I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 439 

To amend the charter of the Future Farmers of America, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 10, 2019 

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the charter of the Future Farmers of America, 

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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National FFA Organi5 zation’s Federal Charter Amendments Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ORGANIZATION. 

7 Section 70901 of title 36, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’. 

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSES OF THE CORPORATION. 

4 Section 70902 of title 36, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

7 striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; 

8 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

9 paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; 

10 (3) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), (6), and 

11 (7); 

12 (4) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para13 graph (11); 

14 (5) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as 

15 paragraphs (12) and (13), respectively; 

16 (6) by inserting before paragraph (7), as redes17 ignated by paragraph (2), the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) to be an integral component of instruction 

19 in agricultural education, including instruction relat20 ing to agriculture, food, and natural resources; 

21 ‘‘(2) to advance comprehensive agricultural edu22 cation in the United States, including in public 

23 schools, by supporting contextual classroom and lab24 oratory instruction and work-based experiential 

25 learning; 


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1 ‘‘(3) to prepare students for successful entry 

2 into productive careers in fields relating to agri3 culture, food, and natural resources, including by 

4 connecting students to relevant postsecondary edu5 cational pathways and focusing on the complete de6 livery of classroom and laboratory instruction, work7 based experiential learning, and leadership develop8 ment; 

9 ‘‘(4) to be a resource and support organization 

10 that does not select, control, or supervise State asso11 ciation, local chapter, or individual member activi12 ties; 

13 ‘‘(5) to develop educational materials, pro14 grams, services, and events as a service to State and 

15 local agricultural education agencies; 

16 ‘‘(6) to seek and promote inclusion and diver17 sity in its membership, leadership, and staff to re18 flect the belief of the FFA in the value of all human 

19 beings;’’; 

20 (7) in paragraph (7), as redesignated by para21 graph (2)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘composed of students and 

23 former students of vocational agriculture in 

24 public schools qualifying for Federal reimburseVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H439.IH H439

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1 ment under the Smith-Hughes Vocational Edu2 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 11–15, 16–28’’; and 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘as such chapters and as4 sociations carry out agricultural education pro5 grams that are approved by States, territories, 

6 or possessions’’ after ‘‘United States’’; 

7 (8) in paragraph (8), as redesignated by para8 graph (2)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘to develop’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘to build’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘train for useful citizen12 ship, and foster patriotism, and thereby’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘and’’; and 

14 (C) by striking ‘‘aggressive rural and’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘assertive’’; 

16 (9) by inserting after paragraph (8), as redesig17 nated by paragraph (2), the following: 

18 ‘‘(9) to increase awareness of the global and 

19 technological importance of agriculture, food, and 

20 natural resources, and the way agriculture contrib21 utes to our well-being; 

22 ‘‘(10) to promote the intelligent choice and es23 tablishment of a career in fields relating to agri24 culture, food, and natural resources;’’; 


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1 (10) in paragraph (11), as redesignated by 

2 paragraph (4)— 

3 (A) by striking ‘‘to procure for and dis4 tribute to State’’ and inserting ‘‘to make avail5 able to State’’; 

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘, programs, services,’’ 

7 before ‘‘and equipment’’; and 

8 (C) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘FFA’’; 

10 (11) in paragraph (12), as redesignated by 

11 paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘State boards for voca12 tional’’ and inserting ‘‘State boards and officials for 

13 career and technical’’; and 

14 (12) in paragraph (13), as redesignated by 

15 paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘FFA’’. 

17 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 

18 Section 70903(a) of title 36, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘FFA’’; and 

22 (2) by striking ‘‘as provided in the bylaws’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘as provided in the constitution or bylaws 

24 of the FFA’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. GOVERNING BODY. 

2 Section 70904 of title 36, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘corpora6 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’ each place the term 

7 appears; 

8 (B) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and 

9 inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) The board— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall consist of— 

12 ‘‘(i) the Secretary of Education, or 

13 the Secretary of Education’s designee who 

14 has experience in agricultural education, 

15 the FFA, or career and technical edu16 cation; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) other individuals— 

18 ‘‘(I) representing the fields of 

19 education, agriculture, food, and nat20 ural resources; or 

21 ‘‘(II) with experience working 

22 closely with the FFA; and 

23 ‘‘(B) shall not include any individual who 

24 is a current employee of the National FFA Or25 ganization. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The number of directors, terms of office of 

2 the directors, and the method of selecting the direc3 tors, are as provided in the constitution or bylaws of 

4 the FFA.’’; and 

5 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

6 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

7 ‘‘bylaws’’ and inserting ‘‘constitution or 

8 bylaws of the FFA’’; and 

9 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

10 ‘‘chairman’’ and inserting ‘‘chair’’; 

11 (2) by striking subsection (b); and 

12 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(b) OFFICERS.—The officers of the FFA, the terms 

15 of officers, and the election of officers, are as provided 

16 in the constitution or bylaws of the FFA, except that such 

17 officers shall include— 

18 ‘‘(1) a national advisor; 

19 ‘‘(2) an executive secretary; and 

20 ‘‘(3) a treasurer. 

21 ‘‘(c) GOVERNING COMMITTEE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) The board may designate a governing com23 mittee. The terms and method of selecting the gov24 erning committee members are as provided in the 

25 constitution or bylaws of the FFA, except that all 


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1 members of the governing committee shall be mem2 bers of the board of directors and at all times the 

3 governing committee shall be comprised of not less 

4 than 3 individuals. 

5 ‘‘(2) When the board is not in session, the gov6 erning committee has the powers of the board sub7 ject to the board’s direction and may authorize the 

8 seal of the FFA to be affixed to all papers that re9 quire it. 

10 ‘‘(3) The board shall designate to such com11 mittee— 

12 ‘‘(A) the chair of the board; 

13 ‘‘(B) the executive secretary of the board; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(C) the treasurer of the board.’’. 

16 SEC. 6. NATIONAL STUDENT OFFICERS. 

17 Section 70905 of title 36, United States Code, is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol20 lows: 

21 ‘‘(a) COMPOSITION.—There shall be not less than 6 

22 national student officers of the FFA, including a student 

23 president, 4 student vice presidents (each representing re24 gions as provided in the constitution or bylaws of the cor25 poration), and a student secretary.’’; 


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1 (2) by striking subsection (b); 

2 (3) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

3 subsections (b) and (c), respectively; and 

4 (4) in subsection (b), as so redesignated, by 

5 striking ‘‘, except that’’ and all that follows through 

6 ‘‘(20 U.S.C. 11–15, 16–28)’’. 

7 SEC. 7. POWERS. 

8 Section 70906 of title 36, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

11 striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘corporate’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; 

15 (4) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; 

17 (5) by amending paragraph (8) to read as fol18 lows: 

19 ‘‘(8) use FFA funds to give prizes, awards, 

20 loans, and grants to deserving members, local FFA 

21 chapters, and State FFA associations to carry out 

22 the purposes of the FFA;’’; 

23 (6) by amending paragraph (9) to read as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(9) produce publications, websites, and other 

2 media;’’; 

3 (7) in paragraph (10)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘procure for and distribute 

5 to State’’ and inserting ‘‘make available to 

6 State’’; and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘Future Farmers of Amer8 ica’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; and 

9 (8) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘corpora10 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’. 

11 SEC. 8. NAME, SEALS, EMBLEMS, AND BADGES. 

12 Section 70907 of title 36, United States Code, is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘FFA’’ each place the term appears; 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘name’’ and inserting ‘‘names’’; 

17 (3) by striking ‘‘ ‘Future Farmers of America’ ’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘ ‘Future Farmers of America’ and 

19 ‘National FFA Organization,’ ’’; and 

20 (4) by inserting ‘‘education’’ before ‘‘member21 ship’’. 

22 SEC. 9. RESTRICTIONS. 

23 Section 70908 of title 36, United States Code, is 

24 amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘corporation 

4 or a director, officer, or member as such’’ and in5 serting ‘‘FFA or a director, officer, or member act6 ing on behalf of the FFA’’; 

7 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’ each place the term appears; 

9 and 

10 (4) in subsection (d), in the first sentence, by 

11 striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’. 

12 SEC. 10. RELATIONSHIP TO FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

13 Section 70909 of title 36, United States Code, is 

14 amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 70909. RELATIONSHIP TO FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—On request of the board of direc17 tors, the FFA may collaborate with Federal agencies, in18 cluding the Department of Education and the Department 

19 of Agriculture on matters of mutual interest and benefit. 

20 ‘‘(b) AGENCY ASSISTANCE.—Those Federal agencies 

21 may make personnel, services, and facilities available to 

22 administer or assist in the administration of the activities 

23 of the FFA. 

24 ‘‘(c) AGENCY COMPENSATION.—Personnel of the 

25 Federal agencies may not receive compensation from the 


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1 FFA for their services, except that travel and other legiti2 mate expenses as defined by the Federal agencies and ap3 proved by the board may be paid. 

4 ‘‘(d) COOPERATION WITH STATE BOARDS.—The 

5 Federal agencies also may cooperate with State boards 

6 and other organizations for career and technical education 

7 to assist in the promotion of activities of the FFA.’’. 

8 SEC. 11. HEADQUARTERS AND PRINCIPAL OFFICE. 

9 Section 70910 of title 36, United States Code, is 

10 amended by striking ‘‘of the corporation shall be in the 

11 District of Columbia. However, the activities of the cor12 poration are not confined to the District of Columbia but’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘of the FFA shall be as provided in the con14 stitution or bylaws of the FFA. The activities of the 

15 FFA’’. 

16 SEC. 12. RECORDS AND INSPECTION. 

17 Section 70911 of title 36, United States Code, is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘FFA’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘entitled 

23 to vote’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’. 


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1 SEC. 13. SERVICE OF PROCESS. 

2 Section 70912 of title 36, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘IN GENERAL’’; 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘FFA’’ each place the term appears; 

9 (C) by striking ‘‘in the District of Colum10 bia’’ before ‘‘to receive’’; and 

11 (D) by striking ‘‘Designation of the agent 

12 shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the 

13 United States District Court for the District of 

14 Columbia’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (b)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘FFA’’ each place the term appears; and 

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘of the FFA’’ after ‘‘asso19 ciation or chapter’’. 

20 SEC. 14. LIABILITY FOR ACTS OF OFFICERS OR AGENTS. 

21 Section 70913 of title 36, United States Code, is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’. 

23 SEC. 15. DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS IN DISSOLUTION OR 

24 FINAL LIQUIDATION. 

25 Section 70914 of title 36, United States Code, is 

26 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘FFA’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘vocational agriculture’’ and in4 serting ‘‘agricultural education’’. 

Æ 


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