VVA Constitution Committee

The Constitution Committee

The constitutional amendment process will open in August 2008 and culminate with the delegates acting on the proposed amendments at the Fourteenth National Convention next year in Louisville, Kentucky.

Any VVA member, chapter, or state council may submit a proposal for a constitutional amendment. The form for submitting a Proposed Constitutional Amendment is available on the VVA web site. Please use this electronic form to submit your proposed amendments. When you submit a proposed amendment electronically, it is given a date/time stamp to verify it was received by the deadline date, and you will receive an electronic receipt by return email confirming your submission.

To ensure every member has the opportunity to participate in this process, the Proposed Constitutional Amendment form will also be published in each issue of The VVA Veteran up to the deadline date. Those who use the paper forms must mail them to the national office (address on form), postmarked no later than the deadline date. Proposed amendments postmarked after the deadline will be returned to the sender. The deadline for submitting a Proposed Constitutional Amendment is March 28, 2009.

Please write your amendment clearly and complete all applicable sections of the form. Remember to include your membership number on the form as this is the only way we can insure only members of the Vietnam Veterans of America submit ‘Proposed Constitutional Amendments’. No proposals will be accepted after midnight on March 28, 2009.

The support of a chapter and/or state council is not necessary but may increase the chance an amendment will be accepted by the delegates at the convention. In cases where an individual member/chapter/state council-sponsored amendment duplicates, resembles, and/or addresses the same section of The VVA Constitution covered by an amendment submitted by a national committee, the individual member/chapter/state council amendment will not be reported out, and delegates will have the opportunity to debate and to amend the committee-sponsored amendment on the floor of the convention.

The National Constitution Committee will meet in open session following the submission deadline, will review all proposed amendments, and will prepare its report to the membership. The committee’s report will be made available via email and on the VVA web site no later than May 28, 2009.

The committee will again hold open hearings at the convention before the amendments are presented to the delegates for action. We encourage you to attend the hearing and to make your opinions known.

We look forward to seeing to you in Louisville.

Instructions for submitting proposed amendments to The VVA Constitution:

Step 1: Click here for access to the Constitutional Amendment form

Step 2: Fill out the form.

Step 3: Click on “submit” when you have completed the form and you will immediately receive a receipt of your submission.

Three Constitutional amendments were passed by the delegates at the 13th National Convention in Springfield, Illinois. Click here for a brief summary of the changes and their significance to State Councils and Chapters.

For the latest committee report in The VVA Veteran, please click here.