Section 4356 - Advisory Committee(a) Establishment(1) There is established on a permanent basis the Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation for the Department of State. The activities of the Advisory Committee shall be coordinated by the Office of the Historian of the Department of State.(2) The Advisory Committee shall be composed of 9 members and an executive secretary. The Historian shall serve as executive secretary.(3)(A) The members of the Advisory Committee shall be appointed by the Secretary of State from among distinguished historians, political scientists, archivists, international lawyers, and other social scientists who have a demonstrable record of substantial research pertaining to the foreign relations of the United States. No officer or employee of the United States Government shall be appointed to the Advisory Committee.(B)(i) Six members of the Advisory Committee shall be appointed from lists of individuals nominated by the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the American Political Science Association, Society of American Archivists, the American Society of International Law, and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. One member shall be appointed from each list.(ii) If an organization does not submit a list of nominees under clause (i) in a timely fashion, the Secretary of State shall make an appointment from among the nominees on other lists.(b) Terms of service for appointments(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), members of the Advisory Committee shall be appointed for terms of three years.(2) Of the members first appointed, as designated by the Secretary of State at the time of their appointment (after consultation with the appropriate organizations) three shall be appointed for terms of one year, three shall be appointed for terms of two years, and three shall be appointed for terms of three years.(3) Each term of service under paragraph (1) shall begin on September 1 of the year in which the appointment is made.(4) A vacancy in the membership of the Advisory Committee shall be filled in the same manner as provided under this subsection to make the original appointment. A member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of a term shall serve for the remainder of that term. A member may continue to serve when his or her term expires until a successor is appointed. A member may be appointed to a new term upon the expiration of his or her term.(c) Selection of chairpersonThe Advisory Committee shall select, from among its members, a chairperson to serve a term of 1 year. A chairperson may be reelected upon expiration of his or her term as chairperson.
(d) MeetingsA majority of the members of the Advisory Committee shall constitute a quorum. The Advisory Committee shall meet at least quarterly or as frequently as may be necessary to carry out its duties.
(e) Security clearances(1) All members of the Advisory Committee shall be granted the necessary security clearances, subject to the standard procedures for granting such clearances.(2) For purposes of any law or regulation governing access to classified records, a member of the Advisory Committee seeking access under this paragraph to a record shall be deemed to have a need to know.(f) Compensation(1) Members of the Advisory Committee-(A) shall each receive compensation at a rate of not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay payable for positions at GS-15 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5 for each day such member is engaged in the actual performance of the duties of the Advisory Committee; and(B) shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services of the Advisory Committee.(2) The Secretary of State is authorized to provide for necessary secretarial and staff assistance for the Advisory Committee.(3) Chapter 10 of title 5 shall not apply to the Advisory Committee to the extent that the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with that chapter.Aug. 1, 1956, ch. 841, title IV, §406, as added Pub. L. 102-138, title I, §198(a), Oct. 28, 1991, 105 Stat. 688; amended Pub. L. 117-286, §4(a)(169), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4324.EDITORIAL NOTES
AMENDMENTS2022-Subsec. (f)(3). Pub. L. 117-286 substituted "Chapter 10 of title 5 shall not apply to the Advisory Committee to the extent that the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with that chapter." for "The Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the Advisory Committee to the extent that the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with that Act."
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
TERMINATION OF PREVIOUS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTATION Pub. L. 102-138, title I, §198(b), Oct. 28, 1991, 105 Stat. 691, provided that: "The Advisory Committee on Historical Documentation for the Department of State established before the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 28, 1991] shall terminate on such date."
- Advisory Committee
- the term "Advisory Committee" means the Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation for the Department of State;
- Historian
- the term "Historian" means the Historian of the Department of State or any successor officer of the Department of State responsible for carrying out the functions of the Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, of the Department of State, as in effect on October 28, 1991;
- record
- the term "record" includes any written material (including any document, memorandum, correspondence, statistical data, book, or other papers), map, photograph, machine readable material, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by an agency of the United States Government under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Government or because of the informational value in them, and such term does not include library or museum material made or acquired and preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes, any extra copy of a document preserved only for convenience of reference, or any stocks of publications or of processed documents.