[House Report 107-570]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 107-570
======================================================================
TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED
STATES ORGANIZATION TO MAKE MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO RECEIVE
SPECIAL PAY FOR DUTY SUBJECT TO HOSTILE FIRE OR IMMINENT DANGER
ELIGIBLE FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE ORGANIZATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
July 12, 2002.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Sensenbrenner, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3838]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 3838) to amend the charter of the Veterans of
Foreign Wars of the United States organization to make members
of the armed forces who receive special pay for duty subject to
hostile fire or imminent danger eligible for membership in the
organization, and for other purposes, having considered the
same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and
recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
Hearings......................................................... 2
Committee Consideration.......................................... 2
Vote of the Committee............................................ 2
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 2
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................ 3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 3
Constitutional Authority Statement............................... 4
Section-by-Section Analysis and Discussion....................... 4
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 4
Markup Transcript................................................ 5
Purpose and Summary
H.R. 3838 would amend the Federal charter of the Veterans
of Foreign Wars (VFW).
Background and Need for the Legislation
The charter of the VFW would be amended by H.R. 3838 to
allow any member of the Armed Forces who has received hostile
fire or imminent danger pay to be a member of the VFW.
Currently, the language of the charter provides that the member
of the Armed Forces must have served honorably and received a
campaign medal for service or have served honorably for a
specific period on the Korean peninsula. Without this amendment
members of the Armed Forces who served under equally as
dangerous conditions as those experienced in campaign medal
service and Korea in conflict areas such as Somalia or Kosovo
cannot be eligible for VFW membership.
The VFW charter would also be amended to include the word
``charitable'' as one of the purposes of the VFW. According to
the VFW, its members volunteered millions of hours and gave
support to local communities and the needy in the millions of
dollars in 2001 and volunteerism has always been a large part
of the mission of the VFW. In some States, VFW is being denied
qualification as a charitable organization under section 501(c)
of the Tax Code because the word ``charitable'' is not included
in their charter language regardless of the level of charitable
work that the VFW provides. The amendment would remedy that
problem.
These amendments to the VFW charter reflect the language of
two resolutions approved by the voting delegates of the VFW at
their National Convention.
Hearings
No hearings were held on H.R. 3838.
Committee Consideration
On April 17, 2002, the Subcommittee on Immigration and
Claims met in open session and ordered favorably reported the
bill H.R. 3838, by voice vote, a quorum being present. On July
10, 2002, the Committee met in open session and ordered
favorably reported the bill H.R. 3838 without amendment by
voice vote, a quorum being present.
Vote of the Committee
There were no recorded votes taken on H.R. 3838.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 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.
Performance Goals and Objectives
H.R. 3838 is amended to allow veterans from any conflicts
that involved hostile fire or imminent danger pay to become
members of the VFW and clarifies that one of the purposes of
the organization is charitable work.
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures
Clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII 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. 3838, 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, July 12, 2002.
Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., 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. 3838, a bill to
amend the charter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United
States organization to make members of the armed forces who
receive special pay for duty subject to hostile fire or
imminent danger eligible for membership in the organization,
and for other purposes.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Melissa E.
Zimmerman, who can be reached at 226-2840.
Sincerely,
Dan L. Crippen, Director.
Enclosure
cc:
Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member
H.R. 3838--A bill to amend the charter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars
of the United States organization to make members of the Armed
Forces who receive special pay for duty subject to hostile fire
or imminent danger eligible for membership in the organization,
and for other purposes.
H.R. 3838 would make several changes to the Federal charter
for the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, 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.
3838 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 Melissa E.
Zimmerman, who can be reached at 226-2840. This estimate was
approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for
Budget Analysis.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for
this legislation in article 1, section 8 of the Constitution.
Section-by-Section Analysis and Discussion
SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS TO VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES
CHARTER
Section 1(a) adds a subsection to 36 U.S.C. 230103 to make
membership in the VFW available to any individual who served in
an area where, because they were subject to hostile fire or
imminent danger as defined in 37 U.S.C. 310, they were entitled
to special pay.
Section 1(b) adds the word ``charitable'' to the section of
the VFW charter which states the purpose of the organization.
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
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 2301--VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES
* * * * * * *
Sec. 230102. Purposes
The purposes of the corporation are fraternal, patriotic,
historical, charitable, and educational, and are--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
Sec. 230103. Membership
An individual is eligible for membership in the corporation
only if the individual served honorably as a member of the
Armed Forces of the United States--
(1) in a foreign war, insurrection, or expedition
in service that--
(A) * * *
(B) is governed by the authorization of the
award of a campaign badge by the United States
Government; [or]
(2) on the Korean peninsula or in its territorial
waters for at least 30 consecutive days, or a total of
60 days, after June 30, 1949[.]; or
(3) in an area which entitled the individual to
receive special pay for duty subject to hostile fire or
imminent danger under section 310 of title 37.
Markup Transcript
BUSINESS MEETING
WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2002
House of Representatives,
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:17 a.m., in
Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. F. James
Sensenbrenner, Jr. [Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Chairman Sensenbrenner. The Committee will be in order. A
working quorum is present.
It is the intention of the Chair to deal with the three
veterans bills en bloc and then the two private bills en bloc
before getting to the homeland security bill, H.R. 5005.
The first item on the agenda is the consideration of H.R.
3838, 3214, and 3988, which, without objection, will be
considered en bloc. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Pennsylvania, Mr. Gekas, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on
Immigration, Border Security, and Claims, for a motion.
Mr. Gekas. Mr. Chairman, the Subcommittee on Immigration,
Border Security, and Claims reports favorably the bills H.R.
3838, H.R. 3214, and H.R. 3988, and moves their favorable
recommendation to the full House.
Chairman Sensenbrenner. Without objection, the bills will
be considered as read and open for amendment at any point.
[The bill, H.R. 3838, follows:]
Chairman Sensenbrenner. The Chair recognizes the gentleman
from Pennsylvania to strike the last word.
Mr. Gekas. I thank the Chair.
These three bills attend to membership problems that have
been encountered by three of our esteemed veterans
organizations: the American Legion, the VFW, and AMVETS. In
each case, the current language of their charters prevents
veterans from succeeding conflicts or wars or battles to be
eligible for respective membership in those organizations.
For instance, in the VFW problem, the veterans from the
action in Somalia and Kosovo would be ineligible under the
current charter language. This would cure that and mean--it
would allow those which were actually conflicts and people
actually died, those would be cleared up in the language of the
new charter.
As to the AMVETS, which was currently--is currently
restricted to American veterans of World War II, Korea, and
Vietnam, the language is changed to allow people to join who
had been in consequent conflicts and wars after those three. So
people in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, for instance,
otherwise ineligible, would now become eligible for the AMVETS.
In the Legion, by quirk of the current language, the people
who are veterans of Desert Shield and Desert Storm again and
Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan would not be eligible to
join the American Legion. This language, as we propose, would
allow them to qualify for those.
I ask for unanimous approval of these three bills.
Chairman Sensenbrenner. The gentlewoman from Texas, Ms.
Jackson Lee.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you very much. Let me indicate my
support for these three bills, which, again, would amend the
Federal charter of the American veterans of World War II under
H.R. 3214, and would--World War II, Korea, and Vietnam vets, to
reflect changes made at their 1998 convention, and in H.R. 3838
would amend the Federal charter of the Veterans of Foreign
Wars. This legislation would allow any member of the Armed
Forces who received hostile fire or imminent danger pay to be a
member of the VFW. And I agree with taking them en bloc, and
H.R. 3988, this bill makes a technical amendment to the
membership qualifications language of the Federal charter of
the American Legion. We're doing as we have been asked and
reviewed, and, therefore, I ask my colleagues to unanimously
support this legislation as we move forward.
Mr. Coble. Mr. Chairman?
Chairman Sensenbrenner. Without objection, all Members may
insert opening statements in the record at this point.
Are there amendments? The gentleman from North Carolina.
Mr. Coble. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word and
will not consume my 5 minutes.
Chairman Sensenbrenner. The gentleman is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. Coble. I'd like to ask the gentleman from Pennsylvania
a question, if I may.
Mr. Gekas, it is my belief that the agencies involved
endorse these proposals.
Mr. Gekas. That's correct. The individual organizations
themselves approve, of course, and many of the current members
approve, from what we've been able to discern, and future
members, of course, would like to see----
Mr. Coble. I thank you.
Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, I'm a member of the VFW
and the American Legion Post back in North Carolina, and I
can't speak nationally but I know back home our post continues
to suffer the loss of membership of younger members. Most of
our members are--I don't mean in the geezer stage, but at least
we're advancing in age, and I think--I think these proposals
will address that and probably bring--why is everybody smiling
when I say ``geezer'' and looking at me?
But I yield back, Mr. Chairman, and endorse passage.
Chairman Sensenbrenner. Without objection, the gentleman
from North Carolina's name will be stricken from the roll of
geezers.
Are there amendments? [Laughter.]
Chairman Sensenbrenner. Hearing none, the Chair notes the
presence of a reporting quorum. The question occurs on the
motion to report H.R. 3838, 3214, and 3988 favorably en bloc.
Those in favor will say aye. Opposed, no.
The ayes appear to have it, and the motion to report
favorably is adopted.
Without objection, the Chairman is authorized to move to go
to conference pursuant to House rules. Without objection, the
staff is directed to make any technical and conforming changes,
and all Members will be given 2 days, as provided by the rules,
in which to submit additional dissenting, supplemental, or
minority views.