II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1759

To grant a Federal charter to the American GI Forum of the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 13, 1998

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr.

DOMENICI, Mr. GRASSLEY, and Mrs. HUTCHISON) 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 American GI Forum

of the United States.

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 AND GRANT OF FEDERAL CHAR4 TER.

5 The American GI Forum of the United States, a non6 profit corporation organized under the laws of the State

7 of New Mexico, is recognized as such and granted a Fed8 eral charter.
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•S 1759 IS

1 SEC. 2. POWERS.

2 The American GI Forum of the United States (in this

3 Act referred to as the ‘‘corporation’’) shall have only those

4 powers granted to it through its bylaws and articles of

5 incorporation filed in the State of New Mexico and subject

6 to the laws of the State of New Mexico.

7 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

8 The purposes of the corporation are those provided

9 in its bylaws and articles of incorporation and shall include

10 the following:

11 (1) To secure the blessing of American democ12 racy at every level of local, State, and national life

13 for all United States citizens.

14 (2) To uphold and defend the Constitution and

15 the United States flag.

16 (3) To foster and perpetuate the principles of

17 American democracy based on religious and political

18 freedom for the individual and equal opportunity for

19 all.

20 (4) To foster and enlarge equal educational op21 portunities, equal economic opportunities, equal jus22 tice under the law, and equal political opportunities

23 for all United States citizens, regardless of race,

24 color, religion, sex, or national origin.

25 (5) To encourage greater participation of the

26 ethnic minority represented by the corporation in the
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•S 1759 IS

1 policy-making and administrative activities of all de2 partments, agencies, and other governmental units

3 of local and State governments and the Federal Gov4 ernment.

5 (6) To combat all practices of a prejudicial or

6 discriminatory nature in local, State, or national life

7 which curtail, hinder, or deny to any United States

8 citizen an equal opportunity to develop full potential

9 as an individual.

10 (7) To foster and promote the broader knowl11 edge and appreciation by all United States citizens

12 of their cultural heritage and language.

13 SEC. 4. SERVICE OF PROCESS.

14 With respect to service of process, the corporation

15 shall comply with the laws of the State of New Mexico

16 and those States in which it carries on its activities in

17 furtherance of its corporate purposes.

18 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP.

19 Except as provided in section 8(g), eligibility for

20 membership in the corporation and the rights and privi21 leges of members shall be as provided in the bylaws and

22 articles of incorporation of the corporation.

23 SEC. 6. BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

24 Except as provided in section 8(g), the composition

25 of the board of directors of the corporation and the re-
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1 sponsibilities of the board shall be as provided in the by2 laws and articles of incorporation of the corporation and

3 in conformity with the laws of the State of New Mexico.

4 SEC. 7. OFFICERS.

5 Except as provided in section 8(g), the positions of

6 officers of the corporation and the election of members

7 to such positions shall be as provided in the bylaws and

8 articles of incorporation of the corporation and in con9 formity with the laws of the State of New Mexico.

10 SEC. 8. RESTRICTIONS.

11 (a) INCOME AND COMPENSATION.—No part of the in12 come or assets of the corporation may inure to the benefit

13 of any member, officer, or director of the corporation or

14 be distributed to any such individual during the life of this

15 charter. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to

16 prevent the payment of reasonable compensation to the

17 officers and employees of the corporation or reimburse18 ment for actual and necessary expenses in amounts ap19 proved by the board of directors.

20 (b) LOANS.—The corporation may not make any loan

21 to any member, officer, director, or employee of the cor22 poration.

23 (c) ISSUANCE OF STOCK AND PAYMENT OF DIVI24 DENDS.—The corporation may not issue any shares of

25 stock or declare or pay any dividends.
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1 (d) DISCLAIMER OF CONGRESSIONAL OR FEDERAL

2 APPROVAL.—The corporation may not claim the approval

3 of Congress or the authorization of the Federal Govern4 ment for any of its activities by virtue of this Act.

5 (e) CORPORATE STATUS.—The corporation shall

6 maintain its status as a corporation organized and incor7 porated under the laws of the State of New Mexico.

8 (f) CORPORATE FUNCTION.—The corporation shall

9 function as an educational, patriotic, civic, historical, and

10 research organization under the laws of the State of New

11 Mexico.

12 (g) NONDISCRIMINATION.—In establishing the condi13 tions of membership in the corporation and in determining

14 the requirements for serving on the board of directors or

15 as an officer of the corporation, the corporation may not

16 discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, dis17 ability, age, or national origin.

18 SEC. 9. LIABILITY.

19 The corporation shall be liable for the acts of its offi20 cers, directors, employees, and agents whenever such indi21 viduals act within the scope of their authority.

22 SEC. 10. MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTION OF BOOKS AND

23 RECORDS.

24 (a) BOOKS AND RECORDS OF ACCOUNT.—The cor25 poration shall keep correct and complete books and
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1 records of account and minutes of any proceeding of the

2 corporation involving any of its members, the board of di3 rectors, or any committee having authority under the

4 board of directors.

5 (b) NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF MEMBERS.—The

6 corporation shall keep at its principal office a record of

7 the names and addresses of all members having the right

8 to vote in any proceeding of the corporation.

9 (c) RIGHT TO INSPECT BOOKS AND RECORDS.—All

10 books and records of the corporation may be inspected by

11 any member having the right to vote in any proceeding

12 of the corporation, or by any agent or attorney of such

13 member, for any proper purpose at any reasonable time.

14 (d) APPLICATION OF STATE LAW.—This section may

15 not be construed to contravene any applicable State law.

16 SEC. 11. AUDIT OF FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS.

17 The first section of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to pro18 vide for audit of accounts of private corporations estab19 lished under Federal law’’, approved August 30, 1964 (36

20 U.S.C. 1101), is amended by adding at the end the follow21 ing:

22 ‘‘(80) American GI Forum of the United

23 States.’’.
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1 SEC. 12. ANNUAL REPORT.

2 The corporation shall annually submit to Congress a

3 report concerning the activities of the corporation during

4 the preceding fiscal year. The annual report shall be sub5 mitted on the same date as the report of the audit required

6 by reason of the amendment made in section 11. The an7 nual report shall not be printed as a public document.

8 SEC. 13. RESERVATION OF RIGHT TO ALTER, AMEND, OR

9 REPEAL CHARTER.

10 The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is ex11 pressly reserved to Congress.

12 SEC. 14. TAX-EXEMPT STATUS REQUIRED AS CONDITION OF

13 CHARTER.

14 If the corporation fails to maintain its status as a

15 corporation exempt from taxation as provided in the Inter16 nal Revenue Code of 1986 the charter granted in this Act

17 shall terminate.

18 SEC. 15. TERMINATION.

19 The charter granted in this Act shall expire if the

20 corporation fails to comply with any of the provisions of

21 this Act.

22 SEC. 16. DEFINITION OF STATE.

23 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ includes

24 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto

25 Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is-
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1 lands, and the territories and possessions of the United

2 States.

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