A bill to amend title 36, United States Code, to authorize the American Legion under its Federal charter to provide guidance and leadership to the individual departments and posts of the American Legion, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, in 2008, I was proud to join Senator Durbin in support of the National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Act, which President Bush signed into law. This last week I have been able to arrange on behalf of the Senate Judiciary Committee for expedited action on the bill's extension, and that the Senate is passing unanimously. I commend Chairman Lamar Smith and the House Judiciary Committee for moving this legislation, and Representative Cohen, the bill's author, for his leadership and attention to the issue. Without this measure, the authority we provided to help our Guard and Reserve families would expire. By taking this action we preserve the assistance this authority provides.

It is a privilege to work on behalf of the men and women who serve in the Vermont National Guard. They have and continue to make all Vermonters proud. I cannot say enough about the men and women who serve in the National Guard and Reserve. They and their families deserve the full support of Congress for the sacrifices they make. Especially now, where multiple conflicts have demanded even more of them, when so many have been called into active service, we need to keep them foremost in our thoughts.

Extending the protections of the National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Act for another 4 years is the right thing to do. The bill the Senate passes today will exempt qualifying members of the Guard and Reserve from the harsh means test imposed in our bankruptcy laws a few years ago. As a result of Congress's enactment of a 2005 bankruptcy measure, passed at the behest of large banks and credit card companies, Americans who must make the difficult decision to seek the protection of the bankruptcy court now face onerous requirements to demonstrate that they are experiencing sufficient hardship to enter chapter 7 bankruptcy. Under the National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Extension Act, qualifying members of the Guard and Reserve will be protected against the burden of this requirement for another 4 years.

In my view, no American, particularly in times of such economic hardship, should have this burdensome requirement of the so-called means test imposed upon them. The bankruptcy system was established to protect Americans and give them a fresh start. The 2005 enactment turned the law on its head. I opposed this provision in the Senate in 2005, and continue to have serious misgivings about a policy that presumes that Americans facing extreme financial hardships are abusing the bankruptcy process.

Passage of the National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Extension Act is a step forward toward correcting our current policy.

I also note that passage of this legislation is another example of the good cooperation that exists between the Senate and House Judiciary Committees operating across the aisle and across the Capitol. Last night, the Senate passed H.R. 394, the Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act, a bill sponsored by Chairman Smith to bring clarity to the operation of Federal jurisdictional and venue statutes, thereby helping to reduce wasteful litigation over these issues. This bipartisan bill was cosponsored in the House by Representatives by Howard Coble, ranking member John Conyers, Jr., and Hank Johnson of Georgia. Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senator Klobuchar, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, and was cosponsored by Senator Sessions, the ranking member on the subcommittee.

These two bills are just the most recent examples of legislation I have worked with Chairman Smith to enact. Of course, we worked together to enact the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to revitalize our patent laws. We worked together on authorizing the extension of the term of FBI Director Mueller, which required a statutory exception, and on reauthorizing the USA PATRIOT Act.

Other examples include H.R. 368, Representative Hank Johnson's bill to clarify removal provisions for matters filed in State courts against Federal agencies and officers; H.R. 398, Representative Lofgren's bill to toll certain time periods for those in active service to our country; S.1637, Senator Klobuchar's bill to clarify how time is calculated under the Federal Rules; and H.R. 2944, Chairman Smith's bill to extend the authority of the U.S. Parole Commission.

In addition to these nine measures, we are continuing to work on a number of additional bills, including: S. 1639, Senator Tester's bill to amend the American Legion charter; and S. 1541, Senator Bennet's bill to revise the Blue Star Mothers' charter.

I look forward to our continued collaborative relationship. Our successful efforts across the aisle and across the Capitol show that the partisan gridlock

that has become all too prevalent these days does not govern everywhere.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1639) to amend title 36, United States Code, to authorize the American Legion under its Federal charter to provide guidance and leadership to the individual departments and posts of the American Legion, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on S. 1639, currently under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The American Legion received its Federal charter in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization. Today, the Legion is America's largest Veterans Service Organization with 2.5 million members. Membership is available to persons who have served in the United States Armed Forces during wartime, including the current war on terrorism, and were honorably discharged or are continuing their service.

The Legion's goals are to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution, promote worldwide peace and goodwill, and preserve the memories of the two world wars and the other conflicts fought to uphold democracy. The Legion also aims to cement the ties and comradeship born of service and to commit the efforts of its members to service to the United States.

The American Legion has over 14,000 local posts. The national organization is not designed to have control over all the independent posts. As the Supreme Court of Minnesota has found, local ``posts and State chapters are separately incorporated . . . and the posts all have their own constitutions and bylaws.'' The court found that there was a very limited relationship between the posts and national headquarters.

The national organization's ``Officer's Guide and Manual of Ceremonies'' states ``the post is a separate and distinct unit which can and often does function independently.''

The American Legion has asked Congress to amend its Federal charter to specify that the national organization may provide guidance and leadership to the individual departments and posts but that it may not control or otherwise influence the specific activities and conduct of the departments and posts.

The director of the Legion's National Legislative Commission explained the request by stating the following:

``The Legion wants to allow members to renew their memberships and pay their dues to the national organization through the use of a credit card over the Internet . . . Currently, these dues payments flow to the national organization from our posts through our departments. We are concerned that plaintiffs' lawyers would argue this would indicate that the national organization has control over those departments and posts . . . Appearance of control may . . . support a claim of liability against the national organization when a legal dispute against a post arises.''

S. 1639 amends the Legion's Federal charter as requested. Our colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Altmire), introduced the House version of the bill, H.R. 2369, which the Judiciary Committee approved by voice vote.

I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his work on this legislation and am pleased to see that his bill has a remarkable 432 cosponsors. It's almost unheard of.

So there are things that this Congress needs to be doing, and there are many things that are very important that this Congress does; but this is something that only the Congress can do. So if we hear from other speakers who want to talk about a jobs bill, I would encourage them to go talk to the Senate about the 15 to 20 jobs bills that they are down there sitting on.

I look forward to the day when the President says that this is a do- nothing Congress that he's no longer half right in making that statement. The House is certainly not a do-nothing House. The Senate is sitting on many bills. This is a bill for which the gentleman from Pennsylvania saw a need, so he stepped up and filled that need, and I appreciate his efforts in doing this.

The American Legion has performed a great service in bringing together veterans. I've spent a great deal of time with American Legion posts, and I'm grateful they exist. I think this is a good bill, and I would urge my colleagues to support it.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, again, Mr. Altmire is owed a great debt of thanks. When my friend from Tennessee said this was a bipartisan bill, apparently it's the most bipartisan bill ever brought before the House. It's wonderful that a group like the American Legion could bring us together, and I appreciate Mr. Altmire's efforts in doing that.

I would urge my colleagues to support its passage. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman, my friend from Tennessee, and I especially thank the gentleman from Texas for his kind words.

There are other things that are more important than this--our friends in the American Legion would be the first to agree--that we are working on in this Congress; but as the gentleman from Texas pointed out, this is something only the Congress can do.

This is an important issue for the American Legion. It modernizes the charter of the American Legion, and it clarifies the local autonomy of the local posts throughout the country. This needs to be done. It is important, and it is something that we in this Chamber have come together to do. It is long overdue.

When I first introduced this bill in June, I started to talk with folks in this Chamber, and I found out that there really are things we can agree on. We've spent a lot of time over the course of the year--in fact, a lot of time today--pointing fingers at each other and casting blame and talking about all the things that we don't agree on. Yet, for our men and women in uniform, the people who are honorably and bravely serving this country, and our American veterans, we agree that they need this change and that we support them.

As the gentleman from Texas pointed out, according to the Congressional Research Service, this bill that we introduced in the House, which is the companion bill to the Senate bill on which we will vote tomorrow, has received the most cosponsors of any bill ever introduced in the history of the Congress--432 cosponsors. It's more than any bill that has ever been introduced in history. It passed unanimously in the Senate after it was introduced in October, which shows there really are things we can work together on.

Maybe this isn't the most important thing we could be doing, but it's something we need to do; and it's something we're going to do. Hopefully, it will send a message on both sides of this Capitol that we should come together and that we should put our differences aside. That doesn't mean we have to always agree, but at least let's work together, because this bill proves we can do it.

So I am proud to stand here as the author of the House companion of this bill, and I am a proud supporter of the Senate bill that we will be voting on. I'm grateful that Senator Tester took the leadership role in the Senate to get this done.

I thank the gentleman from Texas, and I thank the gentleman from Tennessee. I support this bill and urge my colleagues to vote for it.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume and am glad to be the Hoyt Wilhelm of the Judiciary Committee and to relieve the gentleman from Michigan, Chairman Conyers.

S. 1639, the Senate version of H.R. 2369, is a bipartisan bill which makes a minor change to the Federal charter of the American Legion. The American Legion, as we all know, is the Nation's largest veterans service organization, which was chartered after World War I, by Congress in 1919.

S. 1639, introduced by Senator Tester of Montana, a distinguished Member of the Senate, is the Senate companion of the bill introduced by the distinguished Representative and former defensive back from the Florida State Seminoles, Representative Altmire of Pennsylvania, who introduced H.R. 2369. He did a phenomenal job of getting 432 cosponsors--433 if including himself in the sponsorship. He can't be a cosponsor because he is ``the'' sponsor, which might make this the easiest suspension vote we've ever taken.

The change made by this bill simply reaffirms the organization's structure, which grants broad autonomy to the departments and posts throughout the country. While this is not a major change to the existing charter, it will help the American Legion carry out changes to the membership renewal process that were adopted by resolution at its national convention last year.

Senator Tester and Representative Altmire are responding to a call from the American Legion. I am proud to join with them, as just about everybody else is in this House; and I support the bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I now yield 3 minutes and 7 seconds to the gentleman who represents the State of Pennsylvania (Mr. Altmire), an alumnus of Florida State University, who lost to the University of Tennessee in the national championship football game that I attended in Phoenix.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 2192, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.