Congressional charter

A congressional charter is a law passed by the United States Congress that states the mission, authority, and activities of a group. Congress issued federal charters from 1791 until 1992 under Title 36 of the United States Code.

The relationship between Congress and the organization is largely a symbolic honorific giving the organization the aura of being "officially" sanctioned by the U.S. government. However, Congress does not oversee or supervise organizations with the charter (other than receiving a yearly financial statement).

Until the District of Columbia was granted the ability to issue corporate charters in the late 1800s, corporations operating in the District required a congressional charter. With few exceptions, most corporations since created by Congress are not federally chartered, but are simply created as District of Columbia corporations.

Some charters create corporate entities, akin to being incorporated at the federal level. Examples of such charters are the Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Other national-level groups with such charters are the American Red Cross, National Academy of Sciences, Boy and Girl Scouts, the National Ski Patrol, the 4H Club, the National FFA Organization, the National Safety Council, National Park Foundation and the Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, National Trust for Historic Preservation, the United States Olympic Committee, the National Conference on Citizenship, or NeighborWorks America. American University, Gallaudet University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Howard University, and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) are the only congressionally chartered universities in the United States.

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