equal protection of the laws 
because of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, or national 
origin, including but not limited to the fields of voting, educa-
tion, housing, employment, the use of public facilities, and 
transportation, or in the administration of justice; and 
(5) investigate allegations, made in writing and under oath or 
affirmation, that citizens of the United States are unlawfully 
being accorded or denied the right to vote, or to have their votes 
properly counted, in any election of the Presidential electors. 
Members of the United States Senate, or the House of Repre-
sentatives, as a result of any patterns or practice of fraud or 
discrimination in the conduct of such election. 
O
t
>
) Nothing in this or any other Act shall be construed as author-
izing the Commission, its Advisory Committees, or any person under 
its supervision or control to inquire into or investigate any member-
ship practices or internal operations of any fraternal organization, 
any college or university fraternity or sorority, any private club or 
any religious organization. 
PUBLIC LAW 98-183—NOV. 30, 1983 
97 STAT. 1305 
(c) The Commission shall submit reports to the Congress and the 
President at such times as the Commission, the Congress or the 
President shall deem desirable. 
(d) As used in this section, the term "handicap" means, with 
respect to an individual, a circumstance that would make that 
individual a handicapped individual as defined in the second sen-
tence of section 7(6) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 
706(6)). 
(e) Nothing in this or any other Act shall be construed as author-
izing the Commission, its Advisory Committees, or any person under 
its supervision or control to appraise, or to study and collect infor-
mation about, laws and policies of the Federal Government, or any 
other governmental authority in the United States, with respect to 
abortion. 
(f) The Commission shall appraise the laws and policies of the 
Federal Government with respect to denials of equal protection of 
the laws under the Constitution involving Americans who are mem-
bers of egistern- and southern-European ethnic groups and shall 
report its findings to the Congress. Such reports shall include an 
analysis of the adverse consequences of affirmative action programs 
encouraged by the Federal Government upon the equal opportunity 
rights of these Americans. 
Reports to 
Congress and the 
President. 
"Handicap." 
Abortion. 
Reports to 
Congress. 
POWERS OF THE COMMISSION 
SEC. 6. (a)(1) There shall be a full-time staff director for the 
Commission who shall be appointed by the President with the 
concurrence of a majority of the Commission. 
(2XA) Effective November 29, 1983, or on the date of enactment of 
this Act, whichever occurs first, all employees (other than the staff 
director and the members of the Commission) of the Commission on 
Civil Rights are transferred to the Commission established by sec-
tion 2(a) of this Act. 
(B) Upon application of any individual (other than the staff direc-
tor or a member of the Commission) who was an employee of the 
Commission on Civil Rights established by the Civil Rights Act of 
1957 on September 30, 1983, the Commission shall appoint such 
individual to a position the duties and responsibilities of which and 
the rate of pay for which, are the same as the duties, responsibilities 
and rate of pay of the position held by such employee on September 
30,1983. 
(CXi) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, employees 
transferred to the Commission under subparagraph (A) shall retain 
all rights and benefits to which they were entitled or for which they 
were eligible immediately prior to their transfer to the Commission. 
(ii) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commission 
shall be bound by those provisions of title 5, United States Code, to 
which the Commission on Civil Rights, established by the Civil 
Rights Act of 1957, was bound. 
(3) Within the limitation of its appropriations, the Commission 
may appoint such other personnel as it deems advisable, in accord-
ance with the civil service and classification laws, and may procure 
services as authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, 
but at rates for individuals not in excess of the daily equivalent paid 
for positions at the maximum rate for GS-15 of the General Sched-
ule under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code. 
42 u s e 1975d. 
Effective date. 
Transfer of 
Commission on 
Civil Rights 
employees. 
42 u s e 1975 
note. 
97 STAT. 1306 
PUBLIC LAW 98-183—NOV. 30, 1983 
"Whoever." 
(b) The Commission shall not accept or utilize services of volun-
tary or uncompensated personnel, and the term "whoever" as used 
in subsection (g) of section 3 hereof shall be construed to mean a 
person whose services are compensated by the United States. 
(c) The Commission may constitute such advisory committees 
within States as it deems advisable, but the Commission shall 
constitute at least one advisory committee within each State com-
posed of citizens of that State. The Commission may consult with 
governors, attorneys general, and other representatives of State and 
local governments and private organizations, as it deems advisable. 
(d) Members of the Commission, and members of advisory commit-
tees constituted pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, shall be 
exempt from the operation of sections 203, 205, 207, 208, and 209 of 
title 18 of the United States Code. 
(e) All Federal agencies shall cooperate fully with the Commission 
to the end that it may effectively carry out its functions and duties. 
Hearings. 
(f) The Commission, or on the authorization of the Commission 
any subcommittee of two or more members, at least one of whom 
shall be of each major political party, may, for the purpose of 
carrying out the provisions of this resolution, hold such hearings 
and act at such times and places as the Commission or such author-
Subpenas. 
ized subcommittee may deem advisable. Subpenas for the attend-
ance and testimony of witnesses or the production of written or 
other matter may be issued in accordance with the rules of the 
Commission as contained in section 3 (j) and (k) of this Act, over the 
signature of the Chairman of the Commission or of such subcommit-
tee, and may be served by any person designated by such Chairman. 
The holding of hearings by the Commission, or the appointment of a 
subcommittee to hold hearings pursuant to this subparagraph, must 
be approved by a majority of the Commission, or by a majority of the 
members present at a meeting at which at least a quorum of five 
members is present. 
(g) In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpena, any district 
court of the United States or the United States court of any territory 
or possession, or the District Court of the United States for the 
District of Columbia, within the jurisdiction of which the inquiry is 
carried on or within the jurisdiction of which said person guilty of 
contumacy or refusal to obey is found or resides or is domiciled or 
transacts business, or has appointed an agent for receipt of service 
of process, upon application by the Attorney General of the United 
States shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order 
requiring such person to appear before the Commission or a subcom-
mittee thereof, there to produce pertinent, relevant and nonprivi-
leged evidence if so ordered, or there to give testimony touching the 
matter under investigation; and any failure to obey such order of 
the court may be punished by said court as a contempt thereof, 
(h) Without limiting the application of any other provision of this 
Act, each member of the Commission shall have the power and 
authority to administer oaths or take statements of witnesses under 
affirmation. 
Rules and 
(i)(i) The Commission shall have the power to make such rules 
regulations. 
QJ^^ regulations as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this 
Act. 
(2) To the extent not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, 
the Commission established by section 2(a) of this Act shall be bound 
by all rules issued by the Civil Rights Commission established by the 
PUBLIC LAW 98-183—NOV. 30, 1983 
97 STAT. 1307 
Civil Rights Act of 1957 which were in effect on September 30, 1983, 42 use 1975 
until modified by the Commission in accordance with applicable law. ^°^' 
(3) The Commission shall make arrangements for the transfer of 
all files, records, and balances of appropriations of the Commission 
on Civil Rights as established by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 to the 
Commission established by this Act. 
AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 
SEC. 7. There are authorized to be appropriated $12,180,000 for the 42 use I975e. 
fiscal year 1984, and such sums as may be necessary for each 
succeeding fiscal year ending prior to October 1,1989. 
TERMINATION 
SEC. 8. The provisions of this Act shall terminate six years after 42 use I975f. 
its date of enactment. 
Approved November 30, 1983. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2230: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 98-197 (eomm. on the Judiciary). 
eONGRESSIONAL REOORD, Vol. 129 (1983): 
Aug. 3, 4, considered and passed House. 
Nov. 9, 10, 14, considered and passed Senate, amended. 
Nov. 16, House concurred in Senate amendment. 
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 19, No. 48 
(1983): Nov. 30, Presidential statement.