6 U.S.C. § 191 — Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee

(a) Establishment: This section creates a Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee ("the Advisory Committee") inside the Department. The Advisory Committee makes recommendations about the Under Secretary for Science and Technology's work, including which research areas matter most to the nation's security. (b) Membership: (1) Appointment: The Advisory Committee has 20 members, picked by the Under Secretary for Science and Technology. Members must include emergency first responders or people representing first-responder groups, plus representatives of citizen groups, including economically disadvantaged communities. Each member must (A) be eminent in fields like emergency response, research, engineering, new-product development, business, or management consulting; (B) be chosen solely for a distinguished track record; (C) not be a federal government employee; and (D) be chosen so the Advisory Committee reflects a cross-section of research, development, demonstration, and deployment work the Under Secretary supports. (2) National Research Council: The Under Secretary may have the National Research Council pick Advisory Committee members instead — but only if the panel the Council uses reflects the same representation described in (1). (c) Terms of office: (1) In general: Except as this subsection says otherwise, each member serves a 3-year term. (2) Original appointments: The first members are split into three groups: six members serve 1-year terms, seven serve 2-year terms, and seven serve 3-year terms. (3) Vacancies: A member appointed to fill an unfinished term serves only the rest of that term. (d) Eligibility: Someone who has completed two full consecutive terms cannot be reappointed during the 1-year period after the second term ends. (e) Meetings: The Advisory Committee must meet at least every three months (quarterly), called by the Chair or by at least a third of the members in writing. Each member should get notice of a meeting, if possible at least 15 days ahead. (f) Quorum: A majority of members who don't have a conflict of interest in the matter being discussed makes a quorum. (g) Conflict of interest rules: The Advisory Committee must set its own rules for deciding when a member has a conflict of interest. (h) Reports: (1) Annual report: The Advisory Committee must send the Under Secretary an annual report, by January 31 each year, for passing on to Congress. The report covers the Committee's activities and recommendations from the past year. (2) Additional reports: The Advisory Committee may also send extra reports on specific policy matters, if it thinks that's a good idea. (i) Exemption from chapter 10 of title 5: Section 1013 of title 5 does not apply to the Advisory Committee. (j) Termination: The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee ended on December 31, 2008.