travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

(g) FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMISSION.-It shall be the function of the Commission to make reports to the President and to the Congress with respect to

(1) the existence or possibility of any long- or short-term shortages; employment, price or business practices; or market adversities affecting the supply of any natural resources, raw agriculture commodities, materials, manufactured products (including any possible impairment of productive capacity which may result from shortages in materials, resources, commodities, manufactured products, plant or equipment, or capital investment, and the causes of such shortages, practices, or adversities);

(2) the adverse impact or possible adverse impact of such shortages, practices, or adversities upon consumers, in terms of price and lack of availability of desired goods;

(3) the need for, and the assessment of, alternative actions necessary to increase the availability of the items referred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection, to correct the adversity or practice affecting the availability of any such items, or otherwise to mitigate the adverse impact or possible adverse impact of shortages, practices, or adversities upon consumers referred to in paragraph (2) of this subsection;

(4) existing policies and practices of Government which may tend to affect the supply of natural resources and other commodities;

(5) necessary legislative and administrative actions to develop a comprehensive strategic and economic stockpiling and inventories policies which facilitates the availability of essential resources;

(6) the means by which information with respect to paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4) of this subsection can be most effectively and economically gathered and coordinated.

(h) REPORTS OF THE COMMISSION.-The Commission shall report no later than December 31, 1976, to the President and the Congress on specific recommendations with respect to institutional adjustments, including the advisability of establishing an independent agency to provide for a comprehensive data collection and storage system, to aid in examination and analysis of the supplies and shortages in the economy of the United States and in relation to the rest of the world. The Commission may, until March 31, 1977, prepare, publish and transmit to the President and the Congress such other reports and recommendations as it deems appropriate.

(i) ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (1) The Commission is authorized to establish such advisory committees as

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may be necessary or appropriate to carry out any specific analytical or investigative undertakings on behalf of the Commission. Any such committee shall be subject to the relevant provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

(2) The Commission shall establish an advisory committee to develop recommendations as to the establishment of a policy making process and structure_within the executive and legislative branches of the Federal Government as a means to integrate the study of supplies and shortages of resources and commodities into the total problem of balanced national growth and development, and a system for coordinating these efforts with appropriate multi-State, regional and State governmental jurisdictions. For the purpose of carrying out the provision of this paragraph there is authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $150,000 to remain available until March 31, 1977.

(j) STAFF AND POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.-(1) Subject to such rules and regulations as it may adopt, the Commission, through its Chairman, shall

(A) appoint and fix the compensation of an Executive Director at the rate provided for level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, and such additional staff personnel as is deemed necessary, without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and without regard to chapter 51, and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and the General Schedule under section 5332 of such title; and

(B) be authorized to procure temporary and intermittent services to the same extent as is authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code.

(2) The Commission or any subcommittee thereof is authorized to hold hearings and to sit and act at such times and places, as it may deem advisable.

(3) The Commission is authorized to contract with public or private agencies, institutions, corporations, and other organizations.

(k) ASSISTANCE OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.-Each department, agency, and instrumentality of the Federal Government, including the Congress, consistent with the Constitution of the United States, and independent agencies, is authorized and directed to furnish to the Commission, upon request made by the Chairman, such data, reports, and other information as the Commission deems necessary to carry out its functions under this Act.

(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.-There is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission not to exceed $1,484,000 to remain available until March 21, 1977, to carry out the provisions of this Act.

STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MATERIALS STOCK PILING ACT

50 U.S.C. 98

50 U.S.C. 98a

50 U.S.C. 98b

53 Stat. 811, as amended

* the natural resources of the United States in certain strategic and critical materials being deficient or insufficiently developed to supply the industrial, military, and naval needs of the country for common defense, it is the policy of the Congress and the purpose and intent of this Act to provide for the acquisition and retention of stocks of these materials and to encourage the conservation and development of sources of these materials within the United States, and thereby decrease and prevent wherever possible a dangerous and costly dependence of the United States upon foreign nations for supplies of these materials in times of national emergency.

SEC. 2. (a) To effectuate the policy set forth in section 1 hereof the President is hereby authorized and directed to determine, from time to time, which materials are strategic and critical under the provisions of this Act and to determine, from time to time, the quality and quantities of such materials which shall be stock piled under the provisions of this Act. In determining the materials which are strategic and critical and the quality and quantities of same to be acquired the Secretaries of State, Treasury, Agriculture, and Commerce shall each designate representatives to cooperate with the President in carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(b) To the fullest extent practicable the President shall appoint industry advisory committees selected from the industries concerned with the materials to be stock piled. It shall be the general function of the industry advisory committees to advise with the President and with any agencies through which he may exercise any of his functions under this Act with respect to the purchase, sale, care, and handling of such materials. Members of the industry advisory committees shall receive a per diem allowance of not to exceed $10 for each day spent at conferences held upon the call of the President, plus necessary traveling and other expenses while so engaged.

SEC. 3. The President shall direct the Administrator of General Services to

(a) make purchases of strategic and critical materials with due regard to the objectives set forth in section 1 of this Act and pursuant to the determinations as provided in section 2 hereof, which purchases (1) shall be made, so far as is practicable, from supplies of materials in excess of the current industrial demand and (2) shall be made in accordance with title III of the Act of March 3, 1933 (47 Stat. 1520), but may be made without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes. A reasonable time (not to exceed one year) shall be allowed for

production and delivery from domestic sources and in the case of any such material available in the United States but which has not been developed commercially, the President may, if he finds that the production of such material is economically feasible, direct the purchase of such material without requiring the vendor to give bond;

(b) provide for the storage, security, and maintenance of strategic and critical materials for stockpiling purposes on military and naval reservations or other locations, approved by the President;

(c) provide through normal commercial channels for the refining or processing of any materials acquired or transferred under this Act when the President deems such action necessary to convert such materials into a form best suitable for stock piling, and such materials may be refined, processed, or otherwise beneficiated either before or after their transfer from the owning agency;

(d) provide for the rotation of any strategic and critical materials constituting a part of the stock pile where necessary to prevent deterioration by replacement of acquired stocks with equivalent quantities of substantially the same material with the approval of the President;

(e) dispose of any materials held pursuant to this Act which are no longer needed because of any revised determination made pursuant to section 2 of this Act, as hereinafter provided. No such disposition shall be made until six months after publication in the Federal Register and transmission of a notice of the proposed disposition to the Congress and to the Armed Services Committee of each House thereof. Such notice shall state the reasons for such revised determination, the amounts of the materials proposed to be released, the plan of disposition proposed to be followed, and the date upon which the material is to become available for sale or transfer. The plan and date of disposition shall be fixed with due regard to the protection of the United States against avoidable loss on the sale or transfer of the material to be released and the protection of producers, processors, and consumers against avoidable disruption of their usual markets: Provided, That no material constituting a part of the stock piles may be disposed of without the express approval of the Congress except where the revised determination is by reason of obsolescence of that material for use in time of war. For the purposes of this paragraph a revised determination is by reason of obsolescence if such determination is on account of (1) deterioration, (2) development or discovery of a new or better material or materials, or (3) no further usefulness for use in time of war.

50 U.S.C. 98c

50 U.S.C. 98d

50 U.S.C. 98e

SEC. 4. The President shall submit to the Congress, not later than six months after the approval of this Act, and every six months thereafter a written report detailing the activities with respect to stock piling under this Act, including a statement of foreign and domestic purchases, and such other pertinent information on the administration of the Act as will enable the Congress to evaluate its administration and the need for amendments and related legislation.

SEC. 5. The stock piles shall consist of all such materials heretofore purchased or transferred to be held pursuant to this Act, or hereafter transferred pursuant to section 6 hereof, or hereafter purchased pursuant to section 3 hereof, and not disposed of pursuant to this Act. Except for the rotation to prevent deterioration and except for the disposal of any material pursuant to section 3 of this Act, materials acquired under this Act shall be released for use, sale, or other disposition only (a) on order of the President at any time when in his judgment such release is required for purposes of the common defense, or (b) in time of war or during a national emergency with respect to common defense proclaimed by the President, on order of such agency as may be designated by the President.

SEC. 6. (a) Pursuant to regulations issued by the General Services Administration, every material determined to be strategic and critical pursuant to section 2 hereof, which is owned or contracted for by the United States or any agency thereof, including any material received from a foreign government under an agreement made pursuant to the Act of March 11, 1941 (55 Stat. 31), as amended, or other authority, shall be transferred by the owning agency, when determined by such agency to be surplus to its needs and responsibilities, to the stock piles established pursuant to this Act, so long as the amount of the stock pile for that material does not exceed the quantities determined therefor pursuant to section 2 hereof. There shall be exempt from this requirement such amount of any material as is necessary to make up any deficiency of the supply of such material for the current requirements of industry as determined by the Secretary of Commerce. There shall also be exempt from this requirement (1) any material which constitutes contractor inventory if the owning agency shall not have taken possession of such inventory, (2) such amount of any material as the President determines (i) are held in lots so small as to make the transfer thereof economically impractical; or (ii) do not meet or cannot economically be converted to meet, stock-pile requirements determined in accordance with section 2 of this Act. The total material transferred to the stock piles established by this Act in accordance with this section during any fiscal year beginning more than twelve months after this Act becomes law shall not exceed in value (as determined by the Administrator of General