22 U.S.C. § 4356 — Advisory Committee

(a) (1) A permanent Advisory Committee^* on Historical Diplomatic Documentation is established for the Department of State. The Department’s Office of the Historian^* coordinates its activities. (2) The committee has nine members and an executive secretary. The Historian serves as executive secretary. (3) (A) The Secretary of State must appoint members from distinguished historians, political scientists, archivists, international lawyers, and other social scientists with a demonstrable record^* of substantial research about United States foreign relations. No United States Government officer or employee may be appointed. (B) (i) Six members must be appointed from nominee lists submitted by the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the American Political Science Association, the Society of American Archivists, the American Society of International Law, and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, with one member appointed from each list. (ii) If an organization does not timely submit its list, the Secretary of State must appoint a member from the nominees on the other lists.

(b) (1) Except as paragraph (2) provides, members serve three-year terms. (2) When the first members are appointed, the Secretary, after consulting the appropriate organizations, designates three members for one-year terms, three for two-year terms, and three for three-year terms. (3) A term under paragraph (1) begins on September 1 of the year of appointment. (4) A vacancy is filled in the same way as the original appointment. A person appointed to fill a vacancy before the term ends serves the rest of that term. A member may continue serving after the term expires until a successor is appointed and may be appointed to a new term.

(c) The committee must select a chairperson from among its members for a one-year term. The chairperson may be reelected when the term ends.

(d) A majority of the members is a quorum. The committee must meet at least quarterly or as often as necessary to perform its duties.

(e) (1) Every member must receive the necessary security clearances, subject to standard clearance procedures. (2) For any law or regulation governing access to classified records, a member seeking access under this paragraph is considered to have a need to know.

(f) (1) (A) Each member must receive compensation, at a rate no higher than the daily equivalent of the annual basic-pay rate for GS-15 positions under section 5332 of title 5, for each day the member actually performs committee duties. (B) Each member must be allowed travel expenses, including per diem instead of subsistence, at rates authorized for agency employees under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, while away from home or the regular place of business performing committee services. (2) The Secretary may provide necessary secretarial and staff assistance. (3) Chapter 10 of title 5 does not apply to the committee to the extent its provisions conflict with this chapter.