[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8731-S8734]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LIEBERMAN:
  S. 2747. A bill to establish a Commission on the Future of the United 
States Economy to make recommendations on public policy and the 
reorganization of the Federal Government to promote efficiency and 
economy of operation, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, in the mid-1980's President Reagan 
joined with Democrats and Republicans to fashion an effective strategy 
to confront the challenges we then faced from the Japanese. It's time 
to reconsider our competitiveness strategy, this time in response to 
the Chinese and many other emerging free enterprise economies. The 
Reagan approach--appointing a bipartisan commission on industrial 
competitiveness, chaired by John A. Young, president of Hewlett Packard 
Co., and supported by the Democratic Congress--remains the most 
effective way to proceed, and today I am introducing legislation to do 
just that.
  Still known as the Young Commission, this distinguished group of 
leaders from large and small businesses, labor, and academia led the 
nation in a dialog on ways to strengthen the competitiveness of the 
U.S. industry in both domestic and foreign markets. Its recommendations 
and remedies were widely adopted in the late 1980's and 1990's and 
account for the unprecedented growth we experienced--much coming from 
America's high tech sector. But our competitive circumstances have 
changed and the Young Commission vision needs to be reconsidered and 
refreshed.
  The 2.7 million jobs we've lost since 2000 is a bitter reminder of 
the economic crisis we faced in the early 1980's. Back then Japan had 
emerged as a major competitor invading our markets with advanced 
products at lower prices. Sony, Hitachi, Nikon, Toyota, Honda and other 
rising Japanese industrial giants had cast a shadow of anxiety over the 
American public. Plant closings and layoffs became widespread as our 
trade deficit with Japan ballooned and production shrank with rising 
imports. And the Paul Volcker interest rates imposed to break the back 
of inflation had crushed the weaker American firms. We had two choices: 
succumb or fight.
  Fortunately, led by the kind of practical vision espoused by the 
Young Commission, the United States learned how to fight and rose to 
the challenge with objective analysis of our strengths and weaknesses, 
hard decisions about government's role, and investments in 
entrepreneurs and high technology fostering the longest expansionary 
period in our 200 year history. Wise decisions were made in the 1980s 
and we cashed in on them in the 1990's. The strategy that worked then 
is not sufficient now. World markets are now undergoing a momentous 
change that requires a re-assessment of our competitiveness strategy 
for this new century.
  As the Japanese challenge developed in the early 1980s, the response 
of our two political parties became a polarized debate about 
``industrial policy.'' Republicans favored deeper and deeper tax cuts 
to stimulate job growth which--together with massive defense spending--
sent the deficits through the roof. Some Democrats pushed for an 
Industrial Development Bank to rescue failing firms and protectionist 
policies. Neither side thought it could compromise without risking the 
support of its political base, and we faced a political deadlock on 
economic policy. Twenty years later, does all of this sound quite 
familiar?
  The Young Commission brought all sides to the table and enabled each 
to acknowledge the hard facts that shaped the debate. It proposed the 
first generation of reforms that became a bipartisan competitiveness 
agenda. Public-private collaborations instead of industrial supports, 
and research and development investments in information technology 
became a foundation for the economic boom of the 1990's. Their 
recommendations provided the roadmap that led to the longest period of 
economic growth in our history.
  Today, the challenges we face are exponentially larger and more 
complex. We've entered an information age where intangible assets such 
as innovation and knowledge are the new keys to competitive advantage. 
These intangibles--including worker skills and knowledge, informal 
relationships that feed creativity, new business methods, and 
intellectual property--are driving worldwide economic prosperity. 
According to a 1998 study by the Brookings Institution 85 percent of 
company assets are now considered intangible, a significant jump from 
38 percent in 1982.
  In an age where these knowledge-based assets are difficult to patent 
or copyright, intellectual property rights are difficult to enforce, 
and information crosses borders freely and instantaneously, the first 
Young Commission doesn't give us all the answers. We need a strategy 
where change is both inevitable and necessary, as companies leapfrog 
their own technology and continuously reap the rewards that go to 
innovators. This 21st century rat race--constant insecurity, constant 
competition, and constant change--presents an opportunity for all, yet 
it will be a nightmare for the unprepared.
  This is our fate for a good reason--the United States won the cold 
war's battle of ideas. The outcome is what we wished for--free 
enterprise is on the march, socialist state planning is discredited, 
and new competitors (principally China and India, but also Canada, 
Mexico, Ireland, Malaysia, and Taiwan) can deploy world class talent 
not fearful of international competition. American economic supremacy--
our seeming birthright since the Second World War--has come to an end. 
Now we have to fight for every morsel on our economic table.
  The competitors we now face have world class engineering and science 
talent as well as low wages. The challenge now extends beyond a concern 
over foreign competition on manufacturing to ominous trends in favor of 
global outsourcing of the services sector, including high end 
technology jobs. The drive for increased customization, speed, and 
responsiveness to customer needs has multiplied the pressures for 
productivity and quality. Our entire innovation ecosystem is under 
stress, including the ties between basic research and 
commercialization, competition for capital and technology, and adaptive 
business models. As we have done in building fighter aircraft that puts 
unheard of G force stress on pilots, we now need workers who can thrive 
on knowledge overload. Because our workforce no longer has the security 
of certainty and stability, we need to give it the confidence and tools 
to adapt continuously to innovation and change--in a global melee of 
shifting upstart competitors.
  The American economy is the most adaptable in the world--with a well 
educated workforce, efficient capital markets, and the zeal of 
generations of entrepreneurial immigrants. But we seem not to have 
noticed that the rate of global change is accelerating. The warning 
signs are everywhere. We are not just losing some high wage jobs--we 
may be losing critical parts of our innovation infrastructure, and with 
them, our long-term competitive edge in the global marketplace. As long 
as emerging nations such as China and India continue to produce more 
and more science and engineering graduates, invest in their 
infrastructure, and implement targeted industrial and trade policies to 
strengthen their research and development and attract foreign 
investment, doing nothing will slowly and silently erode our economic 
and national security. As our own giants like GE, TI, Intel, HP, and 
Microsoft cast a shadow of anxiety over American workers by going 
offshore, we must proceed with a coordinated and sustainable vision to 
strengthen our innovation infrastructure. America's dependence on 
foreign capital to finance excessive government and consumer debt is an 
ominous trend which threatens our future innovation. The much higher 
savings rate of many of our competitors gives them ready access to 
capital necessary for investing in productivity-enhancing research and 
technologies.
  To meet these challenges, we first need an injection of bipartisan 
political will and that's not easy to find in

[[Page S8732]]

Washington these days. It is time to unleash a new, bipartisan and 
updated Young Commission, charged with analyzing the impact of global 
economic changes on the American economy, including the offshore 
outsourcing problem, and offering nonpartisan proposals to preserve our 
innovation infrastructure and create more high-wage American jobs.
  The legislation I am introducing today creates a 22-member bipartisan 
Commission on the Future of the U.S. Economy to make specific 
recommendations on a broad range of issues related to the development 
of our Nations' skill-base, innovation capacity and the other factors 
needed for the knowledge and information economy. The Commission is to 
report back to Congress within 18 months.
  Numerous groups concerned about the future of the United States 
economy have begun to address the rising challenge of sustaining our 
competitive advantage in this new global economy. I first would like to 
thank Dr. Kenan Patrick Jarboe from Athena Alliance for helping to 
develop key ideas and providing invaluable advice as my office 
considered this legislation. I would also like to acknowledge the 
significant and thoughtful work the Electronic Industries Alliance has 
provided in formulating ideas for a new competitiveness agenda. I also 
trust that the major effort in progress under the National Innovation 
Initiative of the Council on Competitiveness will provide a creative 
groundwork for this important Commission.
  I request unanimous consent that a section-by-section summary of the 
bill and the text of the bill itself appear in the Record following my 
remarks.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

          The Commission on the Future of the U.S. Economy Act


                           Section-by-section

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This section cites the title of the Act as the ``Commission 
     on the Future of the U.S. Economy Act of 2004''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       This section lays out a number of findings which include:
       (1) The U.S. economy has entered an information age where 
     innovation and knowledge are the new keys to competitive 
     advantage and are creating new challenges for American 
     workers and companies.
       (2) In 1984, at the height of concerns over the condition 
     of the manufacturing sector in the U.S., President Reagan 
     appointed the bipartisan President's Commission on Industrial 
     Competitiveness (the Young Commission) that addressed the 
     issue of U.S. competitiveness in a new way and developed a 
     framework that has guided policymaking for the past two 
     decades.
       (3) There is a need for an independent, bipartisan 
     undertaking comparable to the Young Commission to review the 
     new competitive challenges facing the United States and to 
     recommend a framework to guide the making of responsive 
     public policy.

     SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.

       This section establishes the Commission on the Future of 
     the U.S. Economy with the purpose of undertaking an analysis 
     of the competitive challenges to American companies and 
     workers and making recommendations for public policy, 
     including reorganization of the Federal government, to 
     promote efficiency and economy of operation, to foster the 
     skills and knowledge Americans need to prosper in the 21st 
     century, strengthen the entire innovation system, and 
     stimulate the creation of knowledge, inventions, partnerships 
     and other intangibles so as to maintain economic growth, 
     income generation and job creation.

     SEC. 4. COMPOSITION AND MEETINGS.

       This section sets the membership at 17 voting members; nine 
     appointed by the President and two each appointed by the 
     Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader, the 
     Speaker of the House and the House Minority Leader. In 
     addition, the President shall appoint five non-voting ex 
     officio members from among the following officials: the 
     Secretaries of the Treasury, Commerce, Labor and Defense, the 
     United States Trade Representative, the Chairman of the 
     Council of Economic Advisers, and the Director of the Office 
     of Science and Technology Policy. The President shall 
     designate one regular appointee as Chairperson. The voting 
     members shall elect a Vice Chairperson who is not affiliated 
     with the same political party as the Chairman. Members shall 
     be appointed not later than 60 days after the date of 
     enactment of an Act making the appropriations, and any 
     vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original 
     appointment.
       Regular members shall be persons who are leaders or 
     recognized experts from industry, labor unions, research 
     institutions, academia and other important social and 
     economic institutions, and have expertise in economics, 
     international trade, services, manufacturing, labor, science 
     and technology, education, business, or have other pertinent 
     qualifications or experience. Regular members may not be 
     officers or employees of the United States. Every effort 
     shall be made to ensure that the regular members are those 
     who can provide new insights to analyzing the nature and 
     consequences of a knowledge-based economy.
       The Commission shall hold its first meeting no later than 
     30 days after all voting members have been appointed.

     SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

       This section describes the duties of the Commission which 
     shall--
       (A) review the findings and recommendations of previous 
     studies and commissions (including the Young Commission and 
     the National Innovation Initiative of the Council on 
     Competitiveness);
       (B) analyze the current economic environment and 
     competitive challenges facing the U.S. workers and companies;
       (C) review the strategies of other nations for responding 
     to the competitive challenges of the new economic 
     environment, and analyze the impact of those strategies on 
     the future of the U.S. economy;
       (D) formulate specific recommendations on a broad range of 
     issues related to the development of the nations' skill-base 
     and innovative capacity within the private and public sectors 
     of the U.S. economy. By March 1, 2006 or 18 months after 
     appointment of members, whichever is later, the Commission 
     shall submit to Congress and the President a report regarding 
     the competitive challenges facing the United States, along 
     with conclusions and specific recommendations for legislative 
     and administrative actions for maintaining economic growth, 
     income generation and job creation. The Commission may also 
     submit an interim or any special reports it feels may be 
     necessary.

     SEC. 6. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

       This section describes the powers of the Commission, which 
     include holding hearings, taking testimony, and receiving 
     evidence. The Commission may request information from any 
     Federal department or agency; may accept, use, and dispose of 
     gifts or donations of services or property; may procure 
     analysis, reports and studies from organizations or 
     individuals other than Commission staff analysis; and may use 
     the United States mails in the same manner and under the same 
     conditions as other departments and agencies of the Federal 
     Government. The Commission may also receive administrative 
     support from the Administrator of General Services on a 
     reimbursable basis.

     SEC. 7. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

       This section describes personnel matters for the 
     Commission. Regular members of the Commission shall be 
     allowed travel expenses and 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 for each 
     day of service. The Commission may hire an Executive Director 
     and staff, without regard to the civil service laws and 
     regulations, not to exceed the rate payable for level V of 
     the Executive Schedule. Federal Government employees may be 
     detailed to the Commission without reimbursement and the 
     Commission may procure temporary and intermittent services to 
     support and supplement Commission staff at a rate not to 
     exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay 
     prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule. Regular 
     members of the Commission do not lose any Federal retirement 
     benefits by virtue of service on the Commission.

     SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.

       The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the date on 
     which it submits the final report.

     SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       This section authorized $10,0000,000 to be appropriated to 
     the Commission, to remain available until expended.

                                S. 2747

       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 ``Commission on the Future of 
     the United States Economy Act of 2004''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The United States economy has entered an information 
     age in which innovation and knowledge, including worker 
     skills and creativity, are the keys to competitive advantage.
       (2) The need for bold innovation and ever-increasing 
     knowledge imposes increasingly demanding competitive 
     challenges for United States workers and companies.
       (3) In 1984, in response to concerns over the condition of 
     the manufacturing sector in the United States, President 
     Ronald Reagan appointed the bipartisan President's Commission 
     on Industrial Competitiveness (hereafter in this Act referred 
     to as the ``Young Commission'') that addressed the issue of 
     United States competitiveness in a new way and developed a 
     framework that has guided policymaking for the past 2 
     decades.
       (4) The Young Commission proposed a reorganization of the 
     performance of the economic and trade functions of the 
     Federal Government, which was never implemented.
       (5) The striking changes in world economic circumstances 
     over the 20 years since reorganization was proposed by the 
     Young Commission necessitate reevaluation of the proposal in 
     light of those changes.

[[Page S8733]]

       (6) Because the challenges facing the United States economy 
     are different in many ways from those of 20 years ago, there 
     is a need to renew the Young Commission's mandate to 
     reexamine America's competitiveness.
       (7) Many studies and reports by governmental and 
     nongovernmental organizations, such as the National 
     Innovation Initiative of the Council on Competitiveness, have 
     laid the groundwork for this reexamination.
       (8) The changed competitive challenges facing the United 
     States today--
       (A) extend beyond a concern over global competition in 
     goods and the loss of domestic manufacturing to the 
     challenges presented by the fusion of manufacturing and 
     services into complex networks and the opening of more 
     service sectors earlier to international competition;
       (B) extend beyond concerns over productivity and quality to 
     the challenges presented by the need for increased 
     customization, speed, and responsiveness to customer needs;
       (C) extend beyond issues of competitiveness of individual 
     manufacturing firms and industries and to the challenges of 
     ensuring robustness in the networks of manufacturing and 
     service firms and development of new forms of business 
     models;
       (D) extend beyond a concern over high-technology research 
     and development and to the challenges of nurturing the entire 
     innovation system, including basic research, technological 
     development, venture capital, new product development, design 
     and aesthetics, new business models, and the development of 
     new markets;
       (E) shift attention from concern over raising awareness of 
     trade to a refocusing on the problems of managing the 
     increasing complexity of globalization;
       (F) extend beyond the challenges of sustaining a flexible 
     and educated workforce to the challenges of exploring new or 
     better ways to foster the types of skills needed in a 
     knowledge and information economy;
       (G) extend beyond concern over cost of capital to the 
     challenges of achieving the dual objectives of unlocking the 
     value of underutilized knowledge assets and insuring the 
     efficiency and stability of the global financial system;
       (H) extend beyond a concern over competition from Japan and 
     the Southeast Asian Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs) to 
     the challenges of integrating many countries, such as India, 
     China, and Eastern European nations, into the global economy; 
     and
       (I) include the challenges of new demographic dynamics, 
     including the aging of the so-called ``baby boom'' 
     generation, increased life expectancy, below replacement 
     fertility rates in most of the developed world, and 
     increasing populations in the developing world.
       (9) In this information age, new ideas, business models, 
     and technologies, including computer and telecommunications, 
     the Internet, and the digital revolution, have combined to 
     alter the economy structurally.
       (10) Information, knowledge, and other intangible assets 
     now power our innovation process, which is based both on 
     science-based research and informal creativity and produces 
     the productivity and improvement gains needed to maintain 
     prosperity.
       (11) The range of knowledge, information, and intellectual 
     capital-based intangible assets driving economic prosperity 
     include worker skills and know-how, informal relationships 
     that feed creativity and new ideas, high-performance work 
     organizations, new business methods, intellectual property 
     such as patents and copyrights, brand names, and innovation 
     and creativity skills.
       (12) Economic statistics and accounting principles have not 
     caught up with this new economic environment.
       (13) All sectors of the economy are affected by this new 
     economic environment.
       (14) Small and medium-size firms are especially in need of 
     ways to better develop and utilize their information, 
     knowledge, and other intangible assets.
       (15) It is vital to the future strength of the United 
     States economy that, as new ideas, scientific discoveries, 
     and knowledge pervade the domestic and international 
     economies, United States firms be able to assess, absorb, and 
     deploy these opportunities quickly for competitive advantage.
       (16) While United States firms and workers lead the world 
     in creating and using information, knowledge, and other 
     intangible assets, increasing global competition means that 
     the United States Government and the private sector must 
     continue to develop the information economy in the United 
     States in order to ensure that the people of the United 
     States prosper in this new economic environment.
       (17) There is a need for an independent, bipartisan 
     undertaking comparable to the Young Commission to review the 
     new competitive challenges facing the United States and to 
     recommend a framework to guide the making of responsive 
     public policy, including the reorganization of the Federal 
     Government to promote efficiency and economy of operation, to 
     promote private initiatives, and to guide individual 
     decisionmaking about the future of the United States economy 
     as governments, business, labor unions, and the people of the 
     United States struggle with ways to utilize information, 
     foster the development of intangible assets, and promote 
     innovation and competitiveness in the new global information 
     economy.

     SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Establishment.--There is established the Commission on 
     the Future of the United States Economy (hereafter referred 
     to as the ``Commission'').
       (b) Purposes.--The purpose of the Commission are as 
     follows:
       (1) To analyze the worldwide competitive challenges to 
     United States companies and workers.
       (2) To make recommendations in accordance with this Act, 
     for the making of responsive public policy, including the 
     reorganization of the Federal Government--
       (A) to promote efficiency and economy of operation;
       (B) to foster the skills and knowledge the people of the 
     United States need to prosper in the 21st century;
       (C) to strengthen the entire innovation system undergirding 
     the United States economy; and
       (D) to stimulate the creation of knowledge, inventions, 
     partnerships, and other intangible assets in order to 
     maintain economic growth, income generation, and job 
     creation.

     SEC. 4. COMPOSITION AND MEETINGS.

       (a) Composition.--The Commission shall be composed of 22 
     members as follows:
       (1) 17 voting members of whom--
       (A) 9 members shall be appointed by the President;
       (B) 2 members shall be appointed by the majority leader of 
     the Senate;
       (C) 2 members shall be appointed by the minority leader of 
     the Senate;
       (D) 2 members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the 
     House of Representatives; and
       (E) 2 members shall be appointed by the minority leader of 
     the House of Representatives.
       (2) 5 non-voting ex officio members appointed by the 
     President from among the following officials:
       (A) The Secretary of the Treasury.
       (B) The Secretary of Commerce.
       (C) The Secretary of Labor.
       (D) The Secretary of Defense.
       (E) The United States Trade Representative.
       (F) The Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors.
       (G) The Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
     Policy.
       (b) Qualifications for Voting Members.--
       (1) Requirements.--Persons appointed as voting members 
     under subsection (a)(1) shall be selected from among persons 
     who--
       (A) are leaders or recognized experts in industry, labor 
     unions, research institutions, academia, and other important 
     social and economic institutions;
       (B) have expertise in economics, international trade, 
     services, manufacturing, labor, science and technology, 
     education, business, or have other qualifications or 
     experience pertinent to the duties of the Commission; and
       (C) are not officers or employees of the United States 
     Government.
       (2) Additional consideration.--To the maximum extent 
     practicable, persons who are appointed as voting members 
     shall be persons who can provide new insights into analysis 
     of the nature and consequences of a knowledge-based economy.
       (c) Chairperson and Vice Chairperson.--The President shall 
     designate one voting member of the Commission as Chairperson. 
     The voting members of the Commission shall elect a Vice 
     Chairperson from among the voting members of the Commission 
     appointed by 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. The Vice Chairman shall not be affiliated 
     with the same political party as the Chairman.
       (d) Initial Appointments; Vacancies.--
       (1) Initial appointments.--Members shall be appointed not 
     later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of an Act 
     making appropriations authorized under section 9.
       (2) Vacancies.--Any vacancy in the Commission shall not 
     affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as 
     the original appointment.
       (e) Meetings.--
       (1) In general.--The Commission shall meet at the call of 
     the Chairperson.
       (2) Initial meeting.--The Commission shall hold its first 
     meeting not later than 30 days after all voting members of 
     the Commission have been appointed under subsection (a).
       (f) Quorum.--A majority of the voting members of the 
     Commission shall constitute a quorum.
       (g) Voting.--Each voting member of the Commission shall be 
     entitled to 1 equal vote.

     SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

       (a) Study.--
       (1) In general.--The Commission shall conduct a study of 
     the United States economy and the competitiveness of United 
     States companies and workers.
       (2) Scope.--In conducting the study under this subsection, 
     the Commission shall--
       (A) review the findings and recommendations of previous 
     commissions, including the Young Commission, and the studies 
     (including resulting findings and recommendations) of others 
     that are relevant to the work of the Commission, including 
     the National Innovation Initiative of the Council on 
     Competitiveness;
       (B) analyze the current economic environment and 
     competitive challenges facing United States workers and 
     companies;
       (C) review the strategies of other nations for responding 
     to the competitive challenges

[[Page S8734]]

     of the new economic environment, and analyze the impact of 
     those strategies on the future of the United States economy;
       (D) formulate specific recommendations on a broad range of 
     issues related to the development of the skill-base and 
     innovative capacity within the private and public sectors of 
     the United States economy and other priorities related to the 
     knowledge and information economy, including recommendations 
     regarding--
       (i) the reorganization of the Federal Government to promote 
     efficiency and economy of operation;
       (ii) education and training policy;
       (iii) labor policy;
       (iv) economic development;
       (v) science and technology policy and organization;
       (vi) intellectual property rights;
       (vii) telecommunications policy;
       (viii) international economic policy, including trade and 
     finance and the management of globalization;
       (ix) macroeconomic policy;
       (x) financial regulation and accounting policy;
       (xi) antitrust policy;
       (xii) public and private infrastructure development and 
     entrepreneurship; and
       (xiii) small business development;
       (E) formulate recommended policies and actions for--
       (i) transforming the education and training process in the 
     United States as necessary to ensure effectiveness for 
     facilitating life-long learning;
       (ii) upgrading the skills of the United States workforce to 
     compete effectively in the new economic environment, 
     including mathematics and science skills, critical thinking 
     skills, communication skills, language and intercultural 
     awareness, creativity, and interpersonal relations essential 
     for success in the information age;
       (iii) promoting a broad system of innovation and knowledge 
     diffusion, including nontechnological ingenuity and 
     creativity as well as science-based research and development;
       (iv) fostering the development of knowledge and information 
     assets in all sectors of the United States economy, 
     particularly those sectors of the economy in which rates of 
     productivity and innovation have lagged, and in United States 
     companies of all sizes, particularly small and medium-size 
     companies;
       (v) developing jobs that are rooted in local skills and 
     local knowledge assets in order to lessen displacement 
     resulting from ongoing global competition;
       (vi) improving access to, and lowering the cost of, capital 
     by unlocking the value to financial markets of underutilized 
     knowledge assets;
       (vii) strengthening the efficiency and stability of the 
     international financial system (taking into account the roles 
     of foreign capital and domestic savings in economic growth);
       (viii) developing policies and mechanisms for managing the 
     increasing complexity of globalization;
       (ix) adjusting to the impacts of global demographic changes 
     in the United States, other developed countries, and 
     developing countries;
       (x) improving economic statistics and accounting principles 
     to adequately measure all sectors of the new economic 
     environment, including the value of information, innovation, 
     knowledge, and other intangible assets; and
       (xi) improving understanding of how the Federal Government 
     supports and invests in knowledge and other intangible 
     assets;
       (b) Reports.--
       (1) Required report.--
       (A) In general.--The Commission shall submit to Congress 
     and the President a report regarding the competitive 
     challenges facing the United States. The report shall include 
     conclusions and specific recommendations for legislative and 
     executive actions.
       (B) Time for report.--The report under this paragraph shall 
     be submitted not later than the later of--
       (i) March 1, 2006; or
       (ii) the date that is 18 months after the date of the 
     initial meeting of the Commission.
       (2) Optional reports.--The Commission may submit to 
     Congress and the President interim or special reports as the 
     Commission determines appropriate.

     SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION.

       (a) Hearings.--The Commission or, at its direction, any 
     panel or regular member of the Commission, may hold hearings, 
     sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and receive 
     evidence as the Commission considers advisable to carry out 
     this Act.
       (b) Information From Federal Agencies.--The Commission may 
     secure directly from any Federal department or agency such 
     information as the Commission considers necessary to carry 
     out this Act. Upon request of the Chairperson of the 
     Commission, the head of such department or agency shall 
     furnish such information to the Commission.
       (c) Gifts.--The Commission may accept, use, and dispose of 
     gifts or donations of services or property.
       (d) Analysis, Reports, and Studies.--The Commission may 
     procure analyses, reports, and studies from organizations or 
     individuals other than Commission staff, notwithstanding the 
     restrictions under section 7(e) of this Act.
       (e) Postal Services.--The Commission may use the United 
     States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions 
     as other departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
       (f) Support Services.--Upon request of the Chairperson of 
     the Commission, the Administrator of General Services shall 
     provide to the Commission on a reimbursable basis the 
     administrative support necessary for the Commission to carry 
     out its duties under this Act.

     SEC. 7. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

       (a) Compensation of Members.--Each member of the Commission 
     who is not an officer or employee 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 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 employees of the United States shall serve 
     without compensation in addition to that received for their 
     services as officers or employees of the United States.
       (b) Travel Expenses.--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 subchapter 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.
       (c) Staff.--
       (1) In general.--The Chairperson of the Commission may, 
     without regard to the civil service laws and regulations, 
     appoint and terminate an executive director and such other 
     additional personnel as may be necessary to enable the 
     Commission to perform its duties. The employment of an 
     executive director shall be subject to confirmation by the 
     Commission.
       (2) Compensation.--The Chairperson of the Commission may 
     fix the compensation of the executive director and other 
     personnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and 
     subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, 
     relating to classification of positions and General Schedule 
     pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the executive 
     director and other personnel may not exceed the rate payable 
     for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 
     such title.
       (d) Detail of Government Employees.--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.
       (e) Procurement of Temporary and Intermittent Services.--
     The Chairperson of the Commission may procure temporary and 
     intermittent services to support and supplement Commission 
     staff under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, 
     at rates for individuals which do not exceed the daily 
     equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for 
     level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such 
     title.
       (f) Applicability of Certain Pay Authorities.--An 
     individual who is a member of the Commission and is an 
     annuitant or otherwise covered by section 8344 or 8468 of 
     title 5, United States Code, by reason of membership on the 
     Commission shall not be subject to the provisions of section 
     8344 or 8468, as the case may be, with respect to such 
     membership.

     SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.

       The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the date on 
     which the Commission submits the report required under 
     section 5(b)(1).

     SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission 
     $10,000,000 to carry out activities under this Act, to remain 
     available until expended.
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