COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY EMANUEL CELLER, New York, Chairman MICHAEL A. FEIGHAN, Ohio ROBERT T. ASHMORE, South Carolina BASIL L. WHITENER, North Carolina ROBERT W. KASTENMEIER, Wisconsin WILLIAM L. ST. ONGE, Connecticut WILLIAM M. McCULLOCH, Ohio CHARLES MCC. MATHIAS, JR., Maryland BESS E. DICK, Staff Director WILLIAM R. FOLEY, General Counsel MURRAY DRABKIN, Counsel HERBERT FUCHS, Counsel WILLIAM L. SHATTUCK, Counsel BENJAMIN L. ZELENKO, Counsel CHARLES J. ZINN, Law Revision Counsel п To provide means of further securing and protecting the civil rights of persons within the jurisdiction of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, PART I-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS SEC. 101. (a) There is created in the executive branch of the Government a Commission on Civil Rights (hereinafter called the "Commission"). (b) The Commission shall be composed of six members who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Not more than three of the members shall at any one time be of the same political party. (c) The President shall designate one of the members of the Commission as Chairman and one as Vice Chairman. The Vice Chairman shall act as Chairman in the absence or disability of the Chairman, or in the event of a vacancy in that office. (d) Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers and shall be filled in the same manner, and subject to the same limitation with respect to party affiliations as the original appointment was made. (e) Four members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COMMISSION SEC. 102. (a) 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 the witness before the Commission. (c) Witnesses at the hearings may be accompanied by their own counsel for the purpose of advising them concerning their constitutional rights. (d) The Chairman or Acting Chairman may punish breaches of order and decorum and unprofessional ethics on the part of counsel, 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 (1) receive such evidence or testimony in executive session; (2) afford such person an opportunity voluntarily to appear as a witness; and (3) receive and dispose of requests from such person to subpena additional witnesses. (f) Except as provided in sections 102 and 105 (f) of this Act, the Chairman shall receive and the Commission shall dispose of requests to subpena additional witnesses. Release. (g) No evidence or testimony taken in executive session may be Evidence or released or used in public sessions without the consent of the Com- testimony. mission. Whoever releases or uses in public without the consent of the Commission 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 is the sole judge of the pertinency of testimony and evidence adduced at its hearings. 1 71 Stat. 635. Witness fees. Reports to President and Termination of (i) Upon payment of the cost thereof, a witness may obtain a transcript copy of his testimony given at a public session or, if given at an executive session, when authorized by the Commission. (j) A witness attending any session of the Commission shall receive $4 for each day's attendance and for the time necessarily occupied in going to and returning from the same, and 8 cents per mile for going from and returning to his place of residence. Witnesses who attend at points so far removed from their respective residences as to prohibit return thereto from day to day shall be entitled to an additional allowance of $12 per day for expenses of subsistence, including the time necessarily occupied in going to and returning from the place of attendance. Mileage payments shall be tendered to the witness upon service of a subpena issued on behalf of the Commission or any subcommittee thereof. (k) The Commission shall not issue any subpena for the attendance and testimony of witnesses or for the production of written or other matter which would require the presence of the party subpenaed at a hearing to be held outside of the State, wherein the witness is found or resides or transacts business. COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION SEC. 103. (a) Each member of the Commission who is not otherwise in the service of the Government of the United States shall receive the sum of $50 per day for each day spent in the work of the Commission, shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary travel expenses, and shall receive a per diem allowance of $12 in lieu of actual expenses for subsistence when away from his usual place of residence, inclusive of fees or tips to porters and stewards. (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 reimbursed for actual and necessary travel expenses, and shall receive a per diem allowance of $12 in lieu of actual expenses for subsistence when away from his usual place of residence, inclusive of fees or tips to porters and stewards. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION SEC. 104. (a) The Commission shall (1) investigate allegations in writing under oath or affirmation 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, 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 developments constituting a denial of equal protection of the laws under the Constitution; and (3) appraise the laws and policies of the Federal Government with respect to equal protection of the laws under the Constitution. (b) The Commission shall submit interim reports to the President and to the Congress at such times as either the Commission or the President shall deem desirable, and shall submit to the President and to the Congress a final and comprehensive report of its activities, findings, and recommendations not later than two years from the date of the enactment of this Act. (c) Sixty days after the submission of its final report and recommendations the Commission shall cease to exist. |