Steve Cohen: “And am glad to be the Hoyt Wilhelm of the Judiciary Committee and to relieve the gentleman from Michigan, Chairman…”

“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.…”