II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1825 

To amend title 36, United States Code, to grant a Federal charter to the 

American Military Retirees Association, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 8, 2011 

Mr. NELSON of Florida 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 grant a Federal 

charter to the American Military Retirees Association, 

and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. GRANT OF FEDERAL CHARTER TO AMERICAN 

4 MILITARY RETIREES ASSOCIATION. 

5 (a) GRANT OF CHARTER.—Part B of subtitle II of 

6 title 36, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

7 chapter 1405 the following new chapter: 

8 ‘‘CHAPTER 1406—AMERICAN MILITARY 

9 RETIREES ASSOCIATION 

‘‘Sec. 


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‘‘140601. Organization. 

‘‘140602. Purposes. 

‘‘140603. Membership. 

‘‘140604. Governing body. 

‘‘140605. Powers. 

‘‘140606. Restrictions. 

‘‘140607. Tax-exempt status required as condition of charter. 

‘‘140608. Records and inspection. 

‘‘140609. Service of process. 

‘‘140610. Liability for acts of officers and agents. 

‘‘140611. Annual report. 

‘‘140612. Definition. 

1 ‘‘§ 140601. Organization 

2 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL CHARTER.—American Military Retir3 ees Association (in this chapter, the ‘corporation’), a non4 profit organization that meets the requirements for a vet5 erans service organization under section 501(c)(19) of the 

6 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is organized under 

7 the laws of the State of New York, is a federally chartered 

8 corporation. 

9 ‘‘(b) EXPIRATION OF CHARTER.—If the corporation 

10 does not comply with the provisions of this chapter, the 

11 charter granted by subsection (a) shall expire. 

12 ‘‘§ 140602. Purposes 

13 ‘‘(a) GENERAL.—The purposes of the corporation are 

14 as provided in its bylaws and articles of incorporation and 

15 include— 

16 ‘‘(1) encouraging military retirees to band to17 gether to protect earned benefits by educating on 

18 benefits available; and 

19 ‘‘(2) advocating for the protection of earned 

20 benefits through active monitoring of legislation in 


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1 Congress and the policies and proposals of the De2 partment of Defense and the Department of Vet3 erans Affairs. 

4 ‘‘§ 140603. Membership 

5 ‘‘Eligibility for membership in the corporation, and 

6 the rights and privileges of members of the corporation, 

7 are as provided in the bylaws of the corporation. 

8 ‘‘§ 140604. Governing body 

9 ‘‘(a) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—The composition of the 

10 board of directors of the corporation, and the responsibil11 ities of the board, are as provided in the articles of incor12 poration and bylaws of the corporation. 

13 ‘‘(b) OFFICERS.—The positions of officers of the cor14 poration, and the election of the officers, are as provided 

15 in the articles of incorporation and bylaws. 

16 ‘‘§ 140605. Powers 

17 ‘‘The corporation has only those powers provided in 

18 its bylaws and articles of incorporation filed in each State 

19 in which it is incorporated. 

20 ‘‘§ 140606. Restrictions 

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

22 not issue stock or declare or pay a dividend. 

23 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME OR ASSETS.—The in24 come or assets of the corporation may not inure to the 

25 benefit of, or be distributed to, a director, officer, or memVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:01 Nov 09, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1825.IS S1825

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1 ber of the corporation during the life of the charter grant2 ed by this chapter. This subsection does not prevent the 

3 payment of reasonable compensation to an officer or em4 ployee of the corporation or reimbursement for actual nec5 essary expenses in amounts approved by the board of di6 rectors. 

7 ‘‘(c) LOANS.—The corporation may not make a loan 

8 to a director, officer, employee, or member of the corpora9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(d) CLAIM OF GOVERNMENTAL APPROVAL OR AU11 THORITY.—The corporation may not claim congressional 

12 approval or the authority of the United States Govern13 ment for any of its activities. 

14 ‘‘(e) CORPORATE STATUS.—The corporation shall 

15 maintain its status as a corporation incorporated under 

16 the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

17 ‘‘§ 140607. Tax-exempt status required as condition of 

18 charter 

19 ‘‘If the corporation fails to maintain its status as an 

20 organization exempt from taxation under the Internal 

21 Revenue Code of 1986, the charter granted under this 

22 chapter shall terminate. 

23 ‘‘§ 140608. Records and inspection 

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

25 ‘‘(1) correct and complete records of account; 


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1 ‘‘(2) minutes of the proceedings of the mem2 bers, board of directors, and committees of the cor3 poration having any of the authority of the board of 

4 directors of the corporation; and 

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

6 a record of the names and addresses of the members 

7 of the corporation entitled to vote on matters relat8 ing to the corporation. 

9 ‘‘(b) INSPECTION.—A member entitled to vote on any 

10 matter relating to the corporation, or an agent or attorney 

11 of the member, may inspect the records of the corporation 

12 for any proper purpose at any reasonable time. 

13 ‘‘§ 140609. Service of process 

14 ‘‘The corporation shall comply with the law on service 

15 of process of each State in which it is incorporated and 

16 each State in which it carries on activities. 

17 ‘‘§ 140610. Liability for acts of officers and agents 

18 ‘‘The corporation is liable for any act of any officer 

19 or agent of the corporation acting within the scope of the 

20 authority of the corporation. 

21 ‘‘§ 140611. Annual report 

22 ‘‘The corporation shall submit to Congress an annual 

23 report on the activities of the corporation during the pre24 ceding fiscal year. The report shall be submitted at the 

25 same time as the report of the audit required by section 


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1 10101(b) of this title. The report may not be printed as 

2 a public document. 

3 ‘‘§ 140612. Definition 

4 ‘‘In this chapter, the term ‘State’ includes the Dis5 trict of Columbia and the territories and possessions of 

6 the United States.’’. 

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

8 at the beginning of subtitle II of title 36, United States 

9 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

10 chapter 1405 the following new item: 

‘‘1406. American Military Retirees Association .......................... 140601’’. 

Æ 


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