I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2593

To provide veterans benefits to certain individuals who serve in the United 

States merchant marine during a period of war. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2003

Mr. RADANOVICH (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, and Ms. HARMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL

To provide veterans benefits to certain individuals who serve 

in the United States merchant marine during a period 

of war.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combat Merchant 

5 Mariners Veterans Benefits Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR VETERANS BENEFITS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 

8 qualifying service of an individual in the United States 

9 merchant marine during a period of war for a total period 
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1 equal to at least 12 months shall be considered to be active 

2 duty in determining the individual’s eligibility for veterans 

3 benefits under all laws administered by the Secretary of 

4 Veterans Affairs. 

5 (b) QUALIFYING SERVICE.—For purposes of this sec6 tion, qualifying service is any of the following: 

7 (1) OCEAN, COASTAL, OR INTERCOASTAL VOY8 AGES.—Service on a vessel of the United States on 

9 ocean, coastwise, or intercoastal voyages during a 

10 period of war in a combat zone of such war if such 

11 service is rendered to the Armed Forces in a capac12 ity considered civilian employment or contractual 

13 service at the time the service is performed. 

14 (2) FORCIBLE DETENTION OR INTERNMENT.—

15 Any period of forcible detention or internment by an 

16 enemy government or hostile force as a result of hos17 tile action against a vessel of the United States 

18 while the individual was performing service referred 

19 to in paragraph (1) on that vessel. 

20 (3) OTHER SERVICE.—Any period of service in 

21 the War Shipping Administration, the United States 

22 Maritime Service, or a maritime training program 

23 conducted or recognized by the Armed Forces, ex24 cept that not more than six months of such service 
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1 may be included in calculating the period of service 

2 referred to in subsection (a). 

3 (c) APPLICABILITY OF MINIMUM ACTIVE-DUTY

4 SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—The minimum active-duty 

5 service requirement of any law administered by the Sec6 retary of Veterans Affairs shall apply in determining an 

7 individual’s eligibility for veterans benefits under this Act. 

8 SEC. 3. WAIVER OF PERIOD OF SERVICE. 

9 The requirement of section 2(a) that the period of 

10 service referred to in that section be equal to at least 12 

11 months shall not apply to an individual who is perma12 nently disabled in the performance of the service referred 

13 to in such section while the vessel of the United States 

14 on which the individual is performing the service is sub15 jected to hostile action. 

16 SEC. 4. VERIFICATION OF SERVICE. 

17 The service referred to in section 2(a) may be verified 

18 by—

19 (1) entries in a continuous discharge book; 

20 (2) a certificate of discharge to merchant sea21 men; 

22 (3) a certificate of substantially continuous 

23 service; or 
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1 (4) any other documentation available from the 

2 Secretary of Transportation or the head of any other 

3 Federal agency. 

4 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

5 For purposes of this Act: 

6 (1) The term ‘‘individual in the United States 

7 merchant marine’’ means any citizen or resident 

8 alien of the United States serving as a civilian or 

9 civil service member of the United States merchant 

10 marine. 

11 (2) The terms ‘‘period of war’’ and ‘‘Armed 

12 Forces’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec13 tion 101 of title 38, United States Code. 

14 (3) The term ‘‘combat zone’’ means an area in 

15 which the Armed Forces are engaged in combat, as 

16 determined by the Secretary of Defense. 

17 (4) The term ‘‘vessel of the United States’’ has 

18 the meaning given that term in section 2101(46) of 

19 title 46, United States Code. 

20 SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY AND PROHIBITION OF RETRO21 ACTIVE BENEFITS. 

22 Service referred to in section 2(a) that was performed 

23 before the date of the enactment of this Act shall be count24 ed for purposes of this Act. An individual who performs 

25 such service before the date of the enactment of this Act 
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1 may not be provided veterans benefits that accrue as a 

2 result of the enactment of this Act for any period before 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act.

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