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114TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2615 AN ACT To establish the Virgin Islands of the United States Centennial Commission. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2 •HR 2615 EH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Virgin Islands of the 2 United States Centennial Commission Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 4 There is established a commission to be known as the 5 ‘‘Virgin Islands of the United States Centennial Commis- 6 sion’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 7 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 8 The Commission shall— 9 (1) plan, develop, and carry out such activities 10 as the Commission determines to be appropriate to 11 commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Virgin 12 Islands of the United States becoming an unincor- 13 porated territory of the United States; 14 (2) provide advice and assistance to Federal, 15 State, and local governmental agencies, as well as 16 civic groups to carry out activities to commemorate 17 the 100th anniversary of the Virgin Islands of the 18 United States becoming an unincorporated territory 19 of the United States; and 20 (3) submit to the President and Congress the 21 reports required pursuant to section 7. 22 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 23 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission 24 shall be composed of 8 members as follows: 25 3 •HR 2615 EH (1) The Assistant Secretary of the Interior for 1 Insular Affairs or a designee of the Assistant Sec- 2 retary. 3 (2) One member appointed by the Governor of 4 the Virgin Islands of the United States or a designee 5 of the Governor. 6 (3) Two Members of the House of Representa- 7 tives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Rep- 8 resentatives. 9 (4) One Member of the House of Representa- 10 tives appointed by the minority leader of the House 11 of Representatives. 12 (5) Two Members of the Senate appointed by 13 the majority leader of the Senate. 14 (6) One Member of the Senate appointed by the 15 minority leader of the Senate. 16 (b) TERMS.—Each member of the Commission shall 17 be appointed for the life of the Commission. 18 (c) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All members of 19 the Commission shall be appointed not later than 90 days 20 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 21 (d) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission 22 shall— 23 (1) not affect the powers of the Commission; 24 and 25 4 •HR 2615 EH (2) be filled in the manner in which the original 1 appointment was made. 2 (e) RATES OF PAY.—Members shall not receive com- 3 pensation for the performance of duties on behalf of the 4 Commission. 5 (f) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the Com- 6 mission shall be reimbursed for travel and per diem in lieu 7 of subsistence expenses during the performance of duties 8 of the Commission while away from home or regular place 9 of business of the member, in accordance with applicable 10 provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 11 United States Code. 12 (g) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 13 Commission shall constitute a quorum to conduct busi- 14 ness, but two or more members may hold hearings. 15 (h) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of the Commis- 16 sion shall be selected by a majority vote of the members 17 of the Commission. 18 SEC. 5. DIRECTOR AND STAFF OF COMMISSION. 19 (a) DIRECTOR AND STAFF.—The Commission shall 20 appoint an executive director and such other additional 21 personnel as are necessary to enable the Commission to 22 perform the duties of the Commission. 23 (b) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE 24 LAWS.—The executive director and staff of the Commis- 25 5 •HR 2615 EH sion may be appointed without regard to the provisions 1 of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in 2 the competitive service, and may be paid without regard 3 to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chap- 4 ter 53 of such title relating to classification and General 5 Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the 6 executive director and other staff may not exceed the rate 7 payable for level III of the Executive Schedule under sec- 8 tion 5314 of such title. 9 (c) DETAIL OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Upon re- 10 quest of the Commission, the Secretary of the Interior or 11 the Archivist of the United States may detail, on a reim- 12 bursable basis, any of the personnel of the Department 13 of the Interior or the National Archives and Records Ad- 14 ministration, respectively to the Commission to assist the 15 Commission to perform the duties of the Commission. 16 (d) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission 17 may procure such temporary and intermittent services 18 from experts and consultants as are necessary to enable 19 the Commission to perform the duties of the Commission. 20 (e) VOLUNTEER AND UNCOMPENSATED SERVICES.— 21 Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States 22 Code, the Commission may accept and use voluntary and 23 uncompensated services as the Commission determines 24 necessary. 25 6 •HR 2615 EH SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 1 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may, for the pur- 2 pose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act 3 at times and places, take testimony, and receive evidence 4 as the Commission considers appropriate. 5 (b) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United 6 States mails in the same manner and under the same con- 7 ditions as other Federal agencies. 8 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 9 may secure directly from any Federal agency information 10 necessary to enable the Commission to perform the duties 11 of the Commission. Upon request of the chairperson of 12 the Commission, the head of that Federal agency shall fur- 13 nish that information to the Commission. 14 (d) GIFTS, BEQUESTS, DEVISES.—The Commission 15 may solicit, accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests, or 16 devises of money, services, or property, both real and per- 17 sonal, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work 18 of the Commission. 19 (e) AVAILABLE SPACE.—Upon the request of the 20 Commission, the Administrator of General Services shall 21 make available to the Commission, at a normal rental rate 22 for Federal agencies, such assistance and facilities as may 23 be necessary for the Commission to perform the duties of 24 the Commission. 25 7 •HR 2615 EH (f) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Commission may 1 enter into contracts with and compensate the Federal Gov- 2 ernment, State and local governments, private entities, or 3 individuals to enable the Commission to perform the du- 4 ties of the Commission. 5 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 6 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than January 31 7 of each year, and annually thereafter until the final report 8 is submitted pursuant to subsection (b), the Commission 9 shall submit to the President and the Congress a report 10 on— 11 (1) the activities of the Commission; and 12 (2) the revenue and expenditures of the Com- 13 mission, including a list of each gift, bequest, or de- 14 vise to the Commission with a value of more than 15 $250, including the identity of the donor of each 16 gift, bequest, or devise. 17 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than January 31, 18 2018, the Commission shall submit a final report to the 19 President and the Congress containing— 20 (1) a summary of the activities of the Commis- 21 sion; and 22 (2) a final accounting of funds received and ex- 23 pended by the Commission. 24 8 •HR 2615 EH SEC. 8. ANNUAL AUDIT. 1 The Inspector General of the Department of the Inte- 2 rior— 3 (1) may perform an audit of the Commission; 4 (2) shall make the results of any such audit 5 available to the public; and 6 (3) shall transmit such results to the Com- 7 mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 8 House of Representatives and the Committee on 9 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 10 Senate. 11 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 12 In this Act: 13 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 14 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 15 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 16 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 17 the several States, the District of Columbia, each 18 territory or possession of the United States, and 19 each federally recognized Indian tribe. 20 SEC. 10. TERMINATION. 21 The Commission shall terminate on September 30, 22 2018, or may terminate at an earlier date determined by 23 the Commission after the final report is submitted pursu- 24 ant to section 7(b). 25 9 •HR 2615 EH SEC. 11. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 1 No Federal funds are authorized or may be obligated 2 to carry out this Act. 3 Passed the House of Representatives April 26, 2016. Attest: Clerk. 114TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2615 AN ACT To establish the Virgin Islands of the United States Centennial Commission.