Federal Maritime Commission National Shipper Advisory Committee Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 592 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2894 [Report No. 116–299] To establish a National Shipper Advisory Committee. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. WICKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation NOVEMBER 17, 2020 Reported by Mr. WICKER, with amendments [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To establish a National Shipper Advisory Committee. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Maritime 4 Commission National Shipper Advisory Committee Act of 5 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2894.RS S2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2894 RS SEC. 2. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 1 Part B of subtitle IV of title 46, United States Code, 2 is amended by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘CHAPTER 424—NATIONAL SHIPPER 4 ADVISORY COMMITTEE 5 ‘‘Sec. ‘‘42401. Definitions.National Shipper Advisory Committee. ‘‘42402. National Shipper Advisory Committee.Administration. ‘‘42403. Administration. ‘‘§ 42401. Definitions 6 ‘‘In this chapter: 7 ‘‘(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 8 means the Federal Maritime Commission. 9 ‘‘(2) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘Committee’ 10 means the National Shipper Advisory Committee es- 11 tablished by section 42402. 12 ‘‘§ 42402. National Shipper Advisory Committee 13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Na- 14 tional Shipper Advisory Committee. 15 ‘‘(b) FUNCTION.—The Committee shall advise the 16 Federal Maritime Commission on policies relating to the 17 competitiveness, reliability, integrity, and fairness of the 18 international ocean freight delivery system. 19 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall con- 21 sist of 24 members appointed by the Commission in 22 accordance with this section. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2894.RS S2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2894 RS ‘‘(2) EXPERTISE.—Each member of the Com- 1 mittee shall have particular expertise, knowledge, 2 and experience in matters relating to the function of 3 the Committee. 4 ‘‘(3) REPRESENTATION.—Members of the Com- 5 mittee shall be appointed as follows: 6 ‘‘(A) Twelve members shall represent enti- 7 ties who import cargo to the United States 8 using ocean common carriers. 9 ‘‘(B) Twelve members shall represent enti- 10 ties who export cargo from the United States 11 using ocean common carriers. 12 ‘‘§ 42403. Administration 13 ‘‘(a) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall, not less than 14 once each year, meet at the call of the Commission or a 15 majority of the members of the Committee. 16 ‘‘(b) EMPLOYEE STATUS.—A member of the Com- 17 mittee shall not be considered an employee of the Federal 18 Government by reason of service on such Committee, ex- 19 cept for the purposes of the following: 20 ‘‘(1) Chapter 81 of title 5. 21 ‘‘(2) Chapter 171 of title 28 and any other 22 Federal law relating to tort liability. 23 ‘‘(c) ACCEPTANCE OF VOLUNTEER SERVICES.—Not- 24 withstanding any other provision of law, a member of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2894.RS S2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2894 RS Committee may serve VOLUNTEER SERVICES REQUIRED.— 1 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a member of 2 the Committee shall serve on such committee on a vol- 3 untary basis without pay. 4 ‘‘(d) STATUS OF MEMBERS.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 6 graph (2), with respect to a member of the Com- 7 mittee whom the Commission appoints to represent 8 an entity or group— 9 ‘‘(A) the member is authorized to rep- 10 resent the interests of the applicable entity or 11 group; and 12 ‘‘(B) requirements under Federal law that 13 would interfere with such representation and 14 that apply to a special Government employee 15 (as defined in section 202(a) of title 18), in- 16 cluding requirements relating to employee con- 17 duct, political activities, ethics, conflicts of in- 18 terest, and corruption, do not apply to the 19 member. 20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding subsection 21 (b), a member of the Committee shall be treated as 22 a special Government employee for purposes of the 23 committee service of the member if the member, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2894.RS S2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2894 RS without regard to service on the committee, is a spe- 1 cial Government employee. 2 ‘‘(e) SERVICE ON COMMITTEE.— 3 ‘‘(1) SOLICITATION OF NOMINATIONS.—Before 4 appointing an individual as a member of the Com- 5 mittee, the Commission shall publish a timely notice 6 in the Federal Register soliciting nominations for 7 membership on such Committee. 8 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENTS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After considering 10 nominations received pursuant to a notice pub- 11 lished under paragraph (1), the Commission 12 may appoint a member to the Committee. 13 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—The Commission 14 shall not seek, consider, or otherwise use infor- 15 mation concerning the political affiliation of a 16 nominee in making an appointment to the Com- 17 mittee. 18 ‘‘(3) SERVICE AT PLEASURE OF THE COMMIS- 19 SION.—Each member of the Committee shall serve 20 at the pleasure of the Commission. 21 ‘‘(4) SECURITY BACKGROUND EXAMINATIONS.— 22 The Commission may require an individual to have 23 passed an appropriate security background examina- 24 tion before appointment to the Committee. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2894.RS S2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2894 RS ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION.—A Federal employee may 1 not be appointed as a member of the Committee. 2 ‘‘(6) TERMS.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term of each 4 member of the Committee shall expire on De- 5 cember 31 of the third full year after the effec- 6 tive date of the appointment. 7 ‘‘(B) CONTINUED SERVICE AFTER TERM.— 8 When the term of a member of the Committee 9 ends, the member, for a period not to exceed 1 10 year, may continue to serve as a member until 11 a successor is appointed. 12 ‘‘(7) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Committee 13 shall be filled in the same manner as the original ap- 14 pointment. 15 ‘‘(8) SPECIAL RULE FOR REAPPOINTMENTS.— 16 Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), the Com- 17 mission may reappoint a member of a committee for 18 any term, other than the first term of the member, 19 without soliciting, receiving, or considering nomina- 20 tions for such appointment. 21 ‘‘(f) STAFF SERVICES.—The Commission shall fur- 22 nish to the Committee any staff and services considered 23 by the Commission to be necessary for the conduct of the 24 Committee’s functions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2894.RS S2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2894 RS ‘‘(g) CHAIR; VICE CHAIR.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall elect 2 a Chair and Vice Chair from among the committee’s 3 members. 4 ‘‘(2) VICE CHAIRMAN ACTING AS CHAIRMAN.— 5 The Vice Chair shall act as Chair in the absence or 6 incapacity of, or in the event of a vacancy in the of- 7 fice of, the Chair. 8 ‘‘(h) SUBCOMMITTEES AND WORKING GROUPS.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chair of the Com- 10 mittee may establish and disestablish subcommittees 11 and working groups for any purpose consistent with 12 the function of the Committee. 13 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS.—Subject to conditions im- 14 posed by the Chair, members of the Committee may 15 be assigned to subcommittees and working groups 16 established under paragraph (1). 17 ‘‘(i) CONSULTATION, ADVICE, REPORTS, AND REC- 18 OMMENDATIONS.— 19 ‘‘(1) CONSULTATION.—Before taking any sig- 20 nificant action, the Commission shall consult with, 21 and consider the information, advice, and rec- 22 ommendations of, the Committee if the function of 23 the Committee is to advise the Commission on mat- 24 ters related to the significant action. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2894.RS S2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2894 RS ‘‘(2) ADVICE, REPORTS, AND RECOMMENDA- 1 TIONS.—The Committee shall submit, in writing, to 2 the Commission its advice, reports, and rec- 3 ommendations, in a form and at a frequency deter- 4 mined appropriate by the Committee. 5 ‘‘(3) EXPLANATION OF ACTIONS TAKEN.—Not 6 later than 60 days after the date on which the Com- 7 mission receives recommendations from the Com- 8 mittee under paragraph (2), the Commission shall— 9 ‘‘(A) publish the recommendations on a 10 public website; and 11 ‘‘(B) respond, in writing, to the Committee 12 regarding the recommendations, including by 13 providing an explanation of actions taken re- 14 garding the recommendations. 15 ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Commis- 16 sion shall submit to the Committee on Transpor- 17 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Represent- 18 atives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 19 and Transportation of the Senate the advice, re- 20 ports, and recommendations received from the Com- 21 mittee under paragraph (2). 22 ‘‘(j) OBSERVERS.—The Commission may designate a 23 representative to— 24 ‘‘(1) attend any meeting of the Committee; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2894.RS S2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2894 RS ‘‘(2) participate as an observer at such meeting. 1 ‘‘(k) TERMINATION.—The Committee shall terminate 2 on September 30, 2029.’’. 3 SEC. 3. NO FUNDING AUTHORIZED. 4 No additional funds are authorized to carry out this 5 Act or the amendment made by this Act. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2894.RS S2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 592 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2894 [Report No. 116–299] A BILL To establish a National Shipper Advisory Committee. NOVEMBER 17, 2020 Reported with amendments VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Nov 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S2894.RS S2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS