Congress authorized The National Gambling Impact Study Commission ("the Commission") on June 3, 1996 by Public Law 104-169. The Commission is subject to the standards and requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, with respect to meetings, hearings, and availability of Commission records, and other matters. The implementing statute for the Commission establishes it as an independent commission which is not under the auspices of any executive agency, nor specifically controlled by the legislative or judicial branches of government. The Commission must conduct a comprehensive legal and factual study of the social and economic impacts of gambling on (1) federal, state, local, and Native American tribal governments; and (2) communities and social institutions including the individuals, families, and businesses which compose them.