42 U.S.C. § 285q–2 — Advisory council

(a) Appointment; functions and duties; acceptance of conditional gifts; subcommittees: (1) The Secretary must appoint an advisory council for the Institute. This council advises, assists, consults with, and makes recommendations to the Secretary and the Institute's Director about the Institute's activities and policies. (2) The council may recommend that the Secretary accept conditional gifts — following section 238 — for research, studies, and investigations, or for buying land or building, equipping, or maintaining Institute facilities. (3) The council (A) may recommend research projects to the Director, may review grant and cooperative-agreement applications and recommend approving ones that show promise of real scientific value, and may review any grant, contract, or cooperative agreement the Institute proposes to make; (B) may gather information — by mail or in-person visits — about studies happening in the United States or elsewhere on the diseases, disorders, or health topics the Institute cares about, and, with the Director's approval, publish that information for health groups, professionals, scientists, and the public; and (C) may create subcommittees and hold workshops and conferences. (b) Membership; ex officio members; compensation: (1) The council has ex officio members plus up to eighteen appointed members. (2) The ex officio members are (A) the Secretary, the Director of NIH, the Institute's Director, the Department of Veterans Affairs' chief nursing officer, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, and the Director of the Division of Nursing at the Health Resources and Services Administration (or their designees), and (B) any other federal officers or employees the Secretary decides the council needs. (3) The Secretary appoints the non-ex-officio members this way: (A) Two-thirds of them come from leading figures in the health and scientific fields — including public health and behavioral or social sciences — relevant to the Institute's work; at least seven of these must be professional nurses recognized as experts in clinical practice, education, or research. (B) One-third come from the general public, including leaders in public policy, law, health policy, economics, and management. (4) Members who are federal officers or employees get no extra pay for council service. Other members can be paid, for each day (including travel time) doing council work, up to the daily rate for a GS-18 federal employee. (c) Term of office; vacancy; reappointment: An appointed member serves a four-year term, except that someone filling an unfinished term only serves the rest of it, and the Secretary must stagger appointments so terms don't all end in the same year. A member may keep serving past their term until a successor takes office. Someone who served a full four-year term can't be reappointed until at least two years after that term ended. If a seat opens up, the Secretary must fill it within 90 days. (d) Chairman; selection; term of office: The Secretary picks the council's chairman from among the appointed members, though the Secretary may instead make the Institute's Director the chairman. The chairman serves a two-year term. (e) Meetings: The council meets when the chairman calls a meeting, or when the Institute's Director asks for one, but at least three times each fiscal year. The Institute's Director must approve where meetings are held. (f) Executive secretary; staff; orientation and training for new members: The Institute's Director must assign a staff member to serve as the council's executive secretary, and must give the council whatever staff, information, and other help it needs to do its job. The Director must also train new council members so they can take part effectively. (g) Material for inclusion in biennial report; additional reports: The council may write, for the triennial report required under section 283, (1) comments on what the council did during the years covered by the report, (2) comments on how well the Institute is meeting its goals, and (3) recommendations about the Institute's future direction, programs, and policy focus. The council may also write any other reports it thinks are appropriate.