20 U.S.C. § 955 : US Code - Section 955: National Council on the Arts

Search 20 U.S.C. § 955 : US Code - Section 955: National Council on the Arts

(a) Inclusion within the National Endowment for the Arts
There shall be, within the National Endowment for the Arts, a
National Council on the Arts (hereinafter in this section referred
to as the "Council").
(b) Appointment and composition of Council
(1) The Council shall be composed of members as follows:
(A) The Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts, who
shall be the chairperson of the Council.
(B) Members of Congress appointed for a 2-year term beginning
on January 1 of each odd-numbered year as follows:
(i) Two Members of the House of Representatives appointed by
the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(ii) One Member of the House of Representatives appointed by
the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
(iii) Two Senator (!1) appointed by the Majority Leader of
the Senate.
(iv) One Senator appointed by the Minority Leader of the
Senate.
Members of the Council appointed under this subparagraph shall
serve ex officio and shall be nonvoting members of the Council.
(C) 14 members appointed by the President, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, who shall be selected -
(i) from among private citizens of the United States who -
(I) are widely recognized for their broad knowledge of, or
expertise in, or for their profound interest in the arts; and
(II) have established records of distinguished service, or
achieved eminence, in the arts;
(ii) so as to include practicing artists, civic cultural
leaders, members of the museum profession, and others who are
professionally engaged in the arts; and
(iii) so as collectively to provide an appropriate
distribution of membership among major art fields and
interested citizens groups.
In making such appointments, the President shall give due regard to
equitable representation of women, minorities, and individuals with
disabilities who are involved in the arts and shall make such
appointments so as to represent equitably all geographical areas in
the United States.
(2) Transition to the new council composition. -
(A) Notwithstanding subsection (b)(1)(B) of this section,
members first appointed pursuant to such subsection shall be
appointed not later than December 31, 1997. Notwithstanding such
subsection, such members shall be appointed to serve until
December 31, 1998.
(B) Members of the Council serving on the effective date of
this subsection may continue to serve on the Council until their
current terms expire and new members shall not be appointed under
subsection (b)(1)(C) of this section until the number of
Presidentially appointed members is less than 14.
(c) Terms of office; vacancies
Each member appointed under subsection (b)(1)(C) of this section
shall hold office for a term of six years, and the terms of office
shall be staggered. The terms of office of all Council members
appointed under subsection (b)(1)(C) of this section shall expire
on the third day of September in the year of expiration. No member
appointed under subsection (b)(1)(C) of this section shall be
eligible for reappointment during the two-year period following the
expiration of such member's term. Any member appointed under
subsection (b)(1)(C) of this section appointed (!2) to fill a
vacancy shall serve for the remainder of the term for which such
member's predecessor was appointed. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this subsection, a member appointed under subsection
(b)(1)(C) of this section shall serve after the expiration of such
member's term until such member's successor takes office.
(d) Meetings of Council; quorum; written records
(1) The Council shall meet at the call of the Chairperson but not
less often than twice during each calendar year. Eight members of
the Council shall constitute a quorum. All policy meetings of the
Council shall be open to the public.
(2) The Council shall -
(A) create written records summarizing -
(i) all meetings and discussions of the Council; and
(ii) the recommendations made by the Council to the
Chairperson; and
(B) make such records available to the public in a manner that
protects the privacy of individual applicants, panel members, and
Council members.
(e) Compensation of members
Members shall receive compensation at a rate to be fixed by the
Chairperson but not to exceed the per diem equivalent of the rate
authorized for grade GS-18 by section 5332 of title 5 and be
allowed travel expenses including per diem in lieu of subsistence,
as authorized by law (section 5703 of title 5) for persons in the
Government service employed intermittently.
(f) Advisory functions; policies, programs, and procedures;
recommendations; authority of Chairperson; action by Chairperson
pursuant to delegation of authority
The Council shall advise the Chairperson with respect to
policies, programs, and procedures for carrying out the
Chairperson's functions, duties, or responsibilities under this
subchapter, and review applications for financial assistance under
this subchapter and make recommendations to the Chairperson with
respect to the approval of each application and the amount of
financial assistance (if any) to provide to each applicant. The
Council shall make recommendations to the Chairperson concerning -
(1) whether to approve particular applications for financial
assistance under subsections (c) and (p) of section 954 of this
title that are determined by panels under section 959(c) of this
title to have artistic excellence and artistic merit; and
(2) the amount of financial assistance the Chairperson should
provide with respect to each such application the Council
recommends for approval.
The Chairperson shall not approve or disapprove any such
application until the Chairperson has received the recommendation
of the Council on such application. The Chairperson shall have
final authority to approve each application, except that the
Chairperson may only provide to an applicant the amount of
financial assistance recommended by the Council and may not approve
an application with respect to which the Council makes a negative
recommendation. In the case of an application involving $30,000, or
less, the Chairperson may approve or disapprove such request if
such action is taken pursuant to the terms of an expressed and
direct delegation of authority from the Council to the Chairperson,
and provided that each such action by the Chairperson shall be
reviewed by the Council, and that such action shall be used with
discretion and shall not become a normal practice of providing
assistance under such subsections, except that the terms of any
such delegation of authority shall not permit obligations for
expenditure of funds under such delegation for any fiscal year
which exceed an amount equal to 10 per centum of the sums
appropriated for that fiscal year pursuant to subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (1) of section 960(a) of this title.