[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 62 Introduced in House (IH)]







111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 62

  To provide for the establishment of an independent, Presidentially-
appointed Commission to assess the circumstances related to the damage 
caused by Hurricane Katrina on or between Friday, August 26, 2005, and 
                       Tuesday, August 30, 2005.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 2009

   Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas introduced the following bill; which was 
     referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the establishment of an independent, Presidentially-
appointed Commission to assess the circumstances related to the damage 
caused by Hurricane Katrina on or between Friday, August 26, 2005, and 
                       Tuesday, August 30, 2005.

    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 ``Hurricane Katrina Disaster Inquiry 
Commission Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION.

    For purposes of this Act, the term ``Commission'' means the 
Commission established under this Act.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Establishment.--The President shall establish an independent, 
nonpartisan Commission within the executive branch to discover and 
assess the circumstances related to the damage caused by Hurricane 
Katrina on or between Friday, August 26, 2005, and Tuesday, August 30, 
2005.
    (b) Deadline for Establishment.--The President shall issue an 
executive order establishing a Commission within 30 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Number of Commissioners.--The Commission shall consist of 15 
members.
    (b) Selection.--The members of the Commission shall be chosen in 
the following manner:
            (1) The President of the United States Conference of Mayors 
        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) Five 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, the minority leader of the House of 
                Representatives, and the President of the collective-
                bargaining organization including the largest number of 
                emergency medical responders, 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 5 lists for membership on 
                the Commission.
            (4)(A) No officer or employee of the Federal Government 
        shall serve as a member of the Commission.
            (B) No member of the Commission shall have, or have 
        pending, a contractual relationship with the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency.
            (C) The President may waive the prohibitions in 
        subparagraphs (A) and (B) with respect to the selection of not 
        more than 2 members of the Commission.
            (5) The President shall not appoint any individual as a 
        member of the Commission who has a current or former 
        relationship with the Federal Emergency Management Agency 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 local government administration, 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 60 days after issuance of the executive 
order establishing the Commission.
    (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.

    The Commission shall, to the extent possible, undertake the 
following tasks:
            (1) Chronicle the trajectory of Hurricane Katrina, 
        including the timetable and locations of its path, and the 
        responses made by the Federal, State, and local governments.
            (2) Issue a statement of an estimate as to the loss of 
        life, physical and structural damage, and displacement of 
        residents as a result of the disaster.
            (3) Make recommendations for corrective actions.
            (4) Provide any additional findings or recommendations 
        considered by the Commission to be important, whether or not 
        they are related to emergency disaster management.
            (5) Prepare a report to Congress, the President, and the 
        public.

SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Hearings and evidence.--The Commission 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 
                        subparagraph (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 a failure of a witness to comply with a 
                        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 a 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.--The Commission 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.--The Commission may 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 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 the Commission 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.--The Commission 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.--The 
Commission 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 the 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 the Commission, 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 paragraph 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 the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
        shall not be appointed to the staff of the Commission.
            (2) Personnel as federal employees.--
                    (A) In general.--The executive director and any 
                personnel of the Commission shall be considered 
                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) does 
                not apply to members of the Commission.
    (b) Detailees.--Any Federal Government employee, except for an 
employee of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, may be detailed to 
the Commission 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.--The Commission may 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.

SEC. 9. COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.

    (a) Compensation.--Each member of the Commission 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 the Commission 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.--The Commission 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.--The Commission 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.--The Commission, and all the authorities of 
        this Act with respect to the Commission, shall terminate 60 
        days after the date on which the final report is submitted 
        under subsection (b).
            (2) Administrative activities before termination.--The 
        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. 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.
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