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November 15, 2021
Title 36 Congressional Charters
In the United States, the states have generally had the
authority to create andoversee corporate entities within
their boundaries. Beginning with the Bank of the United
States' statutory establishment in 1791, however, Congress
periodically has passedlegislationto incorporate both
public and private organizations. Broadly speaking, the
term congressional charter canbe understood to include
any statute that establishes a new organization or gives
leg alrecognition to an existing organization.
The congressional charters of more than 90 organizations
can be found in Subtitle II of Title 36 of the United States
Code; they are commonly referred to as Title 36 charters.
In general, these charters include thoseofprivate, nonprofit
corporations that appear to be of a patriotic character or
nationalin scope, suchas various veterans' organizations
and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Charters of some
other nonprofit corporations with diverse purposes and
differing relationships with federal government agencies aie
also included, such as the United States Olympic and
Paralympic Committee and the National Film Preserv ation
Foundation.
Legislating New Title 36 Congressional
Charters
Title 36 charters are public laws, and the process for their
enactment follows the process for the enactment of many
other legislative initiatives. It has generally begun with the
drafting, introduction, and referralof a bill in either
chamber. Such charter bills are generally structured as
amendments to Title 36 of the Code, included as a note to
Title 36, or written as an amendment to a different title of
the Code, at the discretion of the Office of Law Revision
Counsel.
The Senate and House Judiciary Committees usually have
been the committees ofjuris diction for Title 36 charter bills
in theirrespective chambers, regardless of the policy area
related to the organization. In the House, the Subcommittee
on Immigration and Citizenship and its predecessor
subcommittees have been givenjuris diction within the
Judiciary Committee.
The same legislative process has been used to make
changes to existing charters. As public laws, the terms of
charters may be changedthrough enactment of otherpublic
laws. Generally, existing charters alsohave been repealed
through this process. For example, the 1907 congressional
charter of the National German-American Alliance of the
United States of America was repealed in 1918.
Committee Moratorium on New
Charters
From 1989 through 2018, the House Judiciary
subcommittee ofjuris diction over the matter maintained a
moratoriumon granting additional Title 36 charters. The
subcommittee's reasoning was included in the opening
p aragraphof the policy:
[S]uch charters are unnecessary for the operations
of any charitable, non-profit organization and
falsely imply to the public that a charteired
organization and its activities carry a congressional
seal of approval, orthat the Federal Government
is in some way responsible for its operations. The
Subcommittee believes that the significant
resources required to properly investigate
prospective chartered organizations and monitor
them after their charters are granted could and
shouldbe spent instead on the subcommittee's large
range of legislative and other substantive policy
matters. This policy is not based on any decision
that the organizations seeking Federal charteis are
not worthwhile, but rather on the fact that Federal
charters serve no valid purpose and therefoire ought
to be discontinued.
Although the subcommittee does not appear to have
formally readopted this policy since the 115th Congress
(2017-2018), the committee did not report new Title 36
charter legislation during the 116' Congress (2019-2020) or
the beginning of the 117th Congress (2021-2022).
Chartering During the Moratorium
The moratoriumdid not bring a complete end to bills
seeking to establish these charters while it was in effect.
Examples of new charters enacted and added to Title 36
during the moratoriumperiod, although notreported by the
House Judiciary Committee, include the following:
* In 1996, the charter for the Corporation for the
Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety was
included in the National Defense Authorization Act for
FY1996 (P.L. 104-106, Title XVI; 110 Stat. 515).
* Also in 1996, the Fleet Reserve Association was
chartered through legislation that was included in the
National Defense AuthorizationActforFY1997 (P.L.
104-201, Title XVIII; 110 Stat. 2760).
* In 1997, the Air Force Sergeants Associationwas
chartered as part of the National Defense Authorization
Act forFY1998 (PL 105-85. Title XV: 111 Stat.19631.
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