§ 1330 — Organization Of Commission

(a) The United States International Trade Commission (referred to in this subtitle as the “Commission”) shall be composed of six commissioners who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. No person shall be eligible for appointment as a commissioner unless he is a citizen of the United States, and, in the judgment of the President, is possessed of qualifications requisite for developing expert knowledge of international trade problems and efficiency in administering the duties and functions of the Commission. A person who has served as a commissioner for more than 5 years (excluding service as a commissioner before January 3, 1975) shall not be eligible for reappointment as a commissioner. Not more than three of the commissioners shall be members of the same political party, and in making appointments members of different political parties shall be appointed alternately as nearly as may be practicable. (b) The terms of office of the commissioners holding office on January 3, 1975, which (but for this sentence) would expire on June 16, 1975, June 16, 1976, June 16, 1977, June 16, 1978, June 16, 1979, and June 16, 1980, shall expire on December 16, 1976, June 16, 1978, December 16, 1979, June 16, 1981, December 16, 1982, and June 16, 1984, respectively. The term of office of each commissioner appointed after such date shall expire 9 years from the date of the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed, except that— (1) any commissioner appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term, and (2) any commissioner may continue to serve as a commissioner after an expiration of his term of office until his successor is appointed and qualified. (1) who, as of such date— (A) is a member of a different political party than the chairman of the Commission for the immediately preceding term, and (B) has the longest period of continuous service as a commissioner, (2) After June 16, 1978, the terms of office for the chairman and vice chairman of the Commission shall be as follows: (A) The first term of office occurring after such date shall begin on June 17, 1978, and end at the close of June 16, 1980. (B) Each term of office thereafter shall begin on the day after the closing date of the immediately preceding term of office and end at the close of the 2-year period beginning on such day. (A) The President may not designate as the chairman of the Commission for any term any commissioner who is a member of the political party of which the chairman of the Commission for the immediately preceding term is a member, or who has less than 1 year of continuous service as a commissioner as of the date such designation is being made. (B) The President may not designate as the vice chairman of the Commission for any term any commissioner who is a member of the political party of which the chairman for that term is a member. (C) If any commissioner does not complete a term as chairman or vice chairman by reason of death, resignation, removal from office as a commissioner, or expiration of his term of office as a commissioner, the President shall designate as the chairman or vice chairman, as the case may be, for the remainder of such term a commissioner who is a member of the same political party. Designation of a chairman under this subparagraph may be made without regard to the 1-year continuous service requirement under subparagraph (A). (4) The vice chairman shall act as chairman in case of the absence or disability of the chairman. During any period in which there is no chairman or vice chairman, the commissioner having the longest period of continuous service as a commissioner shall act as chairman. (5) No commissioner shall actively engage in any business, vocation, or employment other than that of serving as a commissioner. (6) A majority of the commissioners in office shall constitute a quorum, but the Commission may function notwithstanding vacancies. (1) In a proceeding in which the Commission is required to determine— (A) under section 2252 of this title, whether increased imports of an article are a substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof, as described in subsection (b)(1) of that section (hereafter in this subsection referred to as “serious injury”), or (B) under section 2436 of this title, whether market disruption exists. (2) If under section 2252(b) or 2436 of this title there is an affirmative determination of the Commission, or a determination of the Commission which the President may consider an affirmative determination under paragraph (1), that serious injury or market disruption exists, respectively, and a majority of the commissioners voting are unable to agree on a finding or recommendation described in section 2252(e)(1) of this title or the finding described in section 2436(a)(3) of this title, as the case may be (hereafter in this subsection referred to as a “remedy finding”), then— (A) if a plurality of not less than three commissioners so voting agree on a remedy finding, such remedy finding shall, for purposes of section 2253 of this title, be treated as the remedy finding of the Commission, or (B) if two groups, both of which include not less than 3 commissioners, each agree upon a remedy finding and the President reports under section 2254(a) of this title that— (i) he is taking the action agreed upon by one such group, then the remedy finding agreed upon by the other group shall, for purposes of section 2253 of this title, be treated as the remedy finding of the Commission, or (ii) he is taking action which differs from the action agreed upon by both such groups, or that he will not take any action, then the remedy finding agreed upon by either such group may be considered by the Congress as the remedy finding of the Commission and shall, for purposes of section 2253 of this title, be treated as the remedy finding of the Commission. (3) In any proceeding to which paragraph (1) applies in which the commissioners voting are equally divided on a determination that serious injury exists, or that market disruption exists, the Commission shall report to the President the determination of each group of commissioners. In any proceeding to which paragraph (2) applies, the Commission shall report to the President the remedy finding of each group of commissioners voting. (4) In a case to which paragraph (2)(B)(ii) applies, for purposes of section 2253(a) of this title, notwithstanding section 2192(a)(1)(A) of this title, the second blank space in the joint resolution described in such section 2192(a)(1)(A) of this title shall be filled with the appropriate date and the following: “The action which shall take effect under section 203(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 is the finding or recommendation agreed upon by Commissioners _______, _______, and ______.” The three blank spaces shall be filled with the names of the appropriate Commissioners. (5) Whenever, in any case in which the Commission is authorized to make an investigation upon its own motion, upon complaint, or upon application of any interested party, one-half of the number of commissioners voting agree that the investigation should be made, such investigation shall thereupon be carried out in accordance with the statutory authority covering the matter in question. Whenever the Commission is authorized to hold hearings in the course of any investigation and one-half of the number of commissioners voting agree that hearings should be held, such hearings shall thereupon be held in accordance with the statutory authority covering the matter in question. (1) For the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1976, and each fiscal year thereafter, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission only such sums as may hereafter be provided by law. (A) There are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for necessary expenses (including the rental of conference rooms in the District of Columbia and elsewhere) not to exceed the following: (i) $54,000,000 for fiscal year 2003. (ii) $57,240,000 for fiscal year 2004. (B) Not to exceed $2,500 of the amount authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year under subparagraph (A) may be used, subject to the approval of the Chairman of the Commission, for reception and entertainment expenses. (C) No part of any sum that is appropriated under the authority of subparagraph (A) may be used by the Commission in the making of any special study, investigation, or report that is requested by any agency of the executive branch unless that agency reimburses the Commission for the cost thereof. (3) There are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for each fiscal year after September 30, 1977, in addition to any other amount authorized to be appropriated for such fiscal year, such sums as may be necessary for increases authorized by law in salary, pay, retirement, and other employee benefits. (4) By not later than the date on which the President submits to Congress the budget of the United States Government for a fiscal year, the Commission shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate the projected amount of funds for the succeeding fiscal year that will be necessary for the Commission to carry out its functions. (f) The Commission shall be considered to be an independent regulatory agency for purposes of chapter 35 of title 44.