II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 616
To amend title 36, United States Code, to revise the Federal charter for
the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY18, 2025
Mr. K
ENNEDY(for himself and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 36, United States Code, to revise the Federal
charter for the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foundation of the Fed-4
eral Bar Association Charter Amendments Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. ORGANIZATION. 6
Section 70501 of title 36, United States Code, is 7
amended— 8
(1) by striking subsection (b); and 9
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(2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-1
section (b). 2
SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP. 3
Section 70503 of title 36, United States Code, is 4
amended— 5
(1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in-6
serting the following: 7
‘‘(a) E
LIGIBILITY.—Except as provided in this chap-8
ter, eligibility for membership in the corporation and the 9
rights and privileges of members are as provided in the 10
bylaws.’’; and 11
(2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-12
section (b). 13
SEC. 4. GOVERNING BODY. 14
Section 70504 of title 36, United States Code, is 15
amended to read as follows: 16
‘‘§ 70504. Governing body 17
‘‘(a) B
OARD OFDIRECTORS.—The board of directors 18
is the governing body of the corporation. The board may 19
exercise, or provide for the exercise of, the powers of the 20
corporation. The board of directors and the responsibilities 21
of the board are as provided in the bylaws. 22
‘‘(b) O
FFICERS.—The officers and the election of the 23
officers are as provided for in the bylaws.’’. 24
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SEC. 5. RESTRICTIONS. 1
Section 70507 of title 36, United States Code, is 2
amended to read as follows: 3
‘‘§ 70507. Restrictions 4
‘‘(a) S
TOCK ANDDIVIDENDS.—The corporation may 5
not issue stock or declare or pay a dividend. 6
‘‘(b) P
OLITICALACTIVITIES.— 7
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—The activities, funds, in-8
come, and property of the corporation may not be 9
used to carry on political activity or attempt to in-10
fluence legislation. 11
‘‘(2) N
O CONTRIBUTION, SUPPORT, OR PARTICI-12
PATION.—The corporation or a director or officer in 13
the corporate capacity of the director of officer may 14
not contribute to, support, or participate in any po-15
litical activity or in any manner attempt to influence 16
legislation. 17
‘‘(c) D
ISTRIBUTION OFINCOME ORASSETS.— 18
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—The income or assets of the 19
corporation may not inure to the benefit of, or be 20
distributed to, a director, officer, or member during 21
the life of the charter granted by this chapter. This 22
subsection does not prevent the payment, in 23
amounts approved by the board of directors, of— 24
‘‘(A) reasonable compensation; or 25
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‘‘(B) reimbursement for expenses incurred 1
in undertaking the corporation’s business, to of-2
ficers, directors, or members. 3
‘‘(2) R
ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—This sub-4
section shall not be construed to— 5
‘‘(A) prevent the award of a grant to a 6
Federal Bar Association chapter of which an of-7
ficer, director, or member may be a member; or 8
‘‘(B) prevent the payment of reasonable 9
compensation to the corporation’s employees for 10
services undertaken on behalf of the corpora-11
tion. 12
‘‘(d) L
OANS.—The corporation may not make a loan 13
to a director, officer, member, or employee. 14
‘‘(e) I
MMUNITYFROMLIABILITY.—Members and pri-15
vate individuals are not liable for the obligations of the 16
corporation. 17
‘‘(f) C
LAIM OFGOVERNMENTAL APPROVAL ORAU-18
THORITY.—The corporation— 19
‘‘(1) may not claim congressional approval or 20
the authority of the United States Government for 21
any of its activities; and 22
‘‘(2) may acknowledge this charter.’’. 23
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SEC. 6. PRINCIPAL OFFICE. 1
Section 70508 of title 36, United States Code, is 2
amended by striking ‘‘the District of Columbia,’’ and in-3
serting ‘‘a United States location decided by the board of 4
directors and specified in the bylaws,’’. 5
SEC. 7. SERVICE OF PROCESS. 6
Section 70510 of title 36, United States Code, is 7
amended to read as follows: 8
‘‘§ 70510. Service of process 9
‘‘The corporation shall comply with the law on service 10
of process of the State or District in which it is incor-11
porated.’’. 12
SEC. 8. DEPOSIT OF ASSETS ON DISSOLUTION OR FINAL 13
LIQUIDATION. 14
Section 70512 of title 36, United States Code, is 15
amended to read as follows: 16
‘‘§ 70512. Deposit of assets on dissolution or final liq-17
uidation 18
‘‘On dissolution or final liquidation of the corpora-19
tion, any assets of the corporation remaining after the dis-20
charge of all liabilities shall be distributed— 21
‘‘(a) as provided by the board of directors; and 22
‘‘(b) in compliance with the charter and bylaws.’’. 23
SEC. 9. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 24
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 25
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 26
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shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 1
titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 2
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 3
by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, pro-4
vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 5
vote on passage. 6
Æ
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