| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 6351 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To establish the Commission on National Agricultural Statistics Service Mod- |
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| 6 | 6 | | ernization to modernize the data collection and reporting processes of |
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| 7 | 7 | | the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | NOVEMBER9, 2023 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. M |
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| 11 | 11 | | OOREof Alabama (for himself and Mr. LANGWORTHY) introduced the |
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| 12 | 12 | | following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To establish the Commission on National Agricultural Statis- |
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| 15 | 15 | | tics Service Modernization to modernize the data collec- |
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| 16 | 16 | | tion and reporting processes of the National Agricultural |
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| 17 | 17 | | Statistics Service, and for other purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. COMMISSION ON NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | STATISTICS SERVICE MODERNIZATION. 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (a) E |
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| 23 | 23 | | STABLISHMENT.—There is established a com-5 |
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| 24 | 24 | | mission to be known as the Commission on National Agri-6 |
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| 25 | 25 | | cultural Statistics Service Modernization (referred to in 7 |
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| 26 | 26 | | this section as the ‘‘Commission’’). 8 |
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| 28 | 28 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | •HR 6351 IH |
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| 30 | 30 | | (b) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a study 1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | of the National Agricultural Statistics Service and provide 2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | recommendations on— 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (1) how data collection can be modernized and 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | streamlined to— 5 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (A) improve the quality of statistics re-6 |
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| 36 | 36 | | ported; 7 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (B) account for differences of national, re-8 |
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| 38 | 38 | | gional, and local production; 9 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (C) accelerate adoption of new and innova-10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | tive technologies to reduce the number of sur-11 |
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| 41 | 41 | | veys needed; 12 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (D) improve producer response rates in 13 |
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| 43 | 43 | | statistical surveys and identifying ways to re-14 |
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| 44 | 44 | | duce survey fatigue; 15 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (E) increase transparency and confidence 16 |
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| 46 | 46 | | in statistical reports through improved collabo-17 |
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| 47 | 47 | | ration with agricultural stakeholders; and 18 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (F) use more real-time statistical and envi-19 |
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| 49 | 49 | | ronmental data to complement existing survey- 20 |
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| 50 | 50 | | based data and reporting; and 21 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (2) how the modernization and streamlining de-22 |
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| 52 | 52 | | termined under paragraph (1) can be implemented 23 |
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| 53 | 53 | | and the estimated costs of such implementation. 24 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (c) M |
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| 55 | 55 | | EMBERSHIP.— 25 |
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| 58 | 58 | | •HR 6351 IH |
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| 59 | 59 | | (1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall con-1 |
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| 60 | 60 | | sist of the following 11 members: 2 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (A) The Administrator of the National Ag-3 |
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| 62 | 62 | | ricultural Statistics Service of the Department 4 |
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| 63 | 63 | | of Agriculture. 5 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (B) The Administrator of the Economic 6 |
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| 65 | 65 | | Research Service of the Department of Agri-7 |
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| 66 | 66 | | culture. 8 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (C) The Chief Economist of the Depart-9 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ment of Agriculture. 10 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (D) The Chair of the World Agricultural 11 |
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| 70 | 70 | | Outlook Board of the Department of Agri-12 |
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| 71 | 71 | | culture. 13 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (E) A representative from the Bureau of 14 |
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| 73 | 73 | | Labor Statistics. 15 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (F) 3 members appointed by the Com-16 |
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| 75 | 75 | | mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 17 |
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| 76 | 76 | | of the Senate, of which— 18 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (i) 1 shall be appointed by the Chair-19 |
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| 78 | 78 | | man of the Committee; 20 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (ii) 1 shall be appointed by the Rank-21 |
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| 80 | 80 | | ing Member of the Committee; and 22 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (iii) 1 shall be appointed jointly by the 23 |
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| 82 | 82 | | Chairman and Ranking Member of the 24 |
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| 83 | 83 | | Committee. 25 |
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| 86 | 86 | | •HR 6351 IH |
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| 87 | 87 | | (G) 3 members appointed by the Com-1 |
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| 88 | 88 | | mittee on Agriculture of the House of Rep-2 |
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| 89 | 89 | | resentatives, of which— 3 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (i) 1 shall be appointed by the Chair-4 |
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| 91 | 91 | | man of the Committee; 5 |
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| 92 | 92 | | (ii) 1 shall be appointed by the Rank-6 |
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| 93 | 93 | | ing Member of the Committee; and 7 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (iii) 1 shall be appointed jointly by the 8 |
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| 95 | 95 | | Chairman and Ranking Member of the 9 |
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| 96 | 96 | | Committee. 10 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (2) D |
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| 98 | 98 | | ATE OF APPOINTMENTS .—The appoint-11 |
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| 99 | 99 | | ment of all members of the Commission shall be 12 |
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| 100 | 100 | | made not later than 60 days after the date of enact-13 |
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| 101 | 101 | | ment of this Act. 14 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (3) T |
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| 103 | 103 | | ERM; VACANCIES.— 15 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (A) T |
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| 105 | 105 | | ERM.—A member shall be appointed 16 |
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| 106 | 106 | | for the duration of the Commission. 17 |
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| 107 | 107 | | (B) V |
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| 108 | 108 | | ACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Com-18 |
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| 109 | 109 | | mission— 19 |
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| 110 | 110 | | (i) shall not affect the powers of the 20 |
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| 111 | 111 | | Commission; and 21 |
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| 112 | 112 | | (ii) shall be filled in the same manner 22 |
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| 113 | 113 | | as the original appointment was made. 23 |
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| 114 | 114 | | (4) I |
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| 115 | 115 | | NITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 60 days 24 |
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| 116 | 116 | | after the date on which all members of the Commis-25 |
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| 119 | 119 | | •HR 6351 IH |
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| 120 | 120 | | sion have been first appointed, the Commission shall 1 |
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| 121 | 121 | | hold the initial meeting of the Commission. 2 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (d) Q |
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| 123 | 123 | | UORUM.—A majority of the members of the 3 |
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| 124 | 124 | | Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 4 |
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| 125 | 125 | | of business, but a lesser number of members may hold 5 |
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| 126 | 126 | | hearings. 6 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (e) C |
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| 128 | 128 | | HAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Commis-7 |
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| 129 | 129 | | sion shall be selected by a majority of the Members of 8 |
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| 130 | 130 | | the Commission. 9 |
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| 131 | 131 | | (f) R |
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| 132 | 132 | | EPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 10 |
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| 133 | 133 | | of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to 11 |
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| 134 | 134 | | the President, the Committee on Agriculture of the House 12 |
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| 135 | 135 | | of Representatives, and the Committee on Agriculture, 13 |
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| 136 | 136 | | Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report containing 14 |
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| 137 | 137 | | the results of the study required by subsection (b), includ-15 |
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| 138 | 138 | | ing— 16 |
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| 139 | 139 | | (1) an inventory of surveys conducted by the 17 |
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| 140 | 140 | | National Agricultural Statistics Service and the fre-18 |
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| 141 | 141 | | quency with which they are conducted; and 19 |
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| 142 | 142 | | (2) such recommendations for administrative, 20 |
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| 143 | 143 | | regulatory, and legislative changes as the Commis-21 |
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| 144 | 144 | | sion considers appropriate. 22 |
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| 145 | 145 | | (g) H |
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| 146 | 146 | | EARINGS.—The Commission shall hold such 23 |
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| 147 | 147 | | hearings, meet and act at such times and places, take such 24 |
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| 150 | 150 | | •HR 6351 IH |
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| 151 | 151 | | testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission 1 |
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| 152 | 152 | | considers appropriate to carry out this section. 2 |
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| 153 | 153 | | (h) S |
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| 154 | 154 | | TAKEHOLDERENGAGEMENT.—The Commission 3 |
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| 155 | 155 | | shall establish a process to collect feedback from agricul-4 |
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| 156 | 156 | | tural stakeholders to inform the results of the study re-5 |
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| 157 | 157 | | quired under subsection (b) and the report required under 6 |
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| 158 | 158 | | subsection (f). 7 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (i) I |
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| 160 | 160 | | NFORMATIONFROMFEDERALAGENCIES.— 8 |
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| 161 | 161 | | (1) I |
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| 162 | 162 | | N GENERAL.—The Commission may secure 9 |
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| 163 | 163 | | directly from a Federal agency such information as 10 |
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| 164 | 164 | | the Commission considers necessary to carry out this 11 |
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| 165 | 165 | | section. 12 |
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| 166 | 166 | | (2) A |
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| 167 | 167 | | UTHORITY TO REQUEST INFORMATION .— 13 |
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| 168 | 168 | | At the request of the Chairperson of the Commission 14 |
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| 169 | 169 | | for information described in paragraph (1), the head 15 |
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| 170 | 170 | | of a Federal agency shall provide such information 16 |
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| 171 | 171 | | to the Commission. 17 |
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| 172 | 172 | | (j) P |
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| 173 | 173 | | OSTALSERVICES.—The Commission may use 18 |
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| 174 | 174 | | the United States mail in the same manner and under the 19 |
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| 175 | 175 | | same conditions as other agencies of the Federal Govern-20 |
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| 176 | 176 | | ment. 21 |
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| 177 | 177 | | (k) A |
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| 178 | 178 | | SSISTANCEFROM THESECRETARY.—The Sec-22 |
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| 179 | 179 | | retary of Agriculture shall provide to the Commission ap-23 |
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| 180 | 180 | | propriate office space and such reasonable administrative 24 |
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| 181 | 181 | | and support services as the Commission may request. 25 |
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| 184 | 184 | | •HR 6351 IH |
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| 185 | 185 | | (l) COMPENSATION OFMEMBERS.— 1 |
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| 186 | 186 | | (1) N |
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| 187 | 187 | | ON-FEDERAL EMPLOYEES .—A member of 2 |
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| 188 | 188 | | the Commission who is not an officer or employee of 3 |
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| 189 | 189 | | the Federal Government shall be compensated at a 4 |
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| 190 | 190 | | rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate 5 |
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| 191 | 191 | | of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive 6 |
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| 192 | 192 | | Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 7 |
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| 193 | 193 | | States Code, for each day (including travel time) 8 |
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| 194 | 194 | | during which the member is engaged in the perform-9 |
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| 195 | 195 | | ance of the duties of the Commission. 10 |
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| 196 | 196 | | (2) F |
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| 197 | 197 | | EDERAL EMPLOYEES .—A member of the 11 |
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| 198 | 198 | | Commission who is an officer or employee of the 12 |
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| 199 | 199 | | Federal Government shall serve without compensa-13 |
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| 200 | 200 | | tion in addition to the compensation received for the 14 |
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| 201 | 201 | | services of the member as an officer or employee of 15 |
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| 202 | 202 | | the Federal Government. 16 |
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| 203 | 203 | | (3) T |
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| 204 | 204 | | RAVEL EXPENSES .—A member of the 17 |
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| 205 | 205 | | Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includ-18 |
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| 206 | 206 | | ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author-19 |
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| 207 | 207 | | ized for an employee of an agency under subchapter 20 |
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| 208 | 208 | | I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 21 |
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| 209 | 209 | | away from the home or regular place of business of 22 |
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| 210 | 210 | | the member in the performance of the duties of the 23 |
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| 211 | 211 | | Commission. 24 |
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| 214 | 214 | | •HR 6351 IH |
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| 215 | 215 | | (m) FEDERALADVISORYCOMMITTEEACT.—Sec-1 |
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| 216 | 216 | | tions 1008 and 1013 of title 5, United States Code, shall 2 |
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| 217 | 217 | | not apply to the Commission or any proceeding of the 3 |
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| 218 | 218 | | Commission. 4 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (n) T |
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| 220 | 220 | | ERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 5 |
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| 221 | 221 | | on September 30, 2028. 6 |
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| 222 | 222 | | (o) F |
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| 223 | 223 | | UNDING.—There is authorized to be appro-7 |
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| 224 | 224 | | priated to carry out this section $1,000,000 for fiscal year 8 |
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| 225 | 225 | | 2024, to remain available until expended. 9 |
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| 226 | 226 | | Æ |
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