National American Indian Veterans Charter Act

Subjects: Native Americans


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1554 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1554

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 2023

   Mr. Rounds (for himself, Mr. Thune, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Cramer, Mr. 
   Lankford, Mr. Rubio, Mrs. Fischer, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Barrasso, Ms. 
Murkowski, Mr. Graham, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Sullivan, 
    Mr. Moran, Mr. Daines, Mr. Braun, Mr. Lujan, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
  Warnock, Mr. Padilla, Ms. Warren, Ms. Smith, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. 
     Kelly, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Rosen, Ms. Sinema, Mr. Bennet, Mr. 
 Hickenlooper, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Hirono, Mr. King, Mr. 
 Ossoff, and Mr. Mullin) 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 National American Indian Veterans, 
                             Incorporated.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National American Indian Veterans 
Charter Act''.

SEC. 2. RECOGNITION AS CORPORATION AND GRANT OF FEDERAL CHARTER FOR 
              NATIONAL AMERICAN INDIAN VETERANS, INCORPORATED.

    (a) In General.--Part B of subtitle II of title 36, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 1503 the following:

    ``CHAPTER 1504--NATIONAL AMERICAN 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.
``Sec. 150401 Organization
    ``The National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated, a nonprofit 
corporation organized in the United States (referred to in this chapter 
as the `corporation'), is a federally chartered corporation.
``Sec. 150402. Purposes
    ``The purposes of the corporation are those stated in the articles 
of incorporation, constitution, and bylaws of the corporation, and 
include a commitment--
            ``(1) to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United 
        States while respecting the sovereignty of the American Indian 
        Nations;
            ``(2) to unite under one body all American Indian veterans 
        who served in the Armed Forces of United States;
            ``(3) to be an advocate on behalf of all American Indian 
        veterans without regard to whether they served during times of 
        peace, conflict, or war;
            ``(4) to promote social welfare (including educational, 
        economic, social, physical, and cultural values and traditional 
        healing) in the United States by encouraging the growth and 
        development, readjustment, self-respect, self-confidence, 
        contributions, and self-identity of American Indian veterans;
            ``(5) to serve as an advocate for the needs of American 
        Indian veterans and their families and survivors in their 
        dealings with all Federal and State government agencies;
            ``(6) to promote, support, and utilize research, on a 
        nonpartisan basis, pertaining to the relationship between 
        American Indian veterans and American society; and
            ``(7) to provide technical assistance to the Bureau of 
        Indian Affairs regional areas that are not served by any 
        veterans committee or organization or program by--
                    ``(A) providing outreach service to Indian Tribes 
                in need; and
                    ``(B) training and educating Tribal Veterans 
                Service Officers for Indian Tribes in need.
``Sec. 150403. Membership
    ``Subject to section 150406, eligibility for membership in the 
corporation, and the rights and privileges of members, shall be as 
provided in the constitution and bylaws of the corporation.
``Sec. 150404. Board of directors
    ``Subject to section 150406, the board of directors of the 
corporation, and the responsibilities of the board, shall be as 
provided in the constitution and bylaws of the corporation and in 
conformity with the laws under which the corporation is incorporated.
``Sec. 150405. Officers
    ``Subject to section 150406, the officers of the corporation, and 
the election of such officers, shall be as provided in the constitution 
and bylaws of the corporation and in conformity with the laws of the 
jurisdiction under which the corporation is incorporated.
``Sec. 150406. Nondiscrimination
    ``In establishing the conditions of membership in the corporation, 
and in determining the requirements for serving on the board of 
directors or as an officer of the corporation, the corporation may not 
discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national 
origin, handicap, or age.
``Sec. 150407. Powers
    ``The corporation shall have only those powers granted the 
corporation through its articles of incorporation, constitution, and 
bylaws, which shall conform to the laws of the jurisdiction under which 
the corporation is incorporated.
``Sec. 150408. Exclusive right to name, seals, emblems, and badges
    ``(a) In General.--The corporation shall have the sole and 
exclusive right to use the names `National American Indian Veterans, 
Incorporated' and `National American Indian Veterans', and such seals, 
emblems, and badges as the corporation may lawfully adopt.
    ``(b) Effect.--Nothing in this section interferes or conflicts with 
any established or vested rights.
``Sec. 150409. Restrictions
    ``(a) Stock and Dividends.--The corporation may not--
            ``(1) issue any shares of stock; or
            ``(2) declare or pay any dividends.
    ``(b) Distribution of Income or Assets.--
            ``(1) In general.--The income or assets of the corporation 
        may not--
                    ``(A) inure to any person who is a member, officer, 
                or director of the corporation; or
                    ``(B) be distributed to any such person during the 
                life of the charter granted by this chapter.
            ``(2) Effect.--Nothing in this subsection prevents the 
        payment of reasonable compensation to the officers of the 
        corporation, or reimbursement for actual and necessary 
        expenses, in amounts approved by the board of directors.
    ``(c) Loans.--The corporation may not make any loan to any officer, 
director, member, or employee of the corporation.
    ``(d) No Federal Endorsement.--The corporation may not claim 
congressional approval or Federal Government authority by virtue of the 
charter granted by this chapter for any of the activities of the 
corporation.
``Sec. 150410. Duty to maintain tax-exempt status
    ``The corporation shall maintain its status as an organization 
exempt from taxation under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
``Sec. 150411. Records and inspection
    ``(a) Records.--The corporation shall keep--
            ``(1) correct and complete books and records of accounts;
            ``(2) minutes of any proceeding of the corporation 
        involving any of member of the corporation, the board of 
        directors, or any committee having authority under the board of 
        directors; and
            ``(3) at the principal office of the corporation, a record 
        of the names and addresses of all members of the corporation 
        having the right to vote.
    ``(b) Inspection.--
            ``(1) In general.--All books and records of the corporation 
        may be inspected by any member having the right to vote, or by 
        any agent or attorney of such a member, for any proper purpose, 
        at any reasonable time.
            ``(2) Effect.--Nothing in this section contravenes--
                    ``(A) the laws of the jurisdiction under which the 
                corporation is incorporated; or
                    ``(B) the laws of those jurisdictions within the 
                United States and its territories within which the 
                corporation carries out activities in furtherance of 
                the purposes of the corporation.
``Sec. 150412. Service of process
    ``With respect to service of process, the corporation shall comply 
with the laws of--
            ``(1) the jurisdiction under which the corporation is 
        incorporated; and
            ``(2) those jurisdictions within the United States and its 
        territories within which the corporation carries out activities 
        in furtherance of the purposes of the corporation.
``Sec. 150413. Liability for acts of officers and agents
    ``The corporation shall be liable for the acts of the officers and 
agents of the corporation acting within the scope of their authority.
``Sec. 150414. Failure to comply with requirements
    ``If the corporation fails to comply with any of the requirements 
of this chapter, including the requirement under section 150410 to 
maintain its status as an organization exempt from taxation, the 
charter granted by this chapter shall expire.
``Sec. 150415. Annual report
    ``(a) In General.--The corporation shall submit to Congress an 
annual report describing the activities of the corporation during the 
preceding fiscal year.
    ``(b) Submittal Date.--Each annual report under this section shall 
be submitted at the same time as the report of the audit of the 
corporation required by section 10101(b).
    ``(c) Report Not Public Document.--No annual report under this 
section shall be printed as a public document.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for subtitle II of 
title 36, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to chapter 1503 the following:


``1504. National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated.....   150401''.
 

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