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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 13147 Revoked 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.41) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 13147—White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy

William J. Clinton William J. Clinton
•
Tuesday, March 7, 2000
•
2 min read (484 words)
•
65 Fed. Reg. 13233

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (484 words) • ● Revoked
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Commission shall provide a report, through the Secretary, to the President on legislative and administrative recommendations for assuring that public policy maximizes the benefits to Americans of complementary and alternative medicine.

View all 2 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners
Inspect unabridged text ↓

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President William J. Clinton on March 7, 2000, this order concerns White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. There is established in the Department of Health and Human Services (Department) the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy (Commission). The Commission shall be composed of not more than 15 members appointed by the President from knowledgeable representatives in health care practice and complementary and alternative medicine.

Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪
Functions

The Commission shall provide a report, through the Secretary, to the President on legislative and administrative recommendations for assuring that public policy maximizes the benefits to Americans of complementary and alternative medicine.

▪
Administration

To the extent permitted by law, the heads of executive departments and agencies shall provide the Commission, upon request, with such information and assistance as it may require for the purpose of carrying out its functions.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Healthcare & Public Health
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
§

"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)

George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.

Anti-Federalist Stance: High Bill of Rights Scrutiny
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
35 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
484
3,225 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.5
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.41
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (3 sections)
Sec. 1: EstablishmentSec. 2: FunctionsSec. 3: Administration

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.), and in order to establish the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

Establishment. There is established in the Department of Health and Human Services (Department) the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy (Commission). The Commission shall be composed of not more than 15 members appointed by the President from knowledgeable representatives in health care practice and complementary and alternative medicine. The President shall designate a Chair from among the members of the Commission. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) shall appoint an Executive Director for the Commission.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Functions. The Commission shall provide a report, through the Secretary, to the President on legislative and administrative recommendations for assuring that public policy maximizes the benefits to Americans of complementary and alternative medicine. The recommendations shall address the following: (a) the education and training of health care practitioners in complementary and alternative medicine; (b) coordinated research to increase knowledge about complementary and alternative medicine practices and products; (c) the provision to health care professionals of reliable and useful information about complementary and alternative medicine that can be made readily accessible and understandable to the general public; and (d) guidance for appropriate access to and delivery of complementary and alternative medicine.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Administration. (a) To the extent permitted by law, the heads of executive departments and agencies shall provide the Commission, upon request, with such information and assistance as it may require for the purpose of carrying out its functions. (b) Each member of the Commission shall receive compensation at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate specified for Level 1V of the Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5315) for each day during which the member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the Commission. While away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of the duties of the Commission, members shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701–5707). (c) The Department shall provide the Commission with funding and with administrative services, facilities, staff, and other support services necessary for the performance of the Commission’s functions. (d) In accordance with guidelines issued by the Administrator of General Services, the Secretary shall perform the functions of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), with respect to the Commission, except that of reporting to the Congress. (e) The Commission shall terminate 2 years from the date of this order unless extended by the President prior to such date. William J. Clinton

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

March 7, 2000.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

Amends Executive Order 13316—Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees
George W. Bush • 2003-09-17
Amends Executive Order 13167—Amendment to Executive Order 13147, Increasing the Membership of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy
William J. Clinton • 2000-09-15
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 13,147, 65 Fed. Reg. 13,233 (Mar. 7, 2000).