Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights orients advisory committee members on FACA rules, project process and virtual operations
Loading...
Summary
David Massat of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights led a virtual orientation for advisory committee members, outlining expectations, FACA requirements, the five‑stage project process (typically 12–24 months), quorum rules, and how staff and designated federal officers support committees.
David Massat, supervisor in chief of the regional programs unit at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, led a virtual orientation for advisory committee members that focused on participation expectations, legal rules under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), and the Commission’s stage‑gate project process.
"We are not an enforcement agency and have no enforcement authority," Massat said, drawing a distinction between the Commission’s fact‑finding and advisory role and the enforcement authority of other federal agencies. He told members they were appointed for their diverse viewpoints and urged consistent attendance and active participation in hearings and report drafting.
Massat reviewed key procedural rules. He said committees must be fairly balanced in membership, meetings must be open to the public and posted in the Federal Register at least 15 days in advance, and minutes must be kept and made publicly available via committee webpages and Commission archives. "Committees must be fairly balanced in membership because our work relies so heavily on presentations," he said.
On logistics, Massat said all committee meetings in the current fiscal year will be conducted virtually and encouraged members to familiarize themselves with monday.com, SurveyMonkey and Zoom. He warned that while staff can help, some technical problems may originate with a member's own network and require contacting their network administrator.
Massat described staff support and the role of the designated federal officer (DFO). The DFO, he said, "is the administrative head of each committee" and must chair or attend meetings; the DFO is a federal employee and not a committee member. Massat emphasized that, under FACA, agency employees should not inappropriately influence committee advice or recommendations and asked members to contact him if they suspect undue influence.
He outlined the Commission’s five‑stage project process—concept, proposal, implementation, report and post‑report—explaining stage gates are tied to DFO capacity. Massat said it generally takes 12 to 24 months to move from concept to post‑report, the concept phase usually takes two to four months, and the proposal stage typically lasts one to three months. He also recited quorum rules from the Code of Federal Regulations: a quorum of five is required for decision‑making meetings and a quorum of three is required to hear testimony.
Massat urged committees to collect diverse testimony, allow public comment at hearings and follow a careful drafting and legal sufficiency review process. He explained that after committee members approve a draft report, the DFO will forward it for legal sufficiency review and that members may submit dissenting statements within 14 days of a committee vote.
In response to a question about whether recent challenges to DEI initiatives threaten the Commission or its state committees, Massat said the Commission was established by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and "We still exist," noting that some DEI initiatives begun under the previous administration have stopped but that those initiatives are distinct from the statutory role and work of the advisory committees.
Massat closed by saying slides and the meeting recording would be posted to the group’s monday.com board and by providing contact information for follow‑up questions. He also named regional program and committee support staff who are available as points of contact for committees.
