Congressional charter

Congress does not oversee or supervise organizations it has so chartered, aside from receiving a yearly financial statement.

[9] Eligibility for a charter is based on a group’s activities, whether they are unique, and whether or not they are in the public interest.

If this is the case, a bill to grant a charter is introduced in Congress and must be voted into law.

Amid dissatisfaction with the system, the subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee decided not to consider applications for further charters in 1992.

[8] However, Congress issued corporate charters for the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety,[10] the Fleet Reserve Association,[11] and the Air Force Sergeants Association under the National Defense Authorization Acts for the 1996, 1997, and 1998 fiscal years respectively,[12] the National Recording Preservation Foundation under the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000,[13] and the American GI Forum,[14] the Korean War Veterans Association,[15] the Military Officers Association of America,[16] and the National Foundation on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition in 1998, 2008, 2009, and 2010 respectively under laws passed with the sole purpose of issuing the charters.

Organization advertising its congressional charter
Georgetown University , founded in 1789, became the first federally-chartered institution of higher education in the United States when President James Madison signed the university's charter into law in 1815. [ 6 ]