§51312 Board of Visitors

Summary

Creates a Board of Visitors to give outside advice and recommendations about the United States Merchant Marine Academy. The Board has specific members: 2 Senators, 3 House members, 1 Senator picked by the Vice President, 2 House members picked by the Speaker, 5 people appointed by the President, and several nonvoting or automatic members such as the Military Sealift Command commander, the Coast Guard Deputy Commandant for Operations, the chairs of the Senate Commerce and House Armed Services Committees, the chair of the Academy’s Advisory Board, and the local House member for the Academy’s district (nonvoting unless already a voting member). Of the 5 presidential appointees, at least 2 must be Academy graduates, at least 1 must be a senior officer from a U.S. maritime shipping company in the Maritime Security Program (rotating every two years), and at least 1 must represent maritime labor. Members (except the automatic members) serve 2-year terms starting at the beginning of each Congress. If someone’s term ends they keep serving until a successor is named, except for appointees who were Members of Congress and are no longer in office. The Board can use temporary substitutes for some members; substitutes must meet certain seniority rules, can fully participate, and must report back within 15 days. Every two years the Board picks a Chair from among its members, and the Chair role must alternate between a House member and a Senator. The Board must meet at least three times under its charter, including one meeting at the Academy, and members must get at least 30 days’ notice for meetings or visits. The Board must visit the Academy once a year and may make other visits; members get reasonable access to campus facilities, students, faculty, and staff. The Secretary of Transportation must give support, pick a Designated Federal Officer to run logistics, and share institutional information with the Board along with the Maritime Administrator and the Academy Superintendent. Committee leaders may designate staff to help the Board without extra pay, and members and staff get travel pay under federal rules (5 U.S.C. 5703). Within 60 days after each annual visit the Board must send a written report of its findings and recommendations to the President, and copies go to the Secretary of Transportation and the two committees in Congress named in the law. The Board may also prepare reports after other visits and may call advisers to help.