[House Report 106-904]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-904

======================================================================



 
                      AMENDMENTS TO AMVETS CHARTER

                                _______
                                

 September 27, 2000.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Hyde, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 604]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 604) amending the charter of the AMVETS 
organization, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill as 
amended do pass.

                           TABLE OF CONTENTS

                                                                  

                                                                 Page
The Amendment..............................................           1
Purpose and Summary........................................           2
Background and Need for the Legislation....................           2
Hearings...................................................           2
Committee Consideration....................................           3
Committee Oversight Findings...............................           3
Committee on Government Reform Findings....................           3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures..................           3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate..................           3
Constitutional Authority Statement.........................           4
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported......           4

    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS TO AMVETS CHARTER.

    (a) Name of Organization.--(1) Sections 22701(a) and 22706 of title 
36, United States Code, are amended by striking ``AMVETS (American 
Veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam)'' and inserting ``AMVETS 
(American Veterans)''.
    (2)(A) The heading of chapter 227 of such title is amended to read 
as follows:

              ``CHAPTER 227--AMVETS (AMERICAN VETERANS)''.

    (B) The item relating to such chapter in the table of chapters at 
the beginning of subtitle II of such title is amended to read as 
follows:

``227. AMVETS (AMERICAN VETERANS)...........................   22701''.

    (b) Governing Body.--Section 22704(c)(1) of such title is amended 
by striking ``seven national vice commanders'' and all that follows 
through ``a judge advocate,'' and inserting ``two national vice 
commanders and six national district commanders, at least one of whom 
shall be a woman, a finance officer, a judge advocate, a chaplain,''.
    (c) Headquarters and Principal Place of Business.--Section 22708 of 
such title is amended--
            (1) by striking ``the District of Columbia'' in the first 
        sentence and inserting ``Maryland''; and
            (2) by striking ``the District of Columbia'' in the second 
        sentence and inserting ``Maryland''.

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 604 would amend the Federal charter for the American 
Veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam (AMVETS).

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    The American Veterans of World War II were founded in 1944. 
They were federally chartered in 1947. Their charter was 
amended by Congress in 1950 to allow Korean War veterans to be 
members of the organization and in 1966 to allow Vietnam 
veterans to be members of the organization. In 1970, Congress 
acted to change the name of the organization to AMVETS--
American Veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. In 1984, 
the AMVETS charter was amended to allow anyone who served 
honorably after 1940 to join AMVETS. In 1990, Congress acted to 
allow membership for national guardsmen and reservists.
    In 1998, at the AMVETS annual convention, the delegates 
voted for an official name change from American Veterans of 
World War II, Korea, and Vietnam to American Veterans to more 
accurately reflect the membership of AMVETS. Additionally, the 
AMVETS have voted to change the structure of their governing 
body. H.R. 604 contain language to reflect the structure change 
in the statute. Finally, the organization has changed the 
location of their headquarters from the District of Columbia to 
Lanham, Maryland. Therefore, the ``Headquarters and principal 
place of business'' section of their charter needs to be 
changed to indicate they are now located in Maryland.
    In order for these changes to be recognized by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs the AMVETS Federal charter must 
be amended.
    An amendment in the nature of a substitute adopted by the 
committee changed the headquarters location from the 
``Baltimore-Washington Area'' to ``Maryland'' and amended the 
governing language to accurately reflect the structure agreed 
to by the governing body.

                                Hearings

    No hearings were held on this legislation.

                        Committee Consideration

    On September 19, 2000, the committee met in open session 
and ordered reported favorably the bill H.R. 604 with amendment 
by voice vote, a quorum being present.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 2(l)(3)(A) of rule XI of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, the committee reports 
that the findings and recommendations of the committee, based 
on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

                Committee on Government Reform Findings

    No findings or recommendations of the Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight were received as referred to in 
clause 2(l)(3)(D) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 2(l)(3)(B) of House Rule XI is inapplicable because 
this legislation does not provide new budgetary authority or 
increased tax expenditures.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 2(l)(3)(C) of rule XI of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, the committee sets 
forth, with respect to the bill, H.R. 604, the following 
estimate and comparison prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 26, 2000.
Hon. Henry J. Hyde, Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 604, a bill to 
amend the charter of the AMVETS organization.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark 
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
            Sincerely,
                                  Dan L. Crippen, Director.

Enclosure

cc:
        Honorable John Conyers Jr.
        Ranking Democratic Member
H.R. 604--A bill to amend the charter of the AMVETS organization.
    H.R. 604 would make several changes to the federal charter 
for AMVETS, a veterans association. These changes would confer 
no federal benefits. Thus, CBO estimates that enacting this 
legislation would result in no cost to the federal government. 
Because H.R. 604 would not affect direct spending or receipts, 
pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. The bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets 
of state, local, or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz, 
who can be reached at 226-2860. This estimate was approved by 
Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget 
Analysis.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to rule XI, clause 2(l)(4) of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the committee finds the authority for 
this legislation in Article 1, section 8, of the Constitution.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change 
is proposed is shown in roman):

                      TITLE 36, UNITED STATES CODE



           *       *       *       *       *       *       *
           SUBTITLE II--PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                         PART B--ORGANIZATIONS

      AGRICULTURAL HALL OF FAME....................................20101
     * * * * * * *
      AMVETS  (AMERICAN  VETERANS  OF  WORLD  WAR  II,  KOREA,..........
        AND VIETNAM)..............................................22701]
22701MVETS (AMERICAN VETERANS)........................................

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


  [CHAPTER 227--AMVETS (AMERICAN VETERANS OF WORLD WAR II, KOREA, AND 
                               VIETNAM)]

CHAPTER 227--AMVETS (AMERICAN VETERANS)

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 22701. Organization

    (a) Federal Charter.--[AMVETS (American Veterans of World 
War II, Korea, and Vietnam)] AMVETS (American Veterans) (in 
this chapter, the ``corporation'') is a federally chartered 
corporation.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 22704. Governing body

    (a) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (c) Officers.--(1) The officers of the corporation are a 
national commander, [seven national vice commanders, one of 
whom shall be a woman, a finance officer, an adjutant, a judge 
advocate,] two national vice commanders and six national 
district commanders, at least one of whom shall be a woman, a 
finance officer, a judge advocate, a chaplain, and a provost 
marshal.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 22706. Exclusive right to name, seals, emblems, and badges

    The corporation and its State, regional, and local 
subdivisions have the exclusive right to use the name ``[AMVETS 
(American Veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam)] AMVETS 
(American Veterans)'' and seals, emblems, and badges the 
corporation adopts.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 22708. Headquarters and principal place of business

    The headquarters and principal place of business of the 
corporation shall be in [the District of Columbia] Maryland. 
However, the activities of the corporation are not confined to 
the [District of Columbia] Maryland but may be conducted 
throughout the States, territories, and possessions of the 
United States.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
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