(a) Establishment
There is established a commission to be known as the "Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control" (in this section referred to as the "Commission").
(b) Membership and procedural matters
(1) The Commission shall be composed of five members, as follows:
(A) One member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
(B) One member shall be appointed by the Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
(C) One member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
(D) One member shall be appointed by the Ranking Minority Member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
(E) One member shall be appointed jointly by the members appointed under subparagraphs (A) through (D).
(2) Each member of the Commission shall, for purposes of the activities of the Commission under this section, possess or obtain an appropriate security clearance in accordance with applicable laws and regulations regarding the handling of classified information.
(3) The members of the Commission shall choose the chairman of the Commission from among the members of the Commission.
(4) The members of the Commission shall establish rules governing the procedures and proceedings of the Commission.
(c) Duties
The Commission shall have as its duties the following:
(1) To conduct a review of the current judicial, regulatory, and administrative authorities relating to the blocking of assets of foreign persons by the United States Government.
(2) To conduct a detailed examination and evaluation of the remedies available to United States persons affected by the blocking of assets of foreign persons by the United States Government.
(d) Powers
(1) The Commission may hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission considers advisable to carry out the purposes of this section.
(2) The Commission may secure directly from any executive department, agency, bureau, board, commission, office, independent establishment, or instrumentality of the Government information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics for the purposes of this section. Each such department, agency, bureau, board, commission, office, establishment, or instrumentality shall, to the extent authorized by law, furnish such information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics directly to the Commission, upon request of the chairman of the Commission. The Commission shall handle and protect all classified information provided to it under this section in accordance with applicable statutes and regulations.
(3) The Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury shall provide to the Commission, on a nonreimbursable basis, such administrative services, funds, facilities, and other support services as are necessary for the performance of the Commission's duties under this section.
(4) The Commission shall receive the full and timely cooperation of any official, department, or agency of the United States Government whose assistance is necessary for the fulfillment of the duties of the Commission under this section, including the provision of full and current briefings and analyses.
(5) No department or agency of the Government may withhold information from the Commission on the grounds that providing the information to the Commission would constitute the unauthorized disclosure of classified information or information relating to intelligence sources or methods.
(6) The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as the departments and agencies of the United States.
(e) Staff
(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the chairman of the Commission, in accordance with rules agreed upon by the Commission, shall appoint and fix the compensation of a staff director and such other personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its duties, without regard to the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in the competitive service, and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III or 1 chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, except that no rate of pay fixed under this subsection may exceed the equivalent of that payable to a person occupying a position at level V of the Executive Schedule under section
5316 of such title.
(2)(A) Any employee of a department or agency referred to in subparagraph (B) may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement from the Commission, and such detailee shall retain the rights, status, and privileges of his or her regular employment without interruption.
(B) The departments and agencies referred to in this subparagraph are as follows:
(i) The Department of Justice.
(ii) The Department of the Treasury.
(iii) The Central Intelligence Agency.
(3) All staff of the Commission shall possess a security clearance in accordance with applicable laws and regulations concerning the handling of classified information.
(f) Compensation and travel expenses
(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), each member of the Commission may be compensated at not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section
5315 of title 5 for each day during which that member is engaged in the actual performance of the duties of the Commission under this section.
(B) Members of the Commission who are officers or employees of the United States shall receive no additional pay by reason of their service on the Commission.
(2) While away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission, members of the Commission may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed intermittently in the Government service are allowed expenses under section
5703(b) 2 of title 5.
(g) Report
(1) Not later than 1 year after December 3, 1999, the Commissions 3 shall submit to the committees of Congress referred to in paragraph (4) a report on the activities of the Commission under this section, including the findings, conclusions, and recommendations, if any, of the Commission as a result of the review under subsection (c)(1) and the examination and evaluation under subsection (c)(2).
(2) The report under paragraph (1) shall include any additional or dissenting views of a member of the Commission upon the request of the member.
(3) The report under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
(4) The committees of Congress referred to in this paragraph are the following:
(A) The Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committees on Foreign Relations and the Judiciary of the Senate.
(B) The Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committees on International Relations and the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
(h) Termination
The Commission shall terminate at the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date on which the report required by subsection (g) is submitted to the committees of Congress referred to in that subsection.
(i) Inapplicability of certain administrative provisions
(1) The provisions of chapter 10 of title 5 shall not apply to the activities of the Commission under this section.
(2) The provisions of section
552 of title 5 (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act) shall not apply to the activities, records, and proceedings of the Commission under this chapter.
(j) Funding
The Attorney General shall, from amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General by this Act, make available to the Commission $1,000,000 for purposes of the activities of the Commission under this section. Amounts made available to the Commission under the preceding sentence shall remain available until expended.