(a) Establishment
There is hereby established a Senate Commission on Art (hereinafter referred to as "the Commission") consisting of the President pro tempore of the Senate, the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, and the majority and minority leaders of the Senate.

(b) Chairman and Vice Chairman; quorum; Executive Secretary
The Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the Senate shall be the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Commission. Three members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, except that the Commission may fix a lesser number which shall constitute a quorum for the taking of testimony. The Secretary of the Senate shall be the Executive Secretary of the Commission 1

(c) Appointment of Senate Curator; assignment of assistants
The Secretary of the Senate shall appoint a Senate Curator approved by the Senate Commission on Art. The Senate Curator shall be an employee of the Secretary of the Senate assigned to assist the Commission. The Secretary of the Senate shall assign additional employees to assist the Commission, and provide such other assistance, as the Commission determines necessary.

(d) Hearings and meetings
The Commission shall be empowered to hold hearings, summon witnesses, administer oaths, employ reporters, request the production of papers and records, take such testimony, and adopt such rules for the conduct of its hearings and meetings, as it deems necessary.

Editorial Notes

Codification

Section was classified to section 188b of former Title 40, prior to the enactment of Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works, by Pub. L. 107–217, §1, Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1062.

Section is based on section 1 of Senate Resolution No. 382, Ninetieth Congress, Oct. 1, 1968, which was enacted into permanent law and amended by Pub. L. 100–696.

Amendments

2003—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 108–83, §3(d)(1)(A), substituted "The Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the Senate shall be the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Commission." for "The Commission shall elect a Chairman and a Vice Chairman at the beginning of each Congress."

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 108–83, §3(d)(1)(B), added subsec. (c) and struck out former subsec. (c) which read as follows: "The Commission shall select a Curator of Art and Antiquities of the Senate who shall be appointed by and be an employee of the Secretary of the Senate. The Curator shall serve at the pleasure of the Commission, shall perform such duties as it may prescribe, and shall receive compensation at a gross rate, not to exceed $22,089 per annum to be fixed by the Commission. At the request of the Commission the Secretary of the Senate shall detail to the Commission such additional professional, clerical, and other assistants as, from time to time, it deems necessary."

1988—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–696, §901(b)(3), substituted "Senate Commission on Art" for "Commission on Art and Antiquities of the United States Senate".

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 100–696, §901(b)(1), inserted "The Secretary of the Senate shall be the Executive Secretary of the Commission".

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Senate Rulemaking Power

Pub. L. 100–696, title IX, §901(d), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4611, provided that: "The provisions of this section [enacting sections 2101 to 2106 of this title and amending sections 2101, 2102, and 2106 of this title] are enacted by the Congress—

"(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate, and as such they shall be considered as part of the rules of the Senate, and such rules shall supersede other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

"(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of the Senate to change such rules at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of the Senate."

Increases in Compensation

Increases in compensation for officers and employees of the Senate under authority of the Federal Pay Comparability Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 91–656), see Salary Directives of the President pro tempore of the Senate, set out as notes under section 4571 of this title.

1 So in original. Probably should be followed by a period.

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