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 first charter issued by Congress was for the First Bank of the United States.The relationship between Congress and an organization so recognized is largely symbolic, and is intended to lend the organization the legitimacy of being officially sanctioned by the U.S. government. Congress does not oversee or supervise organizations it has so chartered, aside from receiving a yearly financial statement.

Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise ten undergraduate and graduate schools, among which are the School of Foreign Service, School of Business, Medical School, Law School, and a campus in Qatar. The school's main campus, on a hill above the Potomac River, is identifiable by its flagship Healy Hall, a National Historic Landmark. The school was founded in Jesuit tradition and is the oldest Catholic institution of higher education in the United States, though the majority of students are not Catholic.Georgetown is ranked among the top universities in the United States and admission is highly selective. The university offers degree programs in forty-eight disciplines, enrolling an average of 7,500 undergraduate and 10,000 post-graduate students from more than 135 countries. The school's athletic teams are nicknamed the Hoyas and include a men's basketball team, which has won a record eight Big East championships, appeared in five Final Fours, and won a national championship in 1984.

Georgetown's notable alumni include 27 Rhodes Scholars, 32 Marshall Scholars, 33 Truman Scholars, 429 Fulbright Scholars, 2 U.S. Presidents, and 2 U.S. Supreme Court Justices, as well as international royalty and 14 foreign heads of state. Among the world's leading institutions in government and international relations, the school's alumni include more U.S. diplomats than any other university and many members of the United States Congress.