42 U.S.C. § 242q–1 — Membership

This section describes the Task Force on Aging Research's membership and operations. (a) Composition. The Task Force includes: (1) the Assistant Secretary for Health; (2) the Surgeon General; (3) the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation; (4) the Director of the National Institute on Aging, plus directors of other National Institutes of Health agencies the Secretary picks; (5) the Commissioner of the Administration on Aging; (6) the Commissioner of Food and Drugs; (7) the Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs; (8) the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; (9) the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; (10) the Commissioner of Social Security; (11) the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; (12) two House members appointed by the Speaker (after consulting the Minority Leader) and two Senate members appointed by the Majority Leader (after consulting the Minority Leader), with no more than one member per chamber from the same political party; and (13) three public members appointed by the Secretary — one from a nonprofit representing older Americans, one from a private voluntary health organization on older Americans' health, and one from a nonprofit focused on research into older Americans' health and independence. (b) Chair. The Secretary, acting through either the Assistant Secretary for Health or the Director of the National Institute on Aging, chairs the Task Force. (c) Quorum. A majority of members makes a quorum; fewer members can still hold hearings. (d) Meetings. The Task Force meets periodically when the Chair calls a meeting, but at least twice a year. (e) Compensation and expenses. (1) Members who aren't full-time federal employees can be paid, while doing Task Force business (including travel time), at a rate the Secretary sets, capped at the old GS–18 pay rate. (2) While traveling for Task Force business away from home, members can get travel expenses and a per diem, under the same rules as other intermittent federal workers.