There shall be in the Public Health Service a Silvio O. Conte Senior Biomedical Research and Biomedical Product Assessment Service (in this section referred to as the “Service”), not to exceed 2,000 members, the purpose of which is to recruit and retain outstanding and qualified scientific and technical experts in the fields of biomedical research, clinical research evaluation, and biomedical product assessment.

The authority established in paragraph (1) may not be construed to require the Secretary to reduce the number of employees serving under any other employment system in order to offset the number of members serving in the Service.

The Secretary shall assign experts under this section to agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services taking into account the need for the expertise of such expert.

provide for the systematic appraisal of the performance of members, and

encourage excellence in performance by members.

The Secretary shall determine, subject to the provisions of this subsection, the pay of members of the Service.

The pay of a member of the Service shall not be less than the minimum rate payable for GS–15 of the General Schedule and shall not exceed the amount of annual compensation (excluding expenses) specified in section 102 of title 3.