---
kind: "section"
citation: "15 U.S.C. § 7107"
title: "15"
title_heading: "Commerce and Trade"
number: "7107"
heading: "Membership of the Council"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/15/7107"
units:
  - "Chapter 97 — Women’s Business Enterprise Development"
---

# §7107. Membership of the Council

- (a) **Chairperson—** The President shall appoint an individual to serve as chairperson of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4), in consultation with the [Administrator](/usc/15/7108.md?p=2). The chairperson of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4) shall be a prominent business woman who is qualified to head the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4) by virtue of her education, training, and experience.
- (b) **Other members—** The [Administrator](/usc/15/7108.md?p=2) shall, after receiving the recommendations of the Chairman and the Ranking Member of the Committees on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Senate, appoint, in consultation with the chairperson of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4) appointed under [subsection (a)](#a), 14 members of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4), of whom—
  - (1) 4 shall be—
    - (A) owners of small businesses, as such term is defined in [section 632 of this title](/usc/15/632.md); and
    - (B) members of the same political party as the President;
  - (2) 4 shall—
    - (A) be owners of small businesses, as such term is defined in [section 632 of this title](/usc/15/632.md); and
    - (B) not be members of the same political party as the President; and
  - (3) 6 shall be representatives of [women](/usc/15/7108.md?p=7)’s business organizations, including representatives of [women](/usc/15/7108.md?p=7)’s business center sites.
- (c) **Diversity—** In appointing members of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4), the [Administrator](/usc/15/7108.md?p=2) shall, to the extent possible, ensure that the members appointed reflect geographic (including both urban and rural areas), racial, economic, and sectoral diversity.
- (d) **Terms—** Each member of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4) shall be appointed for a term of 3 years.
- (e) **Other Federal service—** If any member of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4) subsequently becomes an officer or employee of the Federal Government or of the Congress, such individual may continue as a member of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4) for not longer than the 30-day period beginning on the date on which such individual becomes such an officer or employee.
- (f) **Vacancies—**
  - (1) **In general—** A vacancy on the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4) shall be filled not later than 30 days after the date on which the vacancy occurs, in the manner in which the original appointment was made, and shall be subject to any conditions that applied to the original appointment.
  - (2) **Unexpired term—** An individual chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed for the unexpired term of the member replaced.
- (g) **Reimbursements—** Members of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4) shall serve without pay for such membership, except that members shall be entitled to reimbursement for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by them in carrying out the functions of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4), in the same manner as [persons](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) serving on advisory boards pursuant to [section 637(b) of this title](/usc/15/637.md?p=b).
- (h) **Executive director—** The [Administrator](/usc/15/7108.md?p=2), in consultation with the chairperson of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4), shall appoint an executive director of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4). Upon the recommendation by the executive director, the chairperson of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4) may appoint and fix the pay of 4 additional employees of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4), at a rate of pay not to exceed the maximum rate of pay payable for a position at GS–15 of the General Schedule. All such appointments shall be subject to the appropriation of funds.
- (i) **Rates of pay—** The executive director and staff of the [Council](/usc/15/7108.md?p=4) may be appointed without regard to the provisions of [title 5](/usc/5.md) governing appointments in the competitive service, and except as provided in [subsection (e)](#e), may be paid without regard to the provisions of [chapter 51](/usc/15/chch51.md) and subchapter III of [chapter 53](/usc/15/chch53.md) of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, except that the executive director may not receive pay in excess of the annual rate of basic pay payable for a position at ES–3 of the Senior Executive Pay Schedule under section 5832[^1] of title 5.

## Footnotes

[^1]: So in original. Probably should be section “5382”.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 100–533, title IV, § 407, as added Pub. L. 103–403, title IV, § 413, Oct. 22, 1994, 108 Stat. 4196; amended Pub. L. 105–135, title III, § 304, Dec. 2, 1997, 111 Stat. 2609; Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(9) [title VII, § 702], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A–701.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

The General Schedule, referred to in subsecs. (h) and (i), is set out under section 5332 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

### Prior Provisions

A prior section 407 of Pub. L. 100–533, title IV, Oct. 25, 1988, 102 Stat. 2696; Pub. L. 103–81, § 11, Aug. 13, 1993, 107 Stat. 783, related to authorization of appropriations to carry out this chapter, prior to the general amendment of title IV of Pub. L. 100–533 by Pub. L. 103–403. See section 7110 of this title.

### Amendments

2000—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(9) [title VII, § 702(1)], substituted “The President” for “Not later than 45 days after December 2, 1997, the President”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(9) [title VII, § 702(2)], in introductory provisions, substituted “The Administrator” for “Not later than 60 days after December 2, 1997, the Administrator” and struck out “the Assistant Administrator of the Office of Women’s Business Ownership and” after “in consultation with”.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(9) [title VII, § 702(3)], struck out before period at end “, except that, of the initial members appointed to the Council—

“(1) 2 members appointed under subsection (b)(1) of this section shall be appointed for a term of 1 year;

“(2) 2 members appointed under subsection (b)(2) of this section shall be appointed for a term of 1 year; and

“(3) each member appointed under subsection (b)(3) of this section shall be appointed for a term of 2 years”.

Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(9) [title VII, § 702(4)], substituted “The Administrator” for “Not later than 60 days after October 22, 1994, the Administrator”.

1997—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–135, § 304(1), made substitution in original which was executed by substituting “December 2, 1997” for “October 22, 1994” to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–135, § 304(2)(A)–(C), in introductory provisions made substitution in original which was executed by substituting “December 2, 1997” for “October 22, 1994” to reflect the probable intent of Congress, inserted “, after receiving the recommendations of the Chairman and the Ranking Member of the Committees on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Senate,” after “the Administrator shall”, and substituted “14” for “9”.

Subsec. (b)(1), (2). Pub. L. 105–135, § 304(2)(D), (E), substituted “4” for “2” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 105–135, § 304(2)(F), substituted “6” for “5”, struck out “national” after “representatives of”, and inserted before period at end “, including representatives of women’s business center sites”.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 105–135, § 304(3), inserted “(including both urban and rural areas)” after “geographic”.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 105–135, § 304(4), added subsec. (d) and struck out heading and text of former subsec. (d). Text read as follows: “The term of service of the members of the Council shall be 3 years.”

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 105–135, § 304(5), added subsec. (f) and struck out heading and text of former subsec. (f). Text read as follows: “A vacancy on the Council shall, not later than 30 days after the date on which the vacancy occurs, be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.”

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Change of Name

Committee on Small Business of Senate changed to Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of Senate. See Senate Resolution No. 123, One Hundred Seventh Congress, June 29, 2001.

### Effective Date of 1997 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 105–135 effective Oct. 1, 1997, see section 3 of Pub. L. 105–135, set out as a note under section 631 of this title.