[House Report 112-313]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
112th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 112-313
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TO AMEND TITLE 36, UNITED STATES CODE, TO PROVIDE FOR AN ADDITIONAL
POWER FOR THE AMERICAN LEGION UNDER ITS FEDERAL CHARTER
_______
December 5, 2011.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Smith of Texas, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2369]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2369) to amend title 36, United States Code, to
provide for an additional power for the American Legion under
its Federal charter, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the
bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
Hearings......................................................... 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 3
Committee Votes.................................................. 3
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................ 4
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 4
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 5
Advisory on Earmarks............................................. 5
Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 5
Purpose and Summary
The bill amends the Federal charter of the American Legion
to clarify that the national organization does not control or
otherwise influence the activities and conduct of the
individual departments and posts.
Background and Need for the Legislation
The American Legion is a federally-chartered organization
open to membership to persons who have served in the U.S. Armed
Forces or those of a government associated with the U.S. during
wartime (including the current war on terrorism beginning on
August 2, 1990) who were honorably discharged or continues
their service.\1\ The purposes of the American Legion are to
uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution, promote worldwide
peace and good will, preserve the memories and incidents of the
two world wars and the other great hostilities fought to uphold
democracy, cement the ties and comradeship born of service, and
consecrate the efforts of its members to mutual helpfulness and
service to the United States.\2\
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\1\See 36 U.S.C. secs. 21701, 21703.
\2\See 36 U.S.C. sec. 21702.
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The American Legion states that:
The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by
Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization
devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is the Nation's
largest veterans service organization, committed to
mentoring and sponsorship of youth programs in our
communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting
a strong national security, and continued devotion to
our fellow servicemembers and veterans.
In contrast to other veterans organizations, the Legion
offers a number of local programs and activities to
strengthen its commitment to our Nation's grass roots
and the people we serve. American Legion Baseball is
one of the Nation's most successful amateur athletic
programs; it continues to educate youths on the
importance of sportsmanship and develops the quality of
our country's citizenship. The Heroes to Hometowns
program is the only nationwide reintegration assistance
service for wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Additionally, millions of dollars in donations have
been given to fellow veterans and their families in
times of grief, and various scholarship opportunities
ensure the future success of our youth.\3\
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\3\See American Legion website.
The American Legion has 2.5 million members in over 14,000
local posts.\4\ As the Supreme Court of Minnesota has stated:
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\4\Id.
Posts and departments [the State chapters] are
separately incorporated, as is National. National, each
department, and each post all have their own leaders
(commanders). . . . Additionally, National, the local
departments, and the posts all have their own
constitutions and by-laws. . . . The ``Officer's Guide
and Manual of Ceremonies,'' a guidebook distributed to
Legion officials by National, states that ``[t]he post
is a separate and distinct unit which can, and often
does, function independently.'' . . . The Officer's
Guide also sets out the very limited relationship
between the posts and national headquarters:
``Practically all of your contacts with National
Headquarters are rightfully carried through your
department headquarters.'' . . . Neither National nor
the departments finance the local posts.\5\
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\5\Urban v. the American Legion Department of Minnesota, 723 N.W.
2d 1, 3-4 (Minn. 2006).
The Director of the Legion's National Legislative
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Commission, sent a letter to Rep. Altmire stating that:
The American Legion wants to provide a new service that
will allow members to renew their membership and pay
their dues to the National Organization through the use
of a credit card over the Internet. . . . Currently
these dues payments flow to the national organization
from our posts through our departments. General Counsel
for the American Legion reviewed this new service and
has raised a concern that because dues monies would
flow from the National Organization to the Departments
and Posts that plaintiff's lawyers would raise as an
issue of whether the National Organization has
``control'' over those Departments and Posts. General
Counsel's concern comes from some case law indicating
this appearance of ``control'' may raise an appearance
to support a claim of liability against the National
Organization when a legal dispute against a post
arises. . . . [T]o ensure this liability issue does not
prevail in a claim against the National Organization,
the American Legion seeks to resolve this ``control''
problem by amending its Corporate Charter to confirm
statutorily the independence of our Departments and
Posts.\6\
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\6\Letter from Tim Tetz to Rep. Jason Altmire (March 25, 2011).
H.R. 2369 amends the Legion's Federal charter to provide
that the national organization may ``provide guidance and
leadership to the individual Departments and Posts, but may not
control or otherwise influence the specific activities and
conduct of the independent, autonomous Departments and Posts. .
. .''
Hearings
The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R.
2369.
Committee Consideration
On November 3, 2011, the Committee met in open session and
ordered the bill H.R. 2369 favorably reported without
amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.
Committee Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of
H.R. 2369.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises 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.
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures
Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax
expenditures.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with
respect to the bill, H.R. 2369, the following estimate and
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, December 2, 2011.
Hon. Lamar Smith, 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. 2369, a bill to
amend title 36, United States Code, to provide for an
additional power for the American Legion under its federal
charter.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Dawn Regan,
who can be reached at 226-2840.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf,
Director.
Enclosure
cc:
Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member
H.R. 2369--A bill to amend title 36, United States Code, to provide for
an additional power for the American Legion under its federal
charter.
As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on
November 3, 2011
H.R. 2369 would amend title 36 of the U.S. Code to allow
the American Legion to provide guidance to its State and local
level departments and posts, but prohibit the national
organization from influencing or controlling the activities and
conduct of those independent departments and posts. Because
chartered organizations listed in title 36 are not agencies of
the U.S. government and are not conferred Federal benefits, CBO
estimates that enacting the bill would have no impact on the
Federal budget.
Enacting H.R. 2369 would not affect direct spending or
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 2369 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on State, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Dawn Regan. The
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Performance Goals and Objectives
The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R.
2369 amends the Federal charter of the American Legion to
clarify that the national organization does not control or
otherwise influence the activities and conduct of the
individual Departments and Posts.
Advisory on Earmarks
In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, H.R. 2369 does not contain any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of Rule XXI.
Section-by-Section Analysis
The following discussion describes the bill as reported by
the Committee.
Sec. 1. Additional Power of American Legion Under Federal
Charter.
Section 1 amends 36 U.S.C. sec. 21704 (mistakenly cited as
sec. 2104 in the bill as introduced) to add an additional power
of the American Legion ``to provide guidance and leadership to
the individual Departments and Posts, but may not control or
otherwise influence the specific activities and conduct of the
independent, autonomous Departments and Posts. . . .''
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):
SECTION 2104 OF TITLE 36, UNITED STATES CODE
Sec. 2104. Military cemeteries in foreign countries
When, as a result of combat operations, the Armed Forces
establish military cemeteries in zones of operations outside
the United States and the territories and possessions of the
United States, the American Battle Monuments Commission and the
Secretary of the Army, immediately on the cessation of
hostilities, shall decide which of the cemeteries will become
permanent cemeteries or, if they decide it is desirable, shall
select new sites for the cemeteries at any other location. The
Commission is solely responsible for the design and
construction of the permanent cemeteries, and of all buildings,
plantings, headstones, and other permanent improvements
incidental to the cemeteries, except that--
(1) the Armed Forces are responsible for maintaining
the permanent cemeteries until the Commission declares
its readiness to assume the authorized administrative
duties and powers;
(2) all construction undertaken by the Armed Forces
in establishing and maintaining the cemetery prior to
its transfer to the Commission shall be nonpermanent;
(3) burials and reburials by the Armed Forces shall
be carried out in accordance with plans prepared by the
Commission; and
(4) the Armed Forces have the right to re-enter a
cemetery transferred to the Commission to exhume or re-
inter a body if they decide it is necessary.
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