Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 50 Part 1.djvu/99

 74 Reference to an in- dividual Commission- er, etc. Powers. Contracts for per- sonal services. Researches for im- proving standards and methods. office of Consum- e rs' Cou nsel est ab- lished. Appointment of counsel . Financial, business, etc., restrictions. Compensation and expenses. Du ties of c ounsel. Rights before Com- m ission. Information to be furnished. Technical, clerical, etc., assistants. 75TH CONGRESS, 1sT SES SIO N-CH. 127-A PRIL 26, 1937 of such division. The Commission may by its order assign or refer any matter within its jurisdiction under this Act to an individual Commissioner, to a board composed of employees of the Commission, or to an examiner, to be designated by such order, for hearing and the recommendation of an appropriate order in the premises. Each individual Commissioner, board, or examiner, when so directed by order of the Commission, shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations, to examine witnesses, and receive evidence. The Com- mission is authorize d to make contracts for person al service s in the District of Columbia and elsewhere and to establish and maintain such offices throughout the United States as it deems necessary for the effective administration of this Act, but shall maintain its prin- cipal office in the District of Columbia. The Commission is hereby authorized to initiate, promote, and conduct research designed to improve standards and methods used in the mining, preparation, conservation, distribution, and utilization of coal and the discovery of additional uses for coal, and for such purposes shall have authority to assist educational, governmental, and other research institutions in conducting research in coal, and to do such other acts and things as it deems necessary and proper to promote the use of coal and its derivatives. (b) (1) There is hereby established an office in the Department of the Interior to be known as the office of the consumers' counsel of the National Bituminous Coal Commission. The office shall be in charge of a couns el to be a ppointed b y the Pres ident, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The counsel shall have no financial interest, direct or indirect, in the mining, transportation, or sale of, or the manufacture of equipment for, coal (whether or not bituminous coal), oil, or gas, or in the generation, transmission, or sale of hydroelectric power, or in the manufacture of equipment for the use thereof, and shall not actively engage in any other business, vocation, or employment. The counsel shall receive compensation, at the rate of $10,000 per year and necessary traveling expenses. (2) It shall be the duty of the counsel to appear in the interest of the consuming public in any proceeding before the Commission and t o conduct such indep endent inve stigation of matters relative to the coal industry and the administration of this Act as he may deem necessary to enable him properly to represent the consuming public in any proceeding before the Commission. In any such proceeding b efore the Commission, the couns el shall h ave the ri ght to off er any relevant testimony and argument, oral or written, and to examine a nd cross-e xamine wit nesses and parties to the proce eding, and shall have the right to have subpena. or other process of the Commission issue in his behalf. Whenever the counsel finds that it is in the interest of the consuming public to have the Commission furnish any information at its command or conduct any investigation as to a ny matter within its authority, the couns el shall s o certify to the Commission, specifying in the certificate the information or investi- gation desired. Thereupon the Commission shall promptly furnish to the counse l the info rmation or promptly conduct th e investiga tion and place the results thereof at the disposal of the counsel. (3) The counsel is authorized to appoint and fix the compensation and duties of necessary professional, clerical, and other assistants. With the exception of a clerk to the counsel, the attorneys, and such s pecial age nts and ex perts as th e counsel may from t ime to tim e find necessary for the conduct of his work, all employees of the counsel shall be appointed and their compensation fixed in accordance with the civil-service laws and the Classification Act of 1923, as amended