15 U.S.C. § 1512
Section 1512 · Powers and duties of Department
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case United States v. Mintmire (2007)
Most recently applied in Matter of Weissman (July 2020)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
It shall be the province and duty of said Department to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce, the mining, manufacturing, and fishery industries of the United States; and to this end it shall be vested with jurisdiction and control of the departments, bureaus, offices, and branches of the public service hereinafter specified, and with such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by law.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Section was formerly classified to section 596 of Title 5 prior to the general revision and enactment of Title 5 by Pub. L. 89 554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 378.
Amendments
1981—Pub. L. 97 31 struck out references to shipping and transportation facilities.
Emergency Preparedness Functions
For assignment of certain emergency preparedness functions to the Secretary of Commerce, see Parts 1, 2, and 4 of Ex. Ord. No. 12656, Nov. 18, 1988, 53 F.R. 47491, set out as a note under section 5195 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.
Ex. Ord. No. 12864. United States Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure
Ex. Ord. No. 12864, Sept. 15, 1993, 58 F.R. 48773, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 12890, Dec. 30, 1993, 59 F.R. 499; Ex. Ord. No. 12921, June 13, 1994, 59 F.R. 30667, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2) (“Act”), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Establishment. (a) There is established in the Commerce Department the “United States Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure” (“Council”). The Council shall consist of not more than 37 members to be appointed by the Secretary of Commerce (“Secretary”).
(b) The Secretary shall appoint from among the members of the Council officials to serve as chairperson(s) or vice-chairperson(s) of the Council as he shall deem appropriate.
Sec. 2. Functions. (a) The Council shall advise the Secretary on matters related to the development of the National Information Infrastructure. The National Information Infrastructure shall be the integration of hardware, software, and skills that will make it easy and affordable to connect people with each other, with computers, and with a vast array of services and information resources.
(b) The Council shall advise the Secretary on a national strategy for promoting the development of a National Information Infrastructure. Issues that the Council may address include, but are not limited to:
(1) the appropriate roles of the private and public sectors in developing the National Information Infrastructure;
(2) a vision for the evolution of the National Information Infrastructure and its public and commercial applications;
(3) the impact of current and proposed regulatory regimes on the evolution of the National Information Infrastructure;
(4) national strategies for maximizing the benefits of the National Information Infrastructure, as measured by job creation, economic growth, increased productivity, and enhanced quality of life;
(5) national strategies for developing and demonstrating applications in areas such as electronic commerce, agile manufacturing, life-long learning, health care, government services, and civic networking;
(6) national security, emergency preparedness, system security, and network protection implications;
(7) national strategies for maximizing interconnection and inter-operability of communications networks;
(8) international issues associated with the National Information Infrastructure;
(9) universal access; and
(10) privacy, security, and copyright issues.
(c) The chairperson(s) may, from time to time, invite experts to submit information to the Council and may form subcommittees of the Council to review specific issues.
Sec. 3. Administration. (a) The heads of executive agencies shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide to the Council such information as it may require for the purpose of carrying out its functions.
(b) Members of the Council shall serve without compensation but shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law, including 5 U.S.C. 5701 5707 and section 7(d) of the Act [5 App. U.S.C.], for persons serving intermittently in government service.
(c) The Department of Commerce shall provide the Council with administrative services, facilities, staff, and other support services necessary for the performance of its functions.
Sec. 4. General. (a) Notwithstanding any other Executive order, the functions of the President under the Act [5 App. U.S.C.] that are applicable to the Council, except that of reporting to Congress, shall be performed by the Secretary in accordance with guidelines that have been issued by the Administrator of General Services.
(b) The Council shall exist for a period of two years from the date of this order, unless the Council's charter is subsequently extended prior to the aforementioned date.
(c) Members of the Council and its subcommittee shall not be considered special government employees for any purpose or for purposes of 18 U.S.C. 201 203, 205, 207 209, and 218 219.
William J. Clinton.
Cross References
Clearing house for technical, scientific, and engineering information, see sections 1151 to 1157 of this title.