[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2450 Introduced in House (IH)]







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, 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 accident or a 
        deliberate act;
            (2) the term ``NASA'' means the National Aeronautics 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 executive branch to investigate any 
incident that results in the loss of--
            (1) a Space Shuttle;
            (2) the International Space Station or its operational 
        viability;
            (3) any other United States space vehicle carrying 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 President shall issue an 
executive order establishing a Commission 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 members.
    (b) Selection.--The members of a Commission established pursuant to 
this Act shall be chosen in the following 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 Minority Leader of the House 
                of Representatives shall each provide to the President 
                a list of candidates for membership on the Commission.
                    (B) The President shall select one of the 
                candidates from each of the 4 lists for membership on 
                the Commission.
            (4) With the exception of the Chairman of the NTSB, no 
        officer or employee of the Federal Government 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 individual as a member of a Commission 
        under this section who has a current or former relationship 
        with the NASA Administrator that the President determines would 
        constitute a conflict of interest.
            (6) To the extent practicable, the President shall ensure 
        that the members of the Commission include 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 Commission.
    (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 Commission 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 actions.
            (5) Provide any additional findings or recommendations 
        deemed by the Commission to be important, whether or not they 
        are related to the specific incident under investigation.
            (6) Prepare a report to Congress, the President, 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, receive 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, memoranda, 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 contumacy 
                        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 subpoena is returnable, may 
                        issue an order requiring such person to appear 
                        at any designated place to testify or to 
                        produce documentary or other evidence. Any 
                        failure to obey the order of the court may be 
                        punished 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 when summoned under 
                        authority of this section, the Commission may, 
                        by majority vote, certify a statement of fact 
                        constituting such failure to the appropriate 
                        United States attorney, who may bring the 
                        matter before the grand jury for its action, 
                        under the same statutory authority and 
                        procedures as if the United States attorney had 
                        received a certification under sections 102 
                        through 104 of the Revised Statutes of the 
                        United States (2 U.S.C. 192 through 194).
    (b) Contracting.--A Commission established pursuant to this Act 
may, to such extent and in such amounts as are provided in 
appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission to 
discharge its duties under this Act.
    (c) Information From Federal Agencies.--
            (1) In general.--A Commission established pursuant to this 
        Act is authorized to secure directly from any executive 
        department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, 
        independent establishment, or instrumentality of the 
        Government, information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics 
        for the purposes of this Act. Each department, bureau, agency, 
        board, commission, office, independent establishment, or 
        instrumentality shall, to the extent authorized by law, furnish 
        such information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics 
        directly to the Commission, upon request made by the Chairman, 
        the chairman of any subcommittee created by a majority of the 
        Commission, or any member designated by a majority of the 
        Commission.
            (2) Receipt, handling, storage, and dissemination.--
        Information shall only be received, handled, stored, and 
        disseminated by members of the Commission and its staff 
        consistent with all applicable statutes, regulations, and 
        Executive orders.
    (d) Assistance From Federal Agencies.--
            (1) General services administration.--The Administrator of 
        General Services shall provide to a Commission established 
        pursuant to this Act on a reimbursable basis administrative 
        support and other services for the performance of the 
        Commission's tasks.
            (2) Other departments and agencies.--In addition to the 
        assistance prescribed in paragraph (1), departments and 
        agencies of the United States may provide to the Commission 
        such services, funds, facilities, staff, and other support 
        services as they may determine advisable and as may be 
        authorized by law.
    (e) Postal Services.--A Commission established pursuant to this Act 
may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same 
conditions as departments and agencies of the United States.

SEC. 7. PUBLIC MEETINGS, INFORMATION, AND HEARINGS.

    (a) Public Meetings and Release of Public Versions of Reports.--A 
Commission established pursuant to this Act shall--
            (1) hold public hearings and meetings to the extent 
        appropriate; and
            (2) release public versions of the reports required under 
        this Act.
    (b) Public Hearings.--Any public hearings of a Commission shall be 
conducted in a manner consistent with the protection of information 
provided to or developed for or by the Commission as required by any 
applicable statute, regulation, or Executive order.

SEC. 8. STAFF OF COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Appointment and compensation.--The Chairman, in 
        consultation with Vice Chairman, in accordance with rules 
        agreed upon by a Commission established pursuant to this Act, 
        may appoint and fix the compensation of a staff director and 
such other personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to 
carry out its functions, without regard to the provisions of title 5, 
United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, 
and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III 
of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and General 
Schedule pay rates, except that no rate of pay fixed under this 
subsection may exceed the equivalent of that payable for a position at 
level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United 
States Code. Employees of NASA shall not be appointed to the staff of a 
Commission.
            (2) Personnel as federal employees.--
                    (A) In general.--The executive director and any 
                personnel of a Commission established pursuant to this 
                Act who are employees shall be employees under section 
                2105 of title 5, United States Code, for purposes of 
                chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, and 90 of that 
                title.
                    (B) Members of commission.--Subparagraph (A) shall 
                not be construed to apply to members of a Commission 
                established pursuant to this Act.
    (b) Detailees.--Any Federal Government employee, except for an 
employee of NASA, may be detailed to a Commission established pursuant 
to this Act without reimbursement from the Commission, and such 
detailee shall retain the rights, status, and privileges of his or her 
regular employment without interruption.
    (c) Consultant Services.--A Commission established pursuant to this 
Act is authorized to procure the services of experts and consultants in 
accordance with section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at 
rates not to exceed the daily rate paid a person occupying a position 
at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, 
United States Code. Any consultant or expert whose services are 
procured under this subsection shall disclose any contract or 
association it has with NASA or any NASA contractor.

SEC. 9. COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.

    (a) Compensation.--Each member of a Commission established pursuant 
to this Act may be compensated at not to exceed the daily equivalent of 
the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position at level IV of 
the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States 
Code, for each day during which that member is engaged in the actual 
performance of the duties of the Commission.
    (b) Travel Expenses.--While away from their homes or regular places 
of business in the performance of services for the Commission, members 
of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 
in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed 
intermittently in the Government service are allowed expenses under 
section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 10. SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR COMMISSION MEMBERS AND STAFF.

    The appropriate Federal agencies or departments shall cooperate 
with a Commission established pursuant to this Act in expeditiously 
providing to the Commission members and staff appropriate security 
clearances to the extent possible pursuant to existing procedures and 
requirements. No person shall be provided with access to classified 
information under this Act without the appropriate security clearances.

SEC. 11. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND TERMINATION.

    (a) Interim Reports.--A Commission established pursuant to this Act 
may submit to the President and Congress interim reports containing 
such findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective actions 
as have been agreed to by a majority of Commission members.
    (b) Final Report.--A Commission established pursuant to this Act 
shall submit to the President and Congress, and make concurrently 
available to the public, a final report containing such findings, 
conclusions, and recommendations for corrective actions as have been 
agreed to by a majority of Commission members. Such report shall 
include any minority views or opinions not reflected in the majority 
report.
    (c) Termination.--
            (1) In general.--A Commission established pursuant to this 
        Act, and all the authorities of this Act with respect to that 
        Commission, shall terminate 60 days after the date on which the 
        final report is submitted under subsection (b).
            (2) Administrative activities before termination.--A 
        Commission may use the 60-day period referred to in paragraph 
        (1) for the purpose of concluding its activities, including 
        providing testimony to committees of Congress concerning its 
        reports and disseminating the final report.

SEC. 12. ROLE OF NTSB.

    The NTSB shall assume responsibility for the investigation of any 
incident described in section 3(a) immediately upon the occurrence of 
that incident. The NTSB shall transfer responsibility for the 
investigation to a Commission established pursuant to this Act as soon 
as the Commission holds its initial meeting under section 4(d).

SEC. 13. FUNDING.

    Such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act are authorized to 
be appropriated. Sums authorized by this Act shall remain available 
until the termination of the Commission for which they are 
appropriated.
                                 <all>