General powers

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§1331. General powers

(a) Administration

(1)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the chairman of the Commission shall-

(i) appoint and fix the compensation of such employees of the Commission as he deems necessary (other than the personal staff of each commissioner), including the secretary,

(ii) procure the services of experts and consultants in accordance with the provisions of section 3109 of title 5, and

(iii) exercise and be responsible for all other administrative functions of the Commission.


(B) The chairman of the Commission may accept, hold, administer, and utilize gifts, devises, and bequests of property, both real and personal, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Commission.

(C) Any decision by the chairman under subparagraph (A) or (B) shall be subject to disapproval by a majority vote of all the commissioners in office.

(2) Subject to approval by a majority vote of all the commissioners in office, the chairman may-

(A) terminate the employment of any supervisory employee of the Commission whose duties involve substantial personal responsibility for Commission matters and who is compensated at a rate equal to, or in excess of, the rate for grade GS–15 of the General Schedule in section 5332 of title 5, and

(B) formulate the annual budget of the Commission.


(3) No member of the Commission, in making public statements with respect to any policy matter for which the Commission has responsibility, shall represent himself as speaking for the Commission, or his views as being the views of the Commission, with respect to such matter except to the extent that the Commission has adopted the policy being expressed.

(b) Application of civil service law

Except for employees excepted under civil service rules, all employees of the commission shall be appointed from lists of eligibles to be supplied by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and in accordance with the civil service law.

(c) Expenses

All of the expenses of the commission, including all necessary expenses for transportation incurred by the commissioners or by their employees under their orders in making any investigation or upon official business in any other places than at their respective headquarters, shall be allowed and paid on the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor approved by the chairman (except that in the case of a commissioner, or the personal staff of any commissioner, such vouchers may be approved by that commissioner).

(d) Principal office at Washington

The principal office of the commission shall be in the city of Washington, but it may meet and exercise all its powers at any other place. The commission may, by one or more of its members, or by such agents as it may designate, prosecute any inquiry necessary to its duties in any part of the United States or in any foreign country.

(e) Office at New York

The commission is authorized to establish and maintain an office at the port of New York for the purpose of directing or carrying on any investigation, receiving and compiling statistics, selecting, describing, and filing samples of articles, and performing any of the duties or exercising any of the powers imposed upon it by law.

(f) Official seal

The commission is authorized to adopt an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed.

(June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title III, §331, 46 Stat. 697 ; Pub. L. 95–106, §3(a), (b), Aug. 17, 1977, 91 Stat. 868 ; 1978 Reorg. Plan No. 2, §102, eff. Jan. 1, 1979, 43 F.R. 36037, 92 Stat. 3783; Pub. L. 97–456, §1(b), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2503 .)

Codification

In subsec. (a), provisions which specified a salary of $7,500 per year for the secretary to the commission have been omitted as obsolete and superseded. Sections 1202 and 1204 of the Classification Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 972, 973, repealed the Classification Act of 1923 and all other laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the 1949 Act. The Classification Act of 1949 was repealed by Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, §8(a), 80 Stat. 632 , and reenacted as chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Section 5102 of Title 5 contains the applicability provisions of the 1949 Act, and section 5103 of Title 5 authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to determine the applicability to specific positions and employees.

In subsec. (b), the words "Except for employees excepted under the civil service rules" substituted for "With the exception of the secretary, a clerk to each commissioner, and such special experts as the commission may from time to time find necessary for the conduct of its work". Appointments are now subject to the civil service laws unless specifically excepted by such laws or by laws enacted subsequent to Executive Order 8743, Apr. 23, 1941, issued by the President pursuant to the act of Nov. 26, 1940, ch. 919, title I, §1, 54 Stat. 1211 , which covered most excepted positions into the classified (competitive) civil service. The Order is set out as a note under section 3301 of Title 5.

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to subsecs. (a) to (e) of this section were contained in act Sept. 8, 1916, ch. 463, §701, 39 Stat. 975 . That section was superseded by section 331 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section.

Provisions similar to those in subsecs. (f) and (g) of this section were contained in act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title III, §318, 42 Stat. 947 . That section was superseded by section 331 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.

Amendments

1983-Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 97–456 designated existing provisions relating to the chairman's exercise of and responsibility for all administrative functions as subpar. (A), redesignated former subpars. (A) through (C) as cls. (i) through (iii), added subpar. (B), designated provisions relating to disapproval by a majority of the commissioners of any decision by the chairman as subpar. (C), and in (C) as so designated, substituted "subparagraph (A) or (B)" for "this paragraph" after "chairman under".

1977-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95–106, §3(a), designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted provisions authorizing the chairman to perform certain required functions subject to approval by the Commission for provisions authorizing the Commission to perform certain required functions and inserted provisions requiring the chairman to exercise and be responsible for all other administrative functions of the Commission, and added pars. (2) and (3).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95–106, §3(b)(1), substituted "approved by the chairman (except that in the case of a commissioner, or the personal staff of any commissioner, such vouchers may be approved by that commissioner)" for "approved by the Commission".

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 95–106, §3(b)(2), redesignated subsecs. (e) to (g) as (d) to (f), respectively. Former subsec. (d), relating to offices and supplies, was struck out.

Effective Date of 1977 Amendment

Pub. L. 95–106, §3(c), Aug. 17, 1977, 91 Stat. 869 , provided that: "The amendments made by this section [amending this section] take effect on the date of enactment of this Act [Aug. 17, 1977]."

Transfer of Functions

"Director of the Office of Personnel Management" substituted for "Civil Service Commission" in subsec. (b) pursuant to Reorg. Plan No. 2 of 1978, §102, 43 F.R. 36037, 92 Stat. 3783, set out under section 1101 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, which transferred functions vested by statute in Civil Service Commission to Director of Office of Personnel Management (except as otherwise specified), effective Jan. 1, 1979, as provided by section 1–102 of Ex. Ord. No. 12107, Dec. 28, 1978, 44 F.R. 1055, set out under section 1101 of Title 5.


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