Veteran Scam Victims Foundation Act

This Act may be cited as the “Veteran Scam Victims Foundation Act”.

(a) In general.— Title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 83 the following new chapter:

“(a) Establishment.— There is established the Veteran Scam Victims Foundation (in this chapter referred to as the “Foundation”). The Foundation is a charitable and nonprofit corporation and is not an agency or establishment of the United States.

(b) Status.— Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the Foundation shall be subject to, and have all the powers conferred upon a nonprofit corporation by, the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act.

(c) Purposes.—

(1) In general.— Subject to paragraph (2), the purposes of the Foundation are—

(A) to encourage, accept, and administer private gifts of property for the benefit of, or in connection with, the activities of the Department, to prevent veterans and their beneficiaries from becoming the victims of scams; and

(B) to undertake and conduct such other activities as will protect veterans and their beneficiaries from scams, such as to educate veterans and their beneficiaries about scams and support them when they have become victims of scams.

(2) Compensation not included.— The purposes of the Foundation do not include providing compensation to veterans or their beneficiaries for monetary losses in connection with scams.

(a) Membership.— The Foundation shall consist of a Board having as members the following:

(1) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or the Secretary’s designee).

(2) Six private citizens of the United States, of which—

(A) one shall be appointed by the Secretary of Commerce;

(B) one shall be appointed by the Secretary of Defense;

(C) one shall be appointed by the Attorney General;

(D) one shall be appointed by the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission;

(E) one shall be appointed by the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service; and

(F) one shall be appointed by the Administrator of the Social Security Administration.

(3) Up to three members as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs considers appropriate, each of whom shall be a private citizen of the United States appointed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

(b) Term of office and vacancies.—

(1) In general.— The term of the private citizen members of the Board is six years. If a successor is chosen to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of a term, the successor shall be chosen only for the remainder of that term.

(2) Initial terms.— The initial terms of the first private citizen members of the Foundation shall be staggered so that—

(A) the first members appointed under subsections (a)(2)(A) and (B) serve initial terms of six years;

(B) the first members appointed under subsections (a)(2)(C) and (D) serve initial terms of four years;

(C) the first members appointed under subsections (a)(2)(E) and (F) serve initial terms of two years; and

(D) the first members appointed under subsection (a)(3), if any, serve initial terms of six, four, or two years, as determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or the Secretary’s designee), except that no more than one in every three such members may serve an initial term of six years and no more than one in every three may serve an initial term of four years.

(c) Chairman.— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or the Secretary’s designee) shall be the Chairman of the Board.

(d) Board membership not an office.— Membership on the Board shall not be an office within the meaning of the statutes of the United States.

(e) Quorum.— A majority of the members of the Board serving at any time shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

(f) Seal.— The Foundation shall have an official seal selected by the Board, which shall be judicially noticed.

(g) Meetings.— The Board shall meet at the call of the Chairman and there shall be at least one meeting each year.

(h) Compensation and reimbursement.— No compensation shall be paid to the members of the Board for their services as members, but they shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary traveling and subsistence expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties as members out of Foundation funds available to the Board for those purposes.

(a) Authority To accept gifts, devises, or bequests.—

(1) In general.— The Foundation may accept, receive, solicit, hold, administer, and use any gifts, devises, or bequests, either absolutely or in trust of real or personal property, or any income from, or other interest in, the gift, devise, or bequest, for the benefit of, or in connection with, the Department, its activities, or its services.

(2) Coordination with Department.— Activities of the Foundation under paragraph (1) shall be undertaken after consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that those activities are consistent with the programs and policies of the Department.

(3) Gift, devise, or bequest that is encumbered, restricted, or subject to beneficial interests.— A gift, devise, or bequest may be accepted by the Foundation even though it is encumbered, restricted, or subject to beneficial interests of private persons if any current or future interest in the gift, devise, or bequest is for the benefit of the Department, its activities, or its services.

(b) When gift, devise, or bequest may not be accepted.— The Foundation may not accept any gift, devise, or bequest that entails any expenditure other than from the resources of the Foundation.

(a) Authority To dispose or deal with property or income.— Except as otherwise required by the instrument of transfer, the Foundation may sell, lease, invest, reinvest, retain, or otherwise dispose of or deal with any property or income from the property as the Board may determine.

(b) Restriction.— The Foundation shall not engage in any business or make any investment that may not lawfully be made by a trust company in the District of Columbia, except that the Foundation may make any investment authorized by the instrument of transfer, and may retain any property accepted by the Foundation.

(c) Use of services and facilities of the Department.— The Foundation may utilize the services and facilities of the Department, and the services and facilities may be made available on request to the extent practicable with or without reimbursement. Amounts reimbursed to the Department shall be returned by the Department to the account from which the funds for which the reimbursement is made were drawn and may, without further appropriation, be expended for any purpose for which the account is authorized.

(a) Perpetual succession.— The Foundation shall have perpetual succession.

(b) Powers and duties of trustee.— The Foundation shall have all the usual powers and obligations of a corporation acting as a trustee, including the power to sue and to be sued in its own name.

(c) Personal liability of board members.— The members of the Board shall not be personally liable, except for malfeasance.

The Foundation shall have the power to enter into contracts, to execute instruments, and generally to do any and all lawful acts necessary or appropriate to its purposes.

In carrying out this chapter, the Board may—

(1) adopt bylaws and regulations necessary for the administration of its functions; and

(2) contract for any necessary services.

(a) Tax exemption.— The Foundation and any income or property received or owned by it, and all transactions relating to that income or property, shall be exempt from all Federal, State, and local taxation.

(b) Contributions in lieu of taxes.— The Foundation may—

(1) contribute toward the costs of local government in amounts not in excess of those which it would be obligated to pay that government if it were not exempt from taxation by virtue of subsection (a) or by virtue of its being a charitable and nonprofit corporation; and

(2) agree to contribute with respect to property transferred to it and the income derived from the property if the agreement is a condition of the transfer.

(c) Transfers deemed To be to or for the use of United States.— Contributions, gifts, and other transfers made to or for the use of the Foundation shall be deemed to be contributions, gifts, or transfers to or for the use of the United States.

The United States shall not be liable for any debts, defaults, acts, or omissions of the Foundation.

(a) Report required.— The Foundation shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year, transmit to the appropriate congressional committees an annual report of its proceedings and activities, including a full and complete statement of its receipts, expenditures, and investments.

(b) Definition.— In this section, the term “appropriate congressional committees” means—

(1) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(2) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.”.

(b) Clerical amendments.— The tables of chapters at the beginning of title 38, United States Code, and of part VI of such title, are each amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter 83 the following new item: