I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5318

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

Incorporated. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2004

Ms. HERSETH (for herself and Mr. RENZI) 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 ‘‘The National American Indian Veterans, Incor5 porated, a nonprofit corporation organized in the United 

6 States (in this chapter referred to as the ‘corporation’), 

7 is a federally chartered corporation. 

8 ‘‘§ 150402. Purposes 

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

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

11 include a commitment—

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

13 the United States while respecting the sovereignty of 

14 the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Ha15 waiian Nations; 

16 ‘‘(2) to unite under one body all American In17 dian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian veterans 

18 who served in the Armed Forces of United States; 
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1 ‘‘(3) to be an advocate on behalf of all Amer2 ican Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian 

3 veterans without regard to whether they served dur4 ing times of peace, conflict, or war; 

5 ‘‘(4) to promote social welfare (including edu6 cational, economic, social, physical, cultural values, 

7 and traditional healing) in the United States by en8 couraging the growth and development, readjust9 ment, self-respect, self-confidence, contributions, and 

10 self-identity of American Indian veterans; 

11 ‘‘(5) to serve as an advocate for the needs of 

12 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai13 ian veterans, their families, or survivors in their 

14 dealings with all Federal and State government 

15 agencies; 

16 ‘‘(6) to promote, support, and utilize research, 

17 on a nonpartisan basis, pertaining to the relation18 ship between the American Indian, Alaska Native, 

19 and Native Hawaiian veterans and American society; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(7) to provide technical assistance to the 12 

22 regional areas without veterans committees or orga23 nizations and programs by—

24 ‘‘(A) providing outreach service to those 

25 Tribes in need; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) training and educating Tribal Vet2 erans Service Officers for those Tribes in need. 

3 ‘‘§ 150403. Membership 

4 ‘‘Subject to section 150406 of this title, eligibility for 

5 membership in the corporation, and the rights and privi6 leges of members, shall be as provided in the constitution 

7 and by-laws of the corporation. 

8 ‘‘§ 150404. Board of directors 

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

10 of directors of the corporation, and the responsibilities of 

11 the board, shall be as provided in the constitution and by12 laws of the corporation and in conformity with the laws 

13 under which the corporation is incorporated. 

14 ‘‘§ 150405. Officers 

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

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

17 be as provided in the constitution and bylaws of the cor18 poration and in conformity with the laws of the jurisdic19 tion under which the corporation is incorporated. 

20 ‘‘§ 150406. Nondiscrimination 

21 ‘‘In establishing the conditions of membership in the 

22 corporation, and in determining the requirements for serv23 ing on the board of directors or as an officer of the cor24 poration, the corporation may not discriminate on the 
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1 basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, 

2 or age. 

3 ‘‘§ 150407. Powers 

4 ‘‘The corporation shall have only those powers grant5 ed the corporation through its articles of incorporation 

6 and its constitution and bylaws which shall conform to the 

7 laws of the jurisdiction under which the corporation is in8 corporated. 

9 ‘‘§ 150408. Exclusive right to name, seals, emblems, 

10 and badges 

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

12 sole and exclusive right to use the names ‘National Amer13 ican Indian Veterans, Incorporated’ and ‘National Amer14 ican Indian Veterans’, and such seals, emblems, and 

15 badges as the corporation may lawfully adopt. 

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

17 be construed to interfere or conflict with established or 

18 vested rights. 

19 ‘‘§ 150409. Restrictions 

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

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

22 or pay any dividends. 

23 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME OR ASSETS.—(1) No 

24 part of the income or assets of the corporation shall inure 

25 to any person who is a member, officer, or director of the 
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1 corporation or be distributed to any such person during 

2 the life of the charter granted by this chapter. 

3 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 

4 prevent the payment of reasonable compensation to the 

5 officers of the corporation, or reimbursement for actual 

6 and necessary expenses, in amounts approved by the board 

7 of directors. 

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

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

10 corporation. 

11 ‘‘(d) NO FEDERAL ENDORSEMENT.—The corpora12 tion shall not claim congressional approval or Federal 

13 Government authority by virtue of the charter granted by 

14 this chapter for any of its activities. 

15 ‘‘§ 150410. Duty to maintain tax-exempt status 

16 ‘‘The corporation shall maintain its status as an or17 ganization exempt from taxation as provided in the Inter18 nal Revenue Code of 1986. 

19 ‘‘§ 150411. Records and inspection 

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

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

22 accounts; 

23 ‘‘(2) minutes of any proceeding of the corpora24 tion involving any of its members, the board of di-
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1 rectors, or any committee having authority under 

2 the board of directors; and 

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

4 names and addresses of all members having the 

5 right to vote. 

6 ‘‘(b) INSPECTION.—(1) All books and records of the 

7 corporation may be inspected by any member having the 

8 right to vote, or by any agent or attorney of such member, 

9 for any proper purpose, at any reasonable time. 

10 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to con11 travene the laws of the jurisdiction under which the cor12 poration is incorporated or the laws of those jurisdictions 

13 within which the corporation carries on its activities in 

14 furtherance of its purposes within the United States and 

15 its territories. 

16 ‘‘§ 150412. Service of process 

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

18 shall comply with the laws of the jurisdiction under which 

19 the corporation is incorporated and those jurisdictions 

20 within which the corporation carries on its activities in 

21 furtherance of its purposes within the United States and 

22 its territories. 
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1 ‘‘§ 150413. Liability for acts of officers and agents 

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

3 officers and agents of the corporation when such individ4 uals act within the scope of their authority. 

5 ‘‘§ 150414. Failure to comply with requirements 

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

7 restrictions or provisions of this chapter, including the re8 quirement under section 150410 of this title to maintain 

9 its status as an organization exempt from taxation, the 

10 charter granted by this chapter shall expire. 

11 ‘‘§ 150415. Annual report 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The corporation shall report an13 nually to Congress concerning the activities of the corpora14 tion during the preceding fiscal year. 

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

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

17 report of the audit of the corporation required by section 

18 10101(b) of this title. 

19 ‘‘(c) REPORT NOT PUBLIC DOCUMENT.—No annual 

20 report under this section shall be printed as a public docu21 ment.’’. 

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

23 at the beginning of subtitle II of title 36, United States 
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1 Code, is amended by insert after the item relating to chap2 ter 1503 the following new item:

‘‘1504. National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated ......................150401’’.

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