I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5488 

To amend title 36, United States Code, to provide for a Federal charter 

for Remote Area Medical, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2018 

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee (for himself, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, and Mr. 

DESJARLAIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 36, United States Code, to provide for a 

Federal charter for Remote Area Medical, 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 ‘‘Remote Area Medical 

5 Charter Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. 

7 Chapter 1801 of title 36, United States Code, is 

8 amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 1850—REMOTE AREA MEDICAL 

‘‘185101. Organization. 

‘‘185102. Purposes. 

‘‘185103. Membership and chapters. 

‘‘185104. Board of Directors. 

‘‘185105. Powers. 

‘‘185106. Annual meeting. 

‘‘185107. Endowment fund. 

‘‘185108. Annual report and audit. 

‘‘185109. Authority of the Comptroller General of the United States. 

‘‘185110. Reservation of right to amend or repeal. 

‘‘185111. Service of process. 

2 ‘‘§ 185101. Organization 

3 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL CHARTER.—Remote Area Medical (in 

4 this chapter, the ‘corporation’) is a Federally chartered 

5 corporation. 

6 ‘‘(b) NAME.—The name of the corporation is ‘Remote 

7 Area Medical’ or ‘RAM’. The corporation may conduct its 

8 business and affairs, and otherwise hold itself out, as the 

9 ‘Remote Area Medical’ in any jurisdiction. 

10 ‘‘(c) PERPETUAL EXISTENCE.—Except as otherwise 

11 provided, the corporation has perpetual existence. 

12 ‘‘§ 185102. Purposes 

13 ‘‘The purpose of the corporation is— 

14 ‘‘(1) To prevent pain and alleviate suffering by 

15 providing free quality healthcare to those in need. 

16 The corporation will utilize mobile ground and air17 borne capabilities to provide free medical care and 

18 veterinary services to the needy. 


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1 ‘‘(2) To organize and facilitate animal hus2 bandry and wildlife conservation, to include the dis3 tribution of educational information and data. 

4 ‘‘(3) To organize and distribute education infor5 mation and provide live educational and training 

6 programs for underprivileged youth and adults. 

7 ‘‘§ 185103. Membership and chapters 

8 ‘‘(a) MEMBERSHIP.—Membership in the corporation 

9 is open to all the people of the United States and its terri10 tories and possessions, or as provided in the bylaws. 

11 ‘‘(b) AFFILIATES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) The affiliates of the corporation are the 

13 local units of the corporation. The corporation shall 

14 prescribe policies and regulations related to— 

15 ‘‘(A) granting charters to the affiliates and 

16 revoking those charters; 

17 ‘‘(B) the territorial jurisdiction of the af18 filiates; 

19 ‘‘(C) the relationship of the affiliates to the 

20 corporation; and 

21 ‘‘(D) compliance by the affiliates with the 

22 policies and regulations of the corporation. 

23 ‘‘(2) The policies and regulations shall require 

24 that each affiliate adhere to the democratic prinVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:48 Apr 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5488.IH H5488

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1 ciples of election specified in the bylaws in electing 

2 the governing body of the affiliate. 

3 ‘‘§ 185104. Board of Directors 

4 ‘‘(a) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Directors is 

6 the governing body of the corporation with all pow7 ers of governing and directing, and of overseeing the 

8 management of the business and affairs of, the cor9 poration. 

10 ‘‘(2) NUMBER.—The Board of Directors shall 

11 fix by resolution, from time to time, the number of 

12 members constituting the entire Board of Directors, 

13 provided that as of July 13, 2014, and thereafter, 

14 there shall be no fewer than twelve. There shall be 

15 9 standing committees. Procedures to implement or 

16 amend the preceding sentence shall be provided in 

17 the bylaws. 

18 ‘‘(3) APPOINTMENT.—The Board of Directors 

19 shall be appointed or elected in the following man20 ner: 

21 ‘‘(A) PRESIDENT.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Di23 rectors, in accordance with procedures pro24 vided in the bylaws, shall have Stan Brock 

25 serving as President of the Board for life 


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1 or upon his resignation or removal from 

2 the Board. 

3 ‘‘(ii) VACANCIES.—Vacancies as to the 

4 Presidency of the Board, whether resulting 

5 from the resignation, death, or removal by 

6 the Board, shall be filled as provided in the 

7 bylaws. 

8 ‘‘(iii) DUTIES.—The President shall 

9 be a member of the Board of Directors 

10 and, when present, shall preside at meet11 ings of the Board of Directors and shall 

12 have such other duties and responsibilities 

13 as may be provided in the bylaws or a res14 olution of the Board of Directors. 

15 ‘‘(B) OTHER MEMBERS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Officers of the 

17 Board of Directors other than the Presi18 dent shall be elected at the annual meeting 

19 of the corporation in accordance with such 

20 procedures as may be provided in the by21 laws. 

22 ‘‘(ii) VACANCIES.—Vacancies in any 

23 such elected Board position and in any 

24 newly created Board position may be filled 

25 by a vote of the remaining members of the 


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1 Board of Directors in accordance with such 

2 procedures as may be provided in the by3 laws. 

4 ‘‘(b) TERMS OF OFFICE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term of office of each 

6 member of the Board of Directors shall be 2 years, 

7 except that any member of the Board of Directors 

8 elected by the Board to fill a vacancy in a Board po9 sition arising before the expiration of its term may, 

10 as determined by the Board, serve for the remainder 

11 of that term or until the next meeting of the cor12 poration. 

13 ‘‘(2) STAGGERED TERMS.—The terms of office 

14 of members of the Board of Directors (other than 

15 the President) shall be staggered. Elections of the 

16 Board of Directors shall take place in the winter 

17 quarterly meeting and each July at the annual meet18 ing. 

19 ‘‘(c) COMMITTEES AND OFFICERS.—The Board— 

20 ‘‘(1) may appoint, from its own members, an 

21 executive committee to exercise such powers of the 

22 Board when the Board is not in session as may be 

23 provided in the bylaws; 


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1 ‘‘(2) may appoint such other committees with 

2 such powers as may be provided in the bylaws or a 

3 resolution of the Board of Directors; 

4 ‘‘(3) shall appoint such officers of the corpora5 tion, including a chief executive officer, with such 

6 duties, responsibilities, and terms of office as may be 

7 provided in the bylaws or a resolution of the Board 

8 of Directors; and 

9 ‘‘(4) may remove members of the Board of Di10 rectors (other than the President), officers, and em11 ployees under such procedures as may be provided in 

12 the bylaws or a resolution of the Board of Directors. 

13 ‘‘(d) ACTION WITHOUT MEETING.—Any action re14 quired or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the 

15 Board of Directors or of any committee thereof may be 

16 taken without a meeting if 75 percent of the members of 

17 the Board or committee, as the case may be, consent 

18 thereto in writing, or by electronic transmission and the 

19 writing or electronic transmission is filed with the minutes 

20 of the next proceedings of the Board or committee, if rati21 fied by a majority vote of the Board. Such filing shall be 

22 in paper form if the minutes are maintained in paper form 

23 and shall be in electronic form if the minutes are main24 tained in electronic form. 

25 ‘‘(e) VOTING BY PROXY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any member wishing to 

2 vote through proxy must notify the Secretary of the 

3 Board in writing more than 24 hours in advance of 

4 the Board meeting. 

5 ‘‘(2) METHOD.—An e-mail constitutes a writing 

6 for proxy notification purposes. 

7 ‘‘(f) BYLAWS.—The Board of Directors may— 

8 ‘‘(1) at any time adopt bylaws; and 

9 ‘‘(2) amend these bylaws upon written notice 

10 provided at least 5 days in advance of any meeting 

11 convened for that purpose. Amendments may only be 

12 adopted on a majority vote of a quorum of the entire 

13 membership of the Board at the time the amend14 ment is proposed. 

15 ‘‘§ 185105. Powers 

16 ‘‘The corporation may— 

17 ‘‘(1) adopt policies and regulations; 

18 ‘‘(2) adopt, alter, and destroy a seal; 

19 ‘‘(3) own and dispose of property to carry out 

20 the purposes of the corporation; 

21 ‘‘(4) accept gifts, devises, and bequests of prop22 erty to carry out the purposes of the corporation; 

23 ‘‘(5) sue and be sued in courts of law and eq24 uity, State or Federal, within the jurisdiction of the 

25 United States; and 


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1 ‘‘(6) do any other act necessary to carry out 

2 this chapter and promote the purposes of the cor3 poration. 

4 ‘‘§ 185106. Annual meeting 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The annual meeting of the cor6 poration is the annual meeting of Directors. 

7 ‘‘(b) TIME OF MEETING.—The annual meeting shall 

8 be held during the month of July. 

9 ‘‘(c) PLACE OF MEETING.—The Board of Directors 

10 is authorized to determine that the annual meeting shall 

11 not be held at any place, but may instead be held solely 

12 by means of remote communication subject to such proce13 dures as are provided in the bylaws. 

14 ‘‘§ 185107. Endowment fund 

15 ‘‘Any endowment fund of the corporation shall be 

16 kept and invested under the management and control of 

17 the Board of Directors. 

18 ‘‘§ 185108. Annual report and audit 

19 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—As soon as prac20 ticable after the end of the corporation’s fiscal year, which 

21 may be changed from time to time by the Board of Direc22 tors, the corporation shall submit a report to Congress on 

23 the activities of the corporation during such fiscal year. 

24 The report may not be printed as a public document. 


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1 ‘‘(b) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.—RAM shall comply 

2 with the audit requirements of 36 U.S.C. 10101. 

3 ‘‘§ 185109. Authority of the Comptroller General of 

4 the United States 

5 ‘‘The Comptroller General of the United States is au6 thorized to review the corporation’s involvement in any 

7 Federal program or activity the Government carries out 

8 under law. 

9 ‘‘§ 185110. Reservation of right to amend or repeal 

10 ‘‘Congress reserves the right to amend or repeal the 

11 provisions of this chapter. 

12 ‘‘§ 185111. Service of process 

13 ‘‘As a condition to the exercise of any power or privi14 lege granted by this chapter, the corporation shall file, 

15 with the secretary of state or other designated official of 

16 each State, the name and address of an agent in that 

17 State on whom legal process or demands against the cor18 poration may be served.’’. 

Æ 


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