What is the Commission on Civil Rights?

The Commission on Civil Rights is an independent government agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for investigating, reporting on and subsequently making recommendations concerning civil rights issues that face the nation.

The Commission on Civil Rights, as an organization, is composed of eight Commissioners; four of which are appointed by the President of the United States, two by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and two by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Commission of the Civil Rights was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which was formally signed into law by then President Dwight Eisenhower. The legislation was enacted in response to a recommendation by an ad hoc President’s Committee on Civil Rights. Following the formation of the ad hoc committee, a permanent organization was created and subsequently re-organized and re-configured by the passing of the United States Commission on Civil Rights Acts of 1983 and 1991 and the Civil Rights Commission Amendments Act of 1994.

When created, the first responsibility of the Commission on Civil Rights was investigating the presence of racial discrimination in voting rights in Montgomery, Alabama. As a result of their functions and general responsibility, the Commission on Civil Rights is often referred to as a “Civil Rights Watch Dog” that in essence, aims to ensure that the federal government is enforcing civil rights laws fairly and evenhandedly.

How is the Commission on Civil Rights Organized?

The Commission on Civil Rights, as stated before, is run by eight commissioners who serve six-year staggered terms. To keep a bipartisan feel no more than four Commissioners of the Commission on Civil Rights can be of the same political party. In addition, neither the two Senate appointees nor the two House appointees may be of the same political party.

What is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission?

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that is responsible for regulating the futures and option markets.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission uses the Commodity Exchange Act, which prohibits fraudulent conduct in the trading of futures contracts, as its foundation for enforcing such rulings. In 1974, the United States Congress amended this act to create a more comprehensive regulatory framework for the trading of futures contracts; through this alteration, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was created.

The stated mission of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is to protect market users and the public from fraud, abusive practices and manipulation regarding the sales of financial futures, options and commodities. Furthermore, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission aims to enforce such rulings to foster open, competitive and a financially sound futures and options market

Mission of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission:

The United States Congress created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as an independent agency responsible for mandating and regulating the commodity futures and option markets in the United States. The agency’s mandate, since its creation, has been expanded and renewed several times, most recently in 2000, when Congress passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which instructed the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to develop a joint regulatory regime for single-stock futures.

What is the Consumer Product Safety Commission?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was created in 1972 through the passing of the Consumer Product Safety Act. The primary responsibility of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is to protect the American consumer against “unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer products.”

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is an independent agency that does not report to any department or agency of the federal government. That being said, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is typically run by three commissioners who are each nominated by the President of the Untied States and subsequently confirmed by the Senate for staggered seven year terms.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has the authority to regulate the sale and manufacture of nearly 16,000 consumer products. Those products not under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Product Safety Commission include those specifically named by law of other federal agencies; for example, cars are regulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, guns are regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and drugs are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission fulfills its complex mission by banning dangerous consumer products, instituting recalls of products that already hit the market and researching potential hazards associated with consumer products.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission conducts its research to reveal potential hazards associated with consumer products in a variety of ways, including maintaining a 24-horu customer support center and consumer hot line where consumers may report concerns about unsafe products or injuries associated with consumer items.

When the Consumer Product Safety Commission was created in 1972, the department maintained a budget of approximately $34.7 million dollars. At this time, the agency operated with roughly 800 employees. In present times, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has just 400 employees and an operating budget of $43 million. That being said, the passing of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which was passed in 2008, will increase the agency’s funding to $136.4 million and add over 500 employees to the organization by 2014.

Consumer Product Safety Commission Quick Facts

The following details outline the administration of the Consumer Product Safety Commission:

The Consumer Product Safety Commission was founded in 1972

The Consumer Product Safety Commission currently operates with roughly 500 employees

The headquarters of the Consumer Product Safety Commission are located in Bethesda, Maryland

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is responsible for the jurisdiction over nearly 16,000 consumer products in the United States

The head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is Agency Chairman Inez Moore

What is the Corporation for National and Community Service?

The Corporation for National and Community Service is an independent agency of the United States Government, which was formally created by the passing of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. The primary mission of the Corporation for National and Community Service is to “support the American culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility.

As a government agency, the Corporation for National and Community Service operates like a foundation and stands as the country’s largest grant maker supporting volunteering efforts and humanitarian service projects.

Currently, the Corporation for National and Community Service delivers a variety of programs that are specifically designed to help communities address povery, their environment, their educational systems and other unmet human needs. The various programs of the Corporation for National and Community Service include:

AmeriCorps: This national service instituted by the Corporation for National and Community Service is designed to engage Americans in a variety of manners; programs under Americorp include: Volunteers in Service to America, the National Civilian community Corps, AmeriCorps National and AmeriCorps State programs.

Learn and Service America: This program engages students in community-based organizations and schools in service learning environments.

Senior Corps: This program offered by the Corporation for National and Community Service connects individuals over the age off with organizations and individuals who can support them or provide advice given their particular situation.

Corporation for National and Community Service Quick Facts

The following details outline the administration of the Corporation for National and Community Service:

The Corporation for National and Community Service was founded in 1990

What is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting?

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a non-profit Independent Government Agency, created by an act of the United States Congress and formally funded by the United States Federal Government to promote the art of public broadcasting. In a historical sense, nearly 20% of all aggregate revenues of all public broadcasting stations have been funded by federal government agencies, principally through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

What is the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency?

The Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, which was established under the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, is responsible for overseeing probationers and parolees and provide various pretrial services in Washington, D.C.

These functions, which were previously handled by the Superior Court of the District Columbia and the D.C. Pretrial Services Agency, were distributed to the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency to streamline pretrial hearings and effectively move cases through the Super Circuit. In addition to various pretrial hearings and information-gathering protocol, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, better known as the CSOSA, will also conduct drug testing and operate a substance abuse treatment program as part of its community supervisor program.

What is an Independent Government Agency?

An independent agency of the United States Federal Government is a department or organization that exists outside of the federal executive departments or those headed by a Cabinet secretary. In a more specific sense, the term Independent Government Agency, is used to describe agencies that, while constitutionally operating within the executive branch, are free from presidential authority or control, as a result of the President’s limited membership within the agency.

Independent government agencies are established through separate statutes passed by the United States Congress; each respective statutory grant of authority will define the goals or mission that the agency must work towards, in addition to the substantive areas, if applicable, over which the Independent Agency may have the power of rulemaking. These agency regulations, when enforced, maintain the power of federal law.

What is the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board?

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which is stationed in Washington D.C., was formally established in 1988 to better inform and protect complexes designated for the creation of nuclear weapons. As a result of this mission, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Board will give recommendations and inspect these complexes to ensure the appropriate and safe manufacturing of nuclear arms.

What is the Election Assistance Commission?

The Election Assistance Commission is an independent agency of the United States Government that was formally created by the passing of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. Through this legislation, the Election Assistance Commission serves as the national clearinghouse and resource of information center regarding election administration.

What is the Environmental Protection Agency?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government responsible for protecting human health and the environment through drafting and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by the United States Congress.

The Environmental Protection Agency conducts a variety of environmental assessments, research initiatives and educational programs to inform the public and policymakers as to the overall health of the environment. The primary responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency revolves around setting and enforcing national standards, under a variety of environmental laws, in direct consultation with state and local governments. By doing so, the Environmental Protection Agency can delegate monitoring and enforcement responsibility to individual states and Native American Tribes located throughout the United States.

What is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission?

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an Independent federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for enforcing laws to prevent workplace discrimination. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will discourage unfair treatment in the workplace by investigating discrimination complaints that may arise based on an individual’s race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, perceived intelligence, age, religion, disability and any acts of retaliation for reporting and/or opposing discriminatory practices.