Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1554 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 1554
5	5	To grant a Federal charter to the National American Indian Veterans,
6	6	Incorporated.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	MAY11, 2023
9	9	Mr. R
10	10	OUNDS(for himself, Mr. THUNE, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. CRAMER, Mr.
11	11	L
12	12	ANKFORD, Mr. RUBIO, Mrs. FISCHER, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. BARRASSO,
13	13	Ms. M
14	14	URKOWSKI, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. SCOTTof Florida, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr.
15	15	S
16	16	ULLIVAN, Mr. MORAN, Mr. DAINES, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. LUJA´N, Ms. KLO-
17	17	BUCHAR, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. WARREN, Ms. SMITH, Ms.
18	18	C
19	19	ORTEZMASTO, Mr. KELLY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. SINEMA,
20	20	Mr. B
21	21	ENNET, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. HEINRICH,
22	22	Ms. H
23	23	IRONO, Mr. KING, Mr. OSSOFF, and Mr. MULLIN) introduced the
24	24	following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
25	25	Judiciary
26	26	A BILL
27	27	To grant a Federal charter to the National American Indian
28	28	Veterans, Incorporated.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
30	30	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
31	31	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
32	32	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National American In-4
33	33	dian Veterans Charter Act’’. 5
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36	36	•S 1554 IS
37	37	SEC. 2. RECOGNITION AS CORPORATION AND GRANT OF 1
38	38	FEDERAL CHARTER FOR NATIONAL AMER-2
39	39	ICAN INDIAN VETERANS, INCORPORATED. 3
40	40	(a) I
41	41	NGENERAL.—Part B of subtitle II of title 36, 4
42	42	United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 5
43	43	1503 the following: 6
44	44	‘‘CHAPTER 1504—NATIONAL AMERICAN 7
45	45	INDIAN VETERANS, INCORPORATED 8
46	46	‘‘Sec.
47	47	‘‘150401. Organization.
48	48	‘‘150402. Purposes.
49	49	‘‘150403. Membership.
50	50	‘‘150404. Board of directors.
51	51	‘‘150405. Officers.
52	52	‘‘150406. Nondiscrimination.
53	53	‘‘150407. Powers.
54	54	‘‘150408. Exclusive right to name, seals, emblems, and badges.
55	55	‘‘150409. Restrictions.
56	56	‘‘150410. Duty to maintain tax-exempt status.
57	57	‘‘150411. Records and inspection.
58	58	‘‘150412. Service of process.
59	59	‘‘150413. Liability for acts of officers and agents.
60	60	‘‘150414. Failure to comply with requirements.
61	61	‘‘150415. Annual report.
62	62	‘‘§ 150401 Organization 9
63	63	‘‘The National American Indian Veterans, Incor-10
64	64	porated, a nonprofit corporation organized in the United 11
65	65	States (referred to in this chapter as the ‘corporation’), 12
66	66	is a federally chartered corporation. 13
67	67	‘‘§ 150402. Purposes 14
68	68	‘‘The purposes of the corporation are those stated in 15
69	69	the articles of incorporation, constitution, and bylaws of 16
70	70	the corporation, and include a commitment— 17
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73	73	•S 1554 IS
74	74	‘‘(1) to uphold and defend the Constitution of 1
75	75	the United States while respecting the sovereignty of 2
76	76	the American Indian Nations; 3
77	77	‘‘(2) to unite under one body all American In-4
78	78	dian veterans who served in the Armed Forces of 5
79	79	United States; 6
80	80	‘‘(3) to be an advocate on behalf of all Amer-7
81	81	ican Indian veterans without regard to whether they 8
82	82	served during times of peace, conflict, or war; 9
83	83	‘‘(4) to promote social welfare (including edu-10
84	84	cational, economic, social, physical, and cultural val-11
85	85	ues and traditional healing) in the United States by 12
86	86	encouraging the growth and development, readjust-13
87	87	ment, self-respect, self-confidence, contributions, and 14
88	88	self-identity of American Indian veterans; 15
89	89	‘‘(5) to serve as an advocate for the needs of 16
90	90	American Indian veterans and their families and 17
91	91	survivors in their dealings with all Federal and State 18
92	92	government agencies; 19
93	93	‘‘(6) to promote, support, and utilize research, 20
94	94	on a nonpartisan basis, pertaining to the relation-21
95	95	ship between American Indian veterans and Amer-22
96	96	ican society; and 23
97	97	‘‘(7) to provide technical assistance to the Bu-24
98	98	reau of Indian Affairs regional areas that are not 25
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101	101	•S 1554 IS
102	102	served by any veterans committee or organization or 1
103	103	program by— 2
104	104	‘‘(A) providing outreach service to Indian 3
105	105	Tribes in need; and 4
106	106	‘‘(B) training and educating Tribal Vet-5
107	107	erans Service Officers for Indian Tribes in 6
108	108	need. 7
109	109	‘‘§ 150403. Membership 8
110	110	‘‘Subject to section 150406, eligibility for member-9
111	111	ship in the corporation, and the rights and privileges of 10
112	112	members, shall be as provided in the constitution and by-11
113	113	laws of the corporation. 12
114	114	‘‘§ 150404. Board of directors 13
115	115	‘‘Subject to section 150406, the board of directors of 14
116	116	the corporation, and the responsibilities of the board, shall 15
117	117	be as provided in the constitution and bylaws of the cor-16
118	118	poration and in conformity with the laws under which the 17
119	119	corporation is incorporated. 18
120	120	‘‘§ 150405. Officers 19
121	121	‘‘Subject to section 150406, the officers of the cor-20
122	122	poration, and the election of such officers, shall be as pro-21
123	123	vided in the constitution and bylaws of the corporation and 22
124	124	in conformity with the laws of the jurisdiction under which 23
125	125	the corporation is incorporated. 24
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128	128	•S 1554 IS
129	129	‘‘§ 150406. Nondiscrimination 1
130	130	‘‘In establishing the conditions of membership in the 2
131	131	corporation, and in determining the requirements for serv-3
132	132	ing on the board of directors or as an officer of the cor-4
133	133	poration, the corporation may not discriminate on the 5
134	134	basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, 6
135	135	or age. 7
136	136	‘‘§ 150407. Powers 8
137	137	‘‘The corporation shall have only those powers grant-9
138	138	ed the corporation through its articles of incorporation, 10
139	139	constitution, and bylaws, which shall conform to the laws 11
140	140	of the jurisdiction under which the corporation is incor-12
141	141	porated. 13
142	142	‘‘§ 150408. Exclusive right to name, seals, emblems, 14
143	143	and badges 15
144	144	‘‘(a) I
145	145	NGENERAL.—The corporation shall have the 16
146	146	sole and exclusive right to use the names ‘National Amer-17
147	147	ican Indian Veterans, Incorporated’ and ‘National Amer-18
148	148	ican Indian Veterans’, and such seals, emblems, and 19
149	149	badges as the corporation may lawfully adopt. 20
150	150	‘‘(b) E
151	151	FFECT.—Nothing in this section interferes or 21
152	152	conflicts with any established or vested rights. 22
153	153	‘‘§ 150409. Restrictions 23
154	154	‘‘(a) S
155	155	TOCK ANDDIVIDENDS.—The corporation may 24
156	156	not— 25
157	157	‘‘(1) issue any shares of stock; or 26
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160	160	•S 1554 IS
161	161	‘‘(2) declare or pay any dividends. 1
162	162	‘‘(b) D
163	163	ISTRIBUTION OFINCOME ORASSETS.— 2
164	164	‘‘(1) I
165	165	N GENERAL.—The income or assets of the 3
166	166	corporation may not— 4
167	167	‘‘(A) inure to any person who is a member, 5
168	168	officer, or director of the corporation; or 6
169	169	‘‘(B) be distributed to any such person 7
170	170	during the life of the charter granted by this 8
171	171	chapter. 9
172	172	‘‘(2) E
173	173	FFECT.—Nothing in this subsection pre-10
174	174	vents the payment of reasonable compensation to the 11
175	175	officers of the corporation, or reimbursement for ac-12
176	176	tual and necessary expenses, in amounts approved 13
177	177	by the board of directors. 14
178	178	‘‘(c) L
179	179	OANS.—The corporation may not make any 15
180	180	loan to any officer, director, member, or employee of the 16
181	181	corporation. 17
182	182	‘‘(d) N
183	183	OFEDERALENDORSEMENT.—The corpora-18
184	184	tion may not claim congressional approval or Federal Gov-19
185	185	ernment authority by virtue of the charter granted by this 20
186	186	chapter for any of the activities of the corporation. 21
187	187	‘‘§ 150410. Duty to maintain tax-exempt status 22
188	188	‘‘The corporation shall maintain its status as an or-23
189	189	ganization exempt from taxation under the Internal Rev-24
190	190	enue Code of 1986. 25
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193	193	•S 1554 IS
194	194	‘‘§ 150411. Records and inspection 1
195	195	‘‘(a) R
196	196	ECORDS.—The corporation shall keep— 2
197	197	‘‘(1) correct and complete books and records of 3
198	198	accounts; 4
199	199	‘‘(2) minutes of any proceeding of the corpora-5
200	200	tion involving any of member of the corporation, the 6
201	201	board of directors, or any committee having author-7
202	202	ity under the board of directors; and 8
203	203	‘‘(3) at the principal office of the corporation, 9
204	204	a record of the names and addresses of all members 10
205	205	of the corporation having the right to vote. 11
206	206	‘‘(b) I
207	207	NSPECTION.— 12
208	208	‘‘(1) I
209	209	N GENERAL.—All books and records of 13
210	210	the corporation may be inspected by any member 14
211	211	having the right to vote, or by any agent or attorney 15
212	212	of such a member, for any proper purpose, at any 16
213	213	reasonable time. 17
214	214	‘‘(2) E
215	215	FFECT.—Nothing in this section con-18
216	216	travenes— 19
217	217	‘‘(A) the laws of the jurisdiction under 20
218	218	which the corporation is incorporated; or 21
219	219	‘‘(B) the laws of those jurisdictions within 22
220	220	the United States and its territories within 23
221	221	which the corporation carries out activities in 24
222	222	furtherance of the purposes of the corporation. 25
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226	226	‘‘§ 150412. Service of process 1
227	227	‘‘With respect to service of process, the corporation 2
228	228	shall comply with the laws of— 3
229	229	‘‘(1) the jurisdiction under which the corpora-4
230	230	tion is incorporated; and 5
231	231	‘‘(2) those jurisdictions within the United 6
232	232	States and its territories within which the corpora-7
233	233	tion carries out activities in furtherance of the pur-8
234	234	poses of the corporation. 9
235	235	‘‘§ 150413. Liability for acts of officers and agents 10
236	236	‘‘The corporation shall be liable for the acts of the 11
237	237	officers and agents of the corporation acting within the 12
238	238	scope of their authority. 13
239	239	‘‘§ 150414. Failure to comply with requirements 14
240	240	‘‘If the corporation fails to comply with any of the 15
241	241	requirements of this chapter, including the requirement 16
242	242	under section 150410 to maintain its status as an organi-17
243	243	zation exempt from taxation, the charter granted by this 18
244	244	chapter shall expire. 19
245	245	‘‘§ 150415. Annual report 20
246	246	‘‘(a) I
247	247	NGENERAL.—The corporation shall submit to 21
248	248	Congress an annual report describing the activities of the 22
249	249	corporation during the preceding fiscal year. 23
250	250	‘‘(b) S
251	251	UBMITTALDATE.—Each annual report under 24
252	252	this section shall be submitted at the same time as the 25
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255	255	•S 1554 IS
256	256	report of the audit of the corporation required by section 1
257	257	10101(b). 2
258	258	‘‘(c) R
259	259	EPORTNOTPUBLICDOCUMENT.—No annual 3
260	260	report under this section shall be printed as a public docu-4
261	261	ment.’’. 5
262	262	(b) C
263	263	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 6
264	264	for subtitle II of title 36, United States Code, is amended 7
265	265	by inserting after the item relating to chapter 1503 the 8
266	266	following: 9
267	267	‘‘1504. National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated .............. 150401’’.
268	268	Æ
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