National FFA Organization's Federal Charter Amendments Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 112 To amend the charter of the Future Farmers of America, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 14, 2019 Mr. YOUNG (for himself, Mr. JONES, Mr. LANKFORD, and Mr. COONS) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the charter of the Future Farmers of America, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National FFA Organi- 4 zation’s Federal Charter Amendments Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ORGANIZATION. 6 Section 70901 of title 36, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 112 IS (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’. 2 SEC. 3. PURPOSES OF THE CORPORATION. 3 Section 70902 of title 36, United States Code, is 4 amended— 5 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 6 striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; 7 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 8 paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; 9 (3) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), (6), and 10 (7); 11 (4) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para- 12 graph (11); 13 (5) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as 14 paragraphs (12) and (13), respectively; 15 (6) by inserting before paragraph (7), as redes- 16 ignated by paragraph (2), the following: 17 ‘‘(1) to be an integral component of instruction 18 in agricultural education, including instruction relat- 19 ing to agriculture, food, and natural resources; 20 ‘‘(2) to advance comprehensive agricultural edu- 21 cation in the United States, including in public 22 schools, by supporting contextual classroom and lab- 23 oratory instruction and work-based experiential 24 learning; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 112 IS ‘‘(3) to prepare students for successful entry 1 into productive careers in fields relating to agri- 2 culture, food, and natural resources, including by 3 connecting students to relevant postsecondary edu- 4 cational pathways and focusing on the complete de- 5 livery of classroom and laboratory instruction, work- 6 based experiential learning, and leadership develop- 7 ment; 8 ‘‘(4) to be a resource and support organization 9 that does not select, control, or supervise State asso- 10 ciation, local chapter, or individual member activi- 11 ties; 12 ‘‘(5) to develop educational materials, pro- 13 grams, services, and events as a service to State and 14 local agricultural education agencies; 15 ‘‘(6) to seek and promote inclusion and diver- 16 sity in its membership, leadership, and staff to re- 17 flect the belief of the FFA in the value of all human 18 beings;’’; 19 (7) in paragraph (7), as redesignated by para- 20 graph (2)— 21 (A) by striking ‘‘composed of students and 22 former students of vocational agriculture in 23 public schools qualifying for Federal reimburse- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 112 IS ment under the Smith-Hughes Vocational Edu- 1 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 11–15, 16–28)’’; and 2 (B) by inserting ‘‘as such chapters and as- 3 sociations carry out agricultural education pro- 4 grams that are approved by States, territories, 5 or possessions’’ after ‘‘United States’’; 6 (8) in paragraph (8), as redesignated by para- 7 graph (2)— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘to develop’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘to build’’; 10 (B) by striking ‘‘train for useful citizen- 11 ship, and foster patriotism, and thereby’’ and 12 inserting ‘‘and’’; and 13 (C) by striking ‘‘aggressive rural and’’ and 14 inserting ‘‘assertive’’; 15 (9) by inserting after paragraph (8), as redesig- 16 nated by paragraph (2), the following: 17 ‘‘(9) to increase awareness of the global and 18 technological importance of agriculture, food, and 19 natural resources, and the way agriculture contrib- 20 utes to our well-being; 21 ‘‘(10) to promote the intelligent choice and es- 22 tablishment of a career in fields relating to agri- 23 culture, food, and natural resources;’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 112 IS (10) in paragraph (11), as redesignated by 1 paragraph (4)— 2 (A) by striking ‘‘to procure for and dis- 3 tribute to State’’ and inserting ‘‘to make avail- 4 able to State’’; 5 (B) by inserting ‘‘, programs, services,’’ 6 before ‘‘and equipment’’; and 7 (C) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘FFA’’; 9 (11) in paragraph (12), as redesignated by 10 paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘State boards for voca- 11 tional’’ and inserting ‘‘State boards and officials for 12 career and technical’’; and 13 (12) in paragraph (13), as redesignated by 14 paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and insert- 15 ing ‘‘FFA’’. 16 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 17 Section 70903(a) of title 36, United States Code, is 18 amended— 19 (1) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting 20 ‘‘FFA’’; and 21 (2) by striking ‘‘as provided in the bylaws’’ and 22 inserting ‘‘as provided in the constitution or bylaws 23 of the FFA’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 112 IS SEC. 5. GOVERNING BODY. 1 Section 70904 of title 36, United States Code, is 2 amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)— 4 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘corpora- 5 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’ each place the term 6 appears; 7 (B) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and 8 inserting the following: 9 ‘‘(2) The board— 10 ‘‘(A) shall consist of— 11 ‘‘(i) the Secretary of Education, or 12 the Secretary of Education’s designee who 13 has experience in agricultural education, 14 the FFA, or career and technical edu- 15 cation; and 16 ‘‘(ii) other individuals— 17 ‘‘(I) representing the fields of 18 education, agriculture, food, and nat- 19 ural resources; or 20 ‘‘(II) with experience working 21 closely with the FFA; and 22 ‘‘(B) shall not include any individual who 23 is a current employee of the National FFA Or- 24 ganization. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 112 IS ‘‘(3) The number of directors, terms of office of 1 the directors, and the method of selecting the direc- 2 tors, are as provided in the constitution or bylaws of 3 the FFA.’’; and 4 (C) in paragraph (4)— 5 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 6 ‘‘bylaws’’ and inserting ‘‘constitution or 7 bylaws of the FFA’’; and 8 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 9 ‘‘chairman’’ and inserting ‘‘chair’’; 10 (2) by striking subsection (b); and 11 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘(b) OFFICERS.—The officers of the FFA, the terms 14 of officers, and the election of officers, are as provided 15 in the constitution or bylaws of the FFA, except that such 16 officers shall include— 17 ‘‘(1) a national advisor; 18 ‘‘(2) an executive secretary; and 19 ‘‘(3) a treasurer. 20 ‘‘(c) GOVERNING COMMITTEE.— 21 ‘‘(1) The board may designate a governing com- 22 mittee. The terms and method of selecting the gov- 23 erning committee members are as provided in the 24 constitution or bylaws of the FFA, except that all 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 112 IS members of the governing committee shall be mem- 1 bers of the board of directors and at all times the 2 governing committee shall be comprised of not less 3 than 3 individuals. 4 ‘‘(2) When the board is not in session, the gov- 5 erning committee has the powers of the board sub- 6 ject to the board’s direction and may authorize the 7 seal of the FFA to be affixed to all papers that re- 8 quire it. 9 ‘‘(3) The board shall designate to such com- 10 mittee— 11 ‘‘(A) the chair of the board; 12 ‘‘(B) the executive secretary of the board; 13 and 14 ‘‘(C) the treasurer of the board.’’. 15 SEC. 6. NATIONAL STUDENT OFFICERS. 16 Section 70905 of title 36, United States Code, is 17 amended— 18 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol- 19 lows: 20 ‘‘(a) COMPOSITION.—There shall be not less than 6 21 national student officers of the FFA, including a student 22 president, 4 student vice presidents (each representing re- 23 gions as provided in the constitution or bylaws of the cor- 24 poration), and a student secretary.’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 112 IS (2) by striking subsection (b); 1 (3) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 2 subsections (b) and (c), respectively; and 3 (4) in subsection (b), as redesignated by para- 4 graph (3), by striking ‘‘, except that’’ and all that 5 follows through the period at the end and inserting 6 a period. 7 SEC. 7. POWERS. 8 Section 70906 of title 36, United States Code, is 9 amended— 10 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 11 striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; 12 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘corporate’’; 13 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 14 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; 15 (4) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; 17 (5) by amending paragraph (8) to read as fol- 18 lows: 19 ‘‘(8) use FFA funds to give prizes, awards, 20 loans, and grants to deserving members, local FFA 21 chapters, and State FFA associations to carry out 22 the purposes of the FFA;’’; 23 (6) by amending paragraph (9) to read as fol- 24 lows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 112 IS ‘‘(9) produce publications, websites, and other 1 media;’’; 2 (7) in paragraph (10)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘procure for and distribute 4 to State’’ and inserting ‘‘make available to 5 State’’; and 6 (B) by striking ‘‘Future Farmers of Amer- 7 ica’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; and 8 (8) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘corpora- 9 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’. 10 SEC. 8. NAME, SEALS, EMBLEMS, AND BADGES. 11 Section 70907 of title 36, United States Code, is 12 amended— 13 (1) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting 14 ‘‘FFA’’ each place the term appears; 15 (2) by striking ‘‘name’’ and inserting ‘‘names’’; 16 (3) by striking ‘‘ ‘Future Farmers of America’ ’’ 17 and inserting ‘‘ ‘Future Farmers of America’ and 18 ‘National FFA Organization,’ ’’; and 19 (4) by inserting ‘‘education’’ before ‘‘member- 20 ship’’. 21 SEC. 9. RESTRICTIONS. 22 Section 70908 of title 36, United States Code, is 23 amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 112 IS (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; 2 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘corporation 3 or a director, officer, or member as such’’ and in- 4 serting ‘‘FFA or a director, officer, or member act- 5 ing on behalf of the FFA’’; 6 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’ each place the term appears; 8 and 9 (4) in subsection (d), in the first sentence, by 10 striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’. 11 SEC. 10. RELATIONSHIP TO FEDERAL AGENCIES. 12 Section 70909 of title 36, United States Code, is 13 amended to read as follows: 14 ‘‘SEC. 70909. RELATIONSHIP TO FEDERAL AGENCIES. 15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—On request of the board of direc- 16 tors, the FFA may collaborate with Federal agencies, in- 17 cluding the Department of Education and the Department 18 of Agriculture on matters of mutual interest and benefit. 19 ‘‘(b) AGENCY ASSISTANCE.—Those Federal agencies 20 may make personnel, services, and facilities available to 21 administer or assist in the administration of the activities 22 of the FFA. 23 ‘‘(c) AGENCY COMPENSATION.—Personnel of the 24 Federal agencies may not receive compensation from the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 112 IS FFA for their services, except that travel and other legiti- 1 mate expenses as defined by the Federal agencies and ap- 2 proved by the board may be paid. 3 ‘‘(d) COOPERATION WITH STATE BOARDS.—The 4 Federal agencies also may cooperate with State boards 5 and other organizations for career and technical education 6 to assist in the promotion of activities of the FFA.’’. 7 SEC. 11. HEADQUARTERS AND PRINCIPAL OFFICE. 8 Section 70910 of title 36, United States Code, is 9 amended by striking ‘‘of the corporation shall be in the 10 District of Columbia. However, the activities of the cor- 11 poration are not confined to the District of Columbia but’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘of the FFA shall be as provided in the con- 13 stitution or bylaws of the FFA. The activities of the 14 FFA’’. 15 SEC. 12. RECORDS AND INSPECTION. 16 Section 709011 of title 36, United States Code, is 17 amended— 18 (1) in subsection (a)— 19 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘corpora- 20 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘FFA’’; and 21 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘entitled 22 to vote’’; and 23 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘corporation’’ 24 and inserting ‘‘FFA’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S112.IS S112 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 112 IS SEC. 13. SERVICE OF PROCESS. 1 Section 70912 of title 36, United States Code, is 2 amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘IN GENERAL’’; 6 (B) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and insert- 7 ing ‘‘FFA’’ each place the term appears; 8 (C) by striking ‘‘in the District of Colum- 9 bia’’ before ‘‘to receive’’; and 10 (D) by striking ‘‘Designation of the agent 11 shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the 12 United States District Court for the District of 13 Columbia’’; and 14 (2) in subsection (b)— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘corporation’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘FFA’’ each place the term appears; and 17 (B) by inserting ‘‘of the FFA’’ after ‘‘asso- 18 ciation or chapter’’. 19 SEC. 14. LIABILITY FOR ACTS OF OFF [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]