II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4715 

To grant a Federal charter to the National American Indian Veterans, 

Incorporated. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Mr. ROUNDS (for himself and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To grant a Federal charter to the National American Indian 

Veterans, Incorporated. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. RECOGNITION AS CORPORATION AND GRANT 

4 OF FEDERAL CHARTER FOR NATIONAL 

5 AMERICAN INDIAN VETERANS, INCOR6 PORATED. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of subtitle II of title 36, 

8 United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 

9 1503 the following: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 1504—NATIONAL AMERICAN 

2 INDIAN VETERANS, INCORPORATED 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘150401. Organization. 

‘‘150402. Purposes. 

‘‘150403. Membership. 

‘‘150404. Board of directors. 

‘‘150405. Officers. 

‘‘150406. Nondiscrimination. 

‘‘150407. Powers. 

‘‘150408. Exclusive right to name, seals, emblems, and badges. 

‘‘150409. Restrictions. 

‘‘150410. Duty to maintain tax-exempt status. 

‘‘150411. Records and inspection. 

‘‘150412. Service of process. 

‘‘150413. Liability for acts of officers and agents. 

‘‘150414. Failure to comply with requirements. 

‘‘150415. Annual report. 

3 ‘‘§ 150401 Organization 

4 ‘‘The National American Indian Veterans, Incor5 porated, a nonprofit corporation organized in the United 

6 States (referred to in this chapter the ‘corporation’), is 

7 a federally chartered corporation. 

8 ‘‘§ 150402. Purposes 

9 ‘‘The purposes of the corporation are those stated in 

10 the articles of incorporation, constitution, and bylaws of 

11 the corporation, and include a commitment— 

12 ‘‘(1) to uphold and defend the Constitution of 

13 the United States while respecting the sovereignty of 

14 the American Indian Nations; 

15 ‘‘(2) to unite under one body all American In16 dian veterans who served in the Armed Forces of 

17 United States; 


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1 ‘‘(3) to be an advocate on behalf of all Amer2 ican Indian veterans without regard to whether they 

3 served during times of peace, conflict, or war; 

4 ‘‘(4) to promote social welfare (including edu5 cational, economic, social, physical, and cultural val6 ues and traditional healing) in the United States by 

7 encouraging the growth and development, readjust8 ment, self-respect, self-confidence, contributions, and 

9 self-identity of American Indian veterans; 

10 ‘‘(5) to serve as an advocate for the needs of 

11 American Indian veterans and their families and 

12 survivors in their dealings with all Federal and State 

13 government agencies; 

14 ‘‘(6) to promote, support, and utilize research, 

15 on a nonpartisan basis, pertaining to the relation16 ship between American Indian veterans and Amer17 ican society; and 

18 ‘‘(7) to provide technical assistance to the Bu19 reau of Indian Affairs regional areas that are not 

20 served by any veterans committee or organization or 

21 program by— 

22 ‘‘(A) providing outreach service to Indian 

23 Tribes in need; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) training and educating Tribal Vet2 erans Service Officers for Indian Tribes in 

3 need. 

4 ‘‘§ 150403. Membership 

5 ‘‘Subject to section 150406, eligibility for member6 ship in the corporation, and the rights and privileges of 

7 members, shall be as provided in the constitution and by8 laws of the corporation. 

9 ‘‘§ 150404. Board of directors 

10 ‘‘Subject to section 150406, the board of directors of 

11 the corporation, and the responsibilities of the board, shall 

12 be as provided in the constitution and bylaws of the cor13 poration and in conformity with the laws under which the 

14 corporation is incorporated. 

15 ‘‘§ 150405. Officers 

16 ‘‘Subject to section 150406, the officers of the cor17 poration, and the election of such officers, shall be as pro18 vided in the constitution and bylaws of the corporation and 

19 in conformity with the laws of the jurisdiction under which 

20 the corporation is incorporated. 

21 ‘‘§ 150406. Nondiscrimination 

22 ‘‘In establishing the conditions of membership in the 

23 corporation, and in determining the requirements for serv24 ing on the board of directors or as an officer of the cor25 poration, the corporation may not discriminate on the 


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1 basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, 

2 or age. 

3 ‘‘§ 150407. Powers 

4 ‘‘The corporation shall have only those powers grant5 ed the corporation through its articles of incorporation, 

6 constitution, and bylaws, which shall conform to the laws 

7 of the jurisdiction under which the corporation is incor8 porated. 

9 ‘‘§ 150408. Exclusive right to name, seals, emblems, 

10 and badges 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The corporation shall have the 

12 sole and exclusive right to use the names ‘National Amer13 ican Indian Veterans, Incorporated’ and ‘National Amer14 ican Indian Veterans’, and such seals, emblems, and 

15 badges as the corporation may lawfully adopt. 

16 ‘‘(b) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section interferes or 

17 conflicts with any established or vested rights. 

18 ‘‘§ 150409. Restrictions 

19 ‘‘(a) STOCK AND DIVIDENDS.—The corporation may 

20 not— 

21 ‘‘(1) issue any shares of stock; or 

22 ‘‘(2) declare or pay any dividends. 

23 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME OR ASSETS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The income or assets of the 

25 corporation may not— 


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1 ‘‘(A) inure to any person who is a member, 

2 officer, or director of the corporation; or 

3 ‘‘(B) be distributed to any such person 

4 during the life of the charter granted by this 

5 chapter. 

6 ‘‘(2) EFFECT.—Nothing in this subsection pre7 vents the payment of reasonable compensation to the 

8 officers of the corporation, or reimbursement for ac9 tual and necessary expenses, in amounts approved 

10 by the board of directors. 

11 ‘‘(c) LOANS.—The corporation may not make any 

12 loan to any officer, director, member, or employee of the 

13 corporation. 

14 ‘‘(d) NO FEDERAL ENDORSEMENT.—The corpora15 tion may not claim congressional approval or Federal Gov16 ernment authority by virtue of the charter granted by this 

17 chapter for any of the activities of the corporation. 

18 ‘‘§ 150410. Duty to maintain tax-exempt status 

19 ‘‘The corporation shall maintain its status as an or20 ganization exempt from taxation under the Internal Rev21 enue Code of 1986. 

22 ‘‘§ 150411. Records and inspection 

23 ‘‘(a) RECORDS.—The corporation shall keep— 

24 ‘‘(1) correct and complete books and records of 

25 accounts; 


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1 ‘‘(2) minutes of any proceeding of the corpora2 tion involving any of member of the corporation, the 

3 board of directors, or any committee having author4 ity under the board of directors; and 

5 ‘‘(3) at the principal office of the corporation, 

6 a record of the names and addresses of all members 

7 of the corporation having the right to vote. 

8 ‘‘(b) INSPECTION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All books and records of 

10 the corporation may be inspected by any member 

11 having the right to vote, or by any agent or attorney 

12 of such a member, for any proper purpose, at any 

13 reasonable time. 

14 ‘‘(2) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section con15 travenes— 

16 ‘‘(A) the laws of the jurisdiction under 

17 which the corporation is incorporated; or 

18 ‘‘(B) the laws of those jurisdictions within 

19 the United States and its territories within 

20 which the corporation carries out activities in 

21 furtherance of the purposes of the corporation. 

22 ‘‘§ 150412. Service of process 

23 ‘‘With respect to service of process, the corporation 

24 shall comply with the laws of— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the jurisdiction under which the corpora2 tion is incorporated; and 

3 ‘‘(2) those jurisdictions within the United 

4 States and its territories within which the corpora5 tion carries out activities in furtherance of the pur6 poses of the corporation. 

7 ‘‘§ 150413. Liability for acts of officers and agents 

8 ‘‘The corporation shall be liable for the acts of the 

9 officers and agents of the corporation acting within the 

10 scope of their authority. 

11 ‘‘§ 150414. Failure to comply with requirements 

12 ‘‘If the corporation fails to comply with any of the 

13 requirements of this chapter, including the requirement 

14 under section 150410 to maintain its status as an organi15 zation exempt from taxation, the charter granted by this 

16 chapter shall expire. 

17 ‘‘§ 150415. Annual report 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The corporation shall submit to 

19 Congress an annual report describing the activities of the 

20 corporation during the preceding fiscal year. 

21 ‘‘(b) SUBMITTAL DATE.—Each annual report under 

22 this section shall be submitted at the same time as the 

23 report of the audit of the corporation required by section 

24 10101(b). 


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1 ‘‘(c) REPORT NOT PUBLIC DOCUMENT.—No annual 

2 report under this section shall be printed as a public docu3 ment.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

5 for subtitle II of title 36, United States Code, is amended 

6 by inserting after the item relating to chapter 1503 the 

7 following: 

‘‘1504. National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated ....................150401’’. 

Æ 


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