II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 961 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to provide benefits to certain individuals who served in the United States merchant marine (including the 

Army Transport Service and the Naval Transport Service) during World 

War II, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2007 

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska (for himself, Mr. STEVENS, and Mr. BROWNBACK) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to provide benefits 

to certain individuals who served in the United States 

merchant marine (including the Army Transport Service 

and the Naval Transport Service) during World War 

II, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Belated Thank You 

5 to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MONTHLY BENEFIT FOR WORLD WAR II MERCHANT 

2 MARINERS AND SURVIVORS UNDER TITLE 46, 

3 UNITED STATES CODE. 

4 (a) MONTHLY BENEFIT.—Chapter 112 of title 46, 

5 United States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by inserting after the table of sections the 

7 following new subchapter heading: 

8 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER I—BURIAL AND CEMETERY 

9 BENEFITS FOR VETERANS’’; 

10 and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub12 chapter: 

13 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER II—MONTHLY BENEFIT 

14 ‘‘§ 11211. Monthly benefit 

15 ‘‘(a) PAYMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

16 shall pay to each individual issued a certificate of honor17 able service pursuant to section 11213(b) of this title a 

18 monthly benefit of $1,000. 

19 ‘‘(b) SURVIVING SPOUSES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) PAYMENT TO SURVIVING SPOUSES.—Sub21 ject to paragraph (2), the Secretary of Veterans Af22 fairs shall pay to the surviving spouse of each indi23 vidual issued a certificate of honorable service pursu24 ant to section 11213(b) of this title a monthly ben25 efit of $1,000. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION.—No benefit shall be paid 

2 under paragraph (1) to a surviving spouse of an in3 dividual issued a certificate of honorable service pur4 suant to section 11213(b) unless the surviving 

5 spouse was married to such individual for not less 

6 than one year. 

7 ‘‘(c) RETROACTIVE ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS.— 

8 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall pay— 

9 ‘‘(1) to each individual issued a certificate of 

10 honorable service under to section 11213(b) of this 

11 title the monthly benefit described in subsection (a) 

12 as if such individual had received such certificate of 

13 honorable service on the date of the enactment of 

14 the Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of 

15 World War II Act of 2007; and 

16 ‘‘(2) to each surviving spouse issued a certifi17 cate of honorable service on behalf of a deceased in18 dividual under section 11213(e) of this title the 

19 monthly benefit described in subsection (b)(1) as if 

20 such surviving spouse had received such certificate 

21 of honorable service on the date of the enactment of 

22 Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of 

23 World War II Act of 2007. 


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1 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION.—Payments of 

2 benefits under this section are exempt from taxation as 

3 provided in section 5301(a) of title 38. 

4 ‘‘§ 11212. Qualified service 

5 ‘‘For purposes of this subchapter, an individual shall 

6 be considered to have engaged in qualified service if, be7 tween December 7, 1941 and December 31, 1946, the in8 dividual— 

9 ‘‘(1) was a member of the United States mer10 chant marine (including the Army Transport Service 

11 and the Naval Transport Service) serving as a crew12 member of a vessel that was— 

13 ‘‘(A) operated by the War Shipping Ad14 ministration or the Office of Defense Transpor15 tation (or an agent of such Administration or 

16 Office); 

17 ‘‘(B) operated in waters other than— 

18 ‘‘(i) inland waters; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the Great Lakes; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) other lakes, bays, and harbors of 

21 the United States; 

22 ‘‘(C) under contract or charter to, or prop23 erty of, the Government of the United States; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(D) serving the Armed Forces; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) while serving as described in paragraph 

2 (1), was licensed or otherwise documented for serv3 ice as a crewmember of such a vessel by an officer 

4 or employee of the United States authorized to li5 cense or document the person for such service. 

6 ‘‘§ 11213. Certificate of honorable service 

7 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION FOR SERVICE CERTIFICATE.—An 

8 individual seeking benefits under section 11211 of this 

9 title shall submit an application for a certificate of honor10 able service— 

11 ‘‘(1) to the Secretary of Transportation; or 

12 ‘‘(2) in the case of an individual who was a 

13 member of the Army Transport Service or the Naval 

14 Transport Service, to the Secretary of Defense. 

15 ‘‘(b) ISSUANCE OF SERVICE CERTIFICATE.—The 

16 Secretary who receives an application under subsection (a) 

17 shall issue a certificate of honorable service to the appli18 cant if, as determined by that Secretary, the individual 

19 engaged in qualified service described in section 11212 of 

20 this title and meets the standards referred to in subsection 

21 (d) of this section. 

22 ‘‘(c) TIMING FOR CERTIFICATION.—A Secretary re23 ceiving an application under subsection (a) shall act on 

24 the application not later than one year after the date of 

25 that receipt. 


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1 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS RELATING TO SERVICE.—In mak2 ing a determination under subsection (b), the Secretary 

3 acting on the application shall apply the same standards 

4 relating to the nature and duration of service that apply 

5 to the issuance of a discharge from service under honor6 able conditions under section 401(a)(1)(B) of the GI Bill 

7 Improvement Act of 1977 (Public Law 95–202; 38 U.S.C. 

8 106 note). 

9 ‘‘(e) SURVIVING SPOUSES.—The surviving spouse of 

10 a deceased individual who engaged in qualifying service 

11 described in section 11212 may submit an application for 

12 a certificate of honorable service under subsection (a) and 

13 be issued such a certificate on behalf of such individual 

14 under subsection (b) for the purpose of receiving benefits 

15 under section 11211(b) of this title. 

16 ‘‘§ 11214. Surviving spouse defined 

17 ‘‘In this subchapter, the term ‘surviving spouse’ has 

18 the meaning given such term in section 101 of title 38, 

19 except that in applying the meaning in this subchapter, 

20 the term ‘veteran’ means an individual who performed 

21 qualified service described in section 11212 of this title. 

22 ‘‘§ 11215. Authorization of appropriations 

23 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec24 retary of Veterans Affairs such sums as may be necessary 

25 for the purpose of carrying out this subchapter.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subsection (c) of 

2 section 11201 of title 46, United States Code, is amend3 ed— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘chapter’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘subchapter’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘this chapter’’ 

7 both places it appears and inserting ‘‘this sub8 chapter’’. 

9 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 

10 at the beginning of chapter 112 of title 46, United States 

11 Code, is amended— 

12 (1) by inserting at the beginning the following 

13 new item: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER I—BURIAL AND CEMETERY BENEFITS FOR VETERANS’’; 

14 and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER II—MONTHLY BENEFIT

‘‘11211. Monthly benefit. 

‘‘11212. Qualified service. 

‘‘11213. Certificate of honorable service. 

‘‘11214. Surviving spouse defined. 

‘‘11215. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

Æ 


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