§ 1501. — Establishment of Department; Secretary; seal.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC1501]
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 40--DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Sec. 1501. Establishment of Department; Secretary; seal
There shall be at the seat of government an executive department to
be known as the Department of Commerce, and a Secretary of Commerce, who
shall be the head thereof, who shall be appointed by the President, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and whose term and tenure
of office shall be like that of the heads of the other executive
departments; and the provisions of title 4 of the Revised Statutes,
including all amendments thereto, shall be applicable to said
department. The said Secretary shall cause a seal of office to be made
for the said department of such device as the President shall approve,
and judicial notice shall be taken of the said seal.
(Feb. 14, 1903, ch. 552, Sec. 1, 32 Stat. 825; Feb. 17, 1909, ch. 137,
Secs. 1, 2, 35 Stat. 626; Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 297, Sec. 1, 35 Stat. 861;
Mar. 4, 1913, ch. 141, Sec. 1, 37 Stat. 736; Mar. 3, 1917, ch. 163,
Sec. 1, 39 Stat. 1111; Mar. 4, 1925, ch. 549, Sec. 4, 43 Stat. 1301.)
References in Text
Title 4 of the Revised Statutes, referred to in text, was entitled
``Provisions Applicable to All Executive Departments'', and consisted of
R.S. Secs. 158 to 198. For provisions of the Code derived from such
title 4, see sections 101, 301, 303, 304, 503, 2952, 3101, 3106, 3341,
3345 to 3349, 5535, 5536 of Title 5, Government Organization and
Employees; section 207 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure;
sections 514, 520 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure; section
3321 of Title 31, Money and Finance.
Codification
Section was formerly classified to section 591 of Title 5 prior to
the general revision and enactment of Title 5, Government Organization
and Employees, by Pub. L. 89-554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 378.
Transfer of Functions
A Department of Labor, under charge of a Commissioner of Labor, was
established by act June 13, 1888, ch. 380, 25 Stat. 182, and by section
9 of that act, the Bureau of Labor created under act June 27, 1884, ch.
127, 23 Stat. 60, was to cease on the organization of the Department.
The Department of Commerce and Labor, as an Executive Department, with a
Secretary of Commerce and Labor as the head thereof, was established by
act Feb. 14, 1903, ch. 552, 32 Stat. 825, and by section 4 of that act,
the Department of Labor was placed under the jurisdiction and made a
part of the Department of Commerce and Labor with various other offices,
bureaus, and branches of the public service also transferred to and
placed under the jurisdiction of the Department so established. In
subsequent appropriation and other acts, the Department of Labor was
designated as the Bureau of Labor in that Department. But by act March
4, 1913, ch. 141, 37 Stat. 736, a new executive department was created,
to be called ``The Department of Labor,'' with a Secretary of Labor to
be the head thereof, and the Department of Commerce and Labor was
thereafter to be called the Department of Commerce, and the Secretary
thereof to be called the Secretary of Commerce.
Functions of all other officers of Department of Commerce and
functions of all agencies and employees of such Department, with a few
exceptions, transferred to Secretary of Commerce, with power vested in
him to authorize their performance or the performance of any of his
functions by any such officers, agencies, and employees by Reorg. Plan
No. 5 of 1950, Secs. 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat.
1263, set out below.
Deputy Secretary of Commerce
For provisions directing the President to appoint a Deputy Secretary
of Commerce, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, with the
Deputy Secretary to receive compensation at the rate payable for Level
II of the Executive Schedule and with the Deputy Secretary to perform
such duties and exercise such powers as the Secretary may from time to
time prescribe, see section 2(b)(1) of 1979 Reorg. Plan No. 3, set out
in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Creation of the Office of Deputy Secretary of Commerce by section
2(b)(1) of 1979 Reorg. Plan. No. 3 effective Dec. 7, 1979, see Ex. Ord.
12175, set out as a note under section 2171 of Title 19, Customs Duties.
Order of Succession
For order of succession during any period when both Secretary and
Deputy Secretary of Commerce are unable to perform functions and duties
of office of Secretary, see Ex. Ord. No. 13242, Dec. 18, 2001, 66 F.R.
66260, set out as a note under section 3345 of Title 5, Government
Organization and Employees.
REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 5 OF 1950
Eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1263, as amended July 2, 1954,
ch. 456, title III, Sec. 304, 68 Stat. 430
Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of
Representatives in Congress assembled, March 13, 1950, pursuant to
the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, approved June 20,
1949 [see 5 U.S.C. 901 et seq.].
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Section 1. Transfer of Functions to the Secretary
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section,
there are hereby transferred to the Secretary of Commerce all functions
of all other officers of the Department of Commerce and all functions of
all agencies and employees of such Department.
(b) This section shall not apply to the functions vested by the
Administrative Procedure Act (60 Stat. 237) [see 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.
and 701 et seq.] in hearing examiners employed by the Department of
Commerce, nor to the functions of the Civil Aeronautics Board, of the
Inland Waterways Corporation, or of the Advisory Board of the Inland
Waterways Corporation.
Sec. 2. Performance of Functions of Secretary
The Secretary of Commerce may from time to time make such provisions
as he shall deem appropriate authorizing the performance by any other
officer, or by any agency or employee, of the Department of Commerce of
any function of the Secretary, including any function transferred to the
Secretary by the provisions of this reorganization plan.
Sec. 3. Administrative Assistant Secretary
[Repealed. July 2, 1954, ch. 456, title III, Sec. 304, 68 Stat. 430.
Section authorized an Administrative Assistant Secretary of Commerce.]
Sec. 4. Incidental Transfers
The Secretary of Commerce may from time to time effect such
transfers within the Department of Commerce of any of the records,
property, personnel, and unexpended balances (available or to be made
available) of appropriations, allocations, and other funds of such
Department as he may deem necessary in order to carry out the provisions
of this reorganization plan.
Message of the President
To the Congress of the United States:
I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1950, prepared in
accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1949 and providing for
reorganizations in the Department of Commerce. My reasons for
transmitting this plan are stated in an accompanying general message.
After investigation I have found and hereby declare that each
reorganization included in Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1950 is
necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in section
2(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949.
I have found and hereby declare that it is necessary to include in
the accompanying reorganization plan, by reason of reorganizations made
thereby, provisions for the appointment and compensation of an
Administrative Assistant Secretary of Commerce. The rate of compensation
fixed for this officer is that which I have found to prevail in respect
to comparable officers in the executive branch of the Government.
The taking effect of the reorganizations included in this plan may
not in itself result in substantial immediate savings. However, many
benefits in improved operations are probable during the next years which
will result in a reduction in expenditures as compared with those that
would be otherwise necessary. An itemization of these reductions in
advance of actual experience under this plan is not practicable.
Harry S. Truman.
The White House, March 13, 1950.
Federal Maritime Board, and Maritime Functions of Secretary of Commerce
Section 307 of Reorg. Plan No. 21 of 1950, eff. May 24, 1950, 15
F.R. 3178, 64 Stat. 1273, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government
Organization and Employees, provided that the functions transferred by
the provisions of that Plan should not be subject to the provisions of
Reorg. Plan No. 5 of 1950, set out above. Said Reorg. Plan No. 21 of
1950 created, within the Department of Commerce, the Federal Maritime
Board, and the Maritime Administration, the latter, with a Maritime
Administrator at its head. It abolished the United States Maritime
Commission, transferring some of its functions and some of the functions
of its Chairman to said Federal Maritime Board. It transferred the
remainder of the functions of that Commission and its Chairman to the
Secretary of Commerce, with power vested in him to authorize their
performance by said Maritime Administrator.
