Attachment III - page 2 
- 2 - 
materials in the regular mailings. Statements received after the 
deadline will be distributed at the RAC meeting. 
II. OUTSIDE ADVISORS 
The Committee should continue to call upon outside advisors when the appro- 
priate expertise is not available within the Committee. 
Procedures : 
The Chairperson, in consultation with ORDA and the appropriate working 
group, may invite outside experts to appear before the Committee, 
with expenses and consulting fees paid by NIH. 
III. QUORUM AND VOTING PROCEDURES 
— 
Title 45, CFR 11, Section 11.5 (a)(l)(ii) defines a quorum as consisting 
"of a majority of the committee's authorized membership..." which under the 
present Charter is 13 members. 
Actions taken by the RAC are advisory to the Director of the NIH and 
have no formal standing. "Pass" or "Fail" is not the salient issue on a 
vote; the judgement of the Director of the NIH in Implementing or denying the 
RAC's recommendation is based on the "sense" of the vote and also takes 
into account the nature of the discussion of the issue as recorded in the 
minutes. 
Procedures : 
1) Three categories of votes shall be recorded in the minutes - yes, 
no, or abstain - provided that if a member considers himself disqualified 
by reason of conflict of interest such member shall request that his 
disqualification be recorded in the record. RAC members who wish 
to have the nature of their vote recorded may request the Executive 
Secretary to have that information inserted into the minutes. 
2) Conduct on procedural matters relating to Committee business 
shall be in accordance with Roberts Rules of Order, with a simple 
majority required for passage. 
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