I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3603 

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

Incorporated. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 

Mrs. NOEM introduced the following bill; which was 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 new chapter: 

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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 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL CHARTER.—The National American 

5 Indian Veterans, Incorporated, a nonprofit corporation or6 ganized in the United States (in this chapter referred to 

7 as the ‘corporation’), is a federally chartered corporation. 

8 ‘‘(b) INDEPENDENT STATUS OF CORPORATION.—The 

9 corporation is not an agency or instrumentality of the 

10 Federal Government. 

11 ‘‘§ 150402. Purposes 

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

13 its articles of incorporation, constitution, and bylaws, and 

14 include a commitment— 

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

16 the United States while respecting the sovereignty of 

17 the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Ha18 waiian Nations; 

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1 ‘‘(2) to unite under one body all American In2 dian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian veterans 

3 who served in the Armed Forces of United States; 

4 ‘‘(3) to be an advocate on behalf of all Amer5 ican Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian 

6 veterans without regard to whether they served dur7 ing times of peace, conflict, or war; 

8 ‘‘(4) to be an advocate for all veterans suffering 

9 from service-connected disabilities; 

10 ‘‘(5) to promote social welfare (including edu11 cational, economic, social, physical, cultural values, 

12 and traditional healing) in the United States by en13 couraging the growth and development, readjust14 ment, self-respect, self-confidence, contributions, and 

15 self-identity of American Indian veterans; 

16 ‘‘(6) to serve as an advocate for the needs of 

17 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai18 ian veterans, their families, or survivors in their 

19 dealings with all Federal and State government 

20 agencies; 

21 ‘‘(7) to promote, support, and use research, on 

22 a nonpartisan basis, pertaining to the relationship 

23 between the American Indian, Alaska Native, and 

24 Native Hawaiian veterans and American society; and 

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1 ‘‘(8) to provide technical assistance to all re2 gional areas without veterans committees or organi3 zations and programs by— 

4 ‘‘(A) providing outreach service to those 

5 tribes in need; and 

6 ‘‘(B) training and educating Tribal Vet7 erans Service Officers for those tribes in need. 

8 ‘‘§ 150403. Membership 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b) and 

10 section 150406 of this title, eligibility for membership in 

11 the corporation, and the rights and privileges of members, 

12 shall be as provided in the constitution and bylaws of the 

13 corporation. 

14 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—Eligibility for membership in the 

15 corporation and the rights and privileges of members shall 

16 not be determined by the Federal Government. 

17 ‘‘§ 150404. Board of directors 

18 ‘‘Subject to section 150406 of this title, the board 

19 of directors of the corporation, and the responsibilities of 

20 the board, shall be as provided in the constitution and by21 laws of the corporation and in conformity with the laws 

22 under which the corporation is incorporated. 

23 ‘‘§ 150405. Officers 

24 ‘‘Subject to section 150406 of this title, the officers 

25 of the corporation, and the election of such officers, shall 

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1 be as provided in the constitution and bylaws of the cor2 poration and in conformity with the laws of the jurisdic3 tion under which the corporation is incorporated. 

4 ‘‘§ 150406. Nondiscrimination 

5 ‘‘In establishing the conditions of membership in the 

6 corporation, and in determining the requirements for serv7 ing on the board of directors or as an officer of the cor8 poration, the corporation may not discriminate on the 

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

10 or age. 

11 ‘‘§ 150407. Powers 

12 ‘‘The corporation shall have only those powers grant13 ed the corporation through its articles of incorporation 

14 and its constitution and bylaws, which shall conform to 

15 the laws of the jurisdiction under which the corporation 

16 is incorporated. 

17 ‘‘§ 150408. Exclusive right to name, seals, emblems, 

18 and badges 

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

20 sole and exclusive right to use the names ‘National Amer21 ican Indian Veterans, Incorporated’ and ‘National Amer22 ican Indian Veterans’, and such seals, emblems, and 

23 badges as the corporation may lawfully adopt. 

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1 ‘‘(b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

2 be construed to interfere or conflict with established or 

3 vested rights. 

4 ‘‘§ 150409. Restrictions 

5 ‘‘(a) STOCK AND DIVIDENDS.—The corporation shall 

6 have no power to issue any shares of stock nor to declare 

7 or pay any dividends. 

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

9 ‘‘(1) No part of the income or assets of the cor10 poration shall inure to any person who is a member, 

11 officer, or director of the corporation or be distrib12 uted to any such person during the life of the char13 ter granted by this chapter. 

14 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be con15 strued to prevent the payment of reasonable com16 pensation to the officers of the corporation, or reim17 bursement for actual and necessary expenses, in 

18 amounts approved by the board of directors. 

19 ‘‘(c) LOANS.—The corporation shall not make any 

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

21 corporation. 

22 ‘‘(d) NO FEDERAL ENDORSEMENT.—The corpora23 tion shall not claim congressional approval or Federal 

24 Government authority by virtue of the charter granted by 

25 this chapter for any of its activities. 

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1 ‘‘§ 150410. Duty to maintain tax-exempt status 

2 ‘‘The corporation shall maintain its status as an or3 ganization exempt from taxation as provided in the Inter4 nal Revenue Code of 1986. 

5 ‘‘§ 150411. Records and inspection 

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

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

8 accounts; 

9 ‘‘(2) minutes of any proceeding of the corpora10 tion involving any of its members, the board of di11 rectors, or any committee having authority under 

12 the board of directors; and 

13 ‘‘(3) at its principal office, a record of the 

14 names and addresses of all members having the 

15 right to vote. 

16 ‘‘(b) INSPECTION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) All books and records of the corporation 

18 may be inspected by any member having the right 

19 to vote, or by any agent or attorney of such member, 

20 for any proper purpose, at any reasonable time. 

21 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed 

22 to contravene the laws of the jurisdiction under 

23 which the corporation is incorporated or the laws of 

24 those jurisdictions within which the corporation car25 ries on its activities in furtherance of its purposes 

26 within the United States and its territories. 

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1 ‘‘§ 150412. Service of process 

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

3 shall comply with the laws of the jurisdiction under which 

4 the corporation is incorporated and those jurisdictions 

5 within which the corporation carries on its activities in 

6 furtherance of its purposes within the United States and 

7 its territories. 

8 ‘‘§ 150413. Liability for acts of officers and agents 

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

10 officers and agents of the corporation when such individ11 uals act within the scope of their authority. 

12 ‘‘§ 150414. Failure to comply with requirements 

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

14 restrictions or provisions of this chapter, including the re15 quirement under section 150410 of this title to maintain 

16 its status as an organization exempt from taxation, the 

17 charter granted by this chapter shall expire. 

18 ‘‘§ 150415. Annual report 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The corporation shall report an20 nually to Congress concerning the activities of the corpora21 tion during the preceding fiscal year. 

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

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

24 report of the audit of the corporation required by section 

25 10101(b) of this title.’’. 

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

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

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

4 chapter 1503 the following new item: 

‘‘1504. National American Indian Veterans, 

Incorporated ............................................................150401’’. 

Æ 

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