IB 

Union Calendar No. 45 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 23 

[Report No. 111–98] 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to establish the Merchant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. FILNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

MAY 7, 2009 

Additional sponsors: Mr. KING of New York, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. KOSMAS, 

Mr. WAMP, Mr. BOYD, Mr. COSTA, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. 

WEXLER, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. BISHOP of New 

York, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. MICHAUD, Ms. WATSON, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Mr. HONDA, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. WALZ, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. 

WU, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. STARK, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, 

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. PAUL, Mr. 

LUCAS, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Mr. WOLF, Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mrs. 

TAUSCHER, Mr. BOCCIERI, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. LATTA, Ms. CORRINE

BROWN of Florida, Mr. SPACE, Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. 

MCINTYRE, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. BONNER, Mrs. DAVIS of 

California, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. MICA, Mr. 

TONKO, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. CHANDLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. ROSKAM, 

Mr. HODES, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. 

KANJORSKI, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 

ROHRABACHER, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mrs. MALONEY, Mrs. BLACKBURN, 


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Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. KAPTUR, 

Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. HOLT, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mr. MASSA, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. FRANK of 

Massachusetts, Mr. HARE, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 

RUSH, Mr. ROSS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, 

Mr. ISSA, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. BONO MACK, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. JONES, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. LORETTA

SANCHEZ of California, Mr. BARROW, Mr. REYES, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MARCHANT, Ms. ROYBALALLARD, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. 

HIMES, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. DREIER, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 

SHULER, Mr. COSTELLO, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. MORAN

of Virginia, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. TERRY, Mr. PETERSON, 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. KAGEN, Ms. GINNY

BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. ROTHMAN

of New Jersey, Mr. ARCURI, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. KIND, Ms. DEGETTE, 

Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. DENT, Mr. WELCH, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Mr. NYE, Mr. ROONEY, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. FARR, 

Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. PASTOR of Arizona, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. ADLER of New Jersey, Mr. DELAHUNT, 

and Ms. SPEIER

MAY 7, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 6, 2009] 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish the Merchant 

Mariner Equity Compensation Fund 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. 


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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 to 

5 the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PAYMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS WHO SERVED DURING 

7 WORLD WAR II IN THE UNITED STATES MER8 CHANT MARINE. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPENSATION FUND.—Sub10 chapter II of chapter 5 of title 38, United States Code, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

12 ‘‘§ 533. Merchant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund 

13 ‘‘(a) COMPENSATION FUND.—(1) There is in the gen14 eral fund of the Treasury a fund to be known as the ‘Mer15 chant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund’ (in this section 

16 referred to as the ‘compensation fund’). 

17 ‘‘(2) Subject to the availability of appropriations for 

18 such purpose, amounts in the compensation fund shall be 

19 available to the Secretary without fiscal year limitation to 

20 make payments to eligible individuals in accordance with 

21 this section. 

22 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—(1) An eligible indi23 vidual is an individual who— 

24 ‘‘(A) during the one-year period beginning on 

25 the date of the enactment of the Belated Thank You 


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1 to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 

2 2009, submits to the Secretary an application con3 taining such information and assurances as the Sec4 retary may require; 

5 ‘‘(B) has not received benefits under the Service6 men’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (Public Law 78– 

7 346); and 

8 ‘‘(C) has engaged in qualified service. 

9 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), a person has en10 gaged in qualified service if, between December 7, 1941, and 

11 December 31, 1946, the person— 

12 ‘‘(A) was a member of the United States mer13 chant marine (including the Army Transport Service 

14 and the Naval Transport Service) serving as a crew15 member of a vessel that was— 

16 ‘‘(i) operated by the War Shipping Admin17 istration or the Office of Defense Transportation 

18 (or an agent of the Administration or Office); 

19 ‘‘(ii) operated in waters other than inland 

20 waters, the Great Lakes, and other lakes, bays, 

21 and harbors of the United States; 

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

24 and 

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


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1 ‘‘(B) while so serving, was licensed or otherwise 

2 documented for service as a crewmember of such a 

3 vessel by an officer or employee of the United States 

4 authorized to license or document the person for such 

5 service. 

6 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall 

7 make a monthly payment out of the compensation fund in 

8 the amount of $1,000 to an eligible individual. The Sec9 retary shall make such payments to eligible individuals in 

10 the order in which the Secretary receives the applications 

11 of the eligible individuals. 

12 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—(1) 

13 There are authorized to be appropriated to the compensa14 tion fund amounts as follows: 

15 ‘‘(A) For fiscal year 2010, $120,000,000. 

16 ‘‘(B) For fiscal year 2011, $108,000,000. 

17 ‘‘(C) For fiscal year 2012, $97,000,000. 

18 ‘‘(D) For fiscal year 2013, $85,000,000. 

19 ‘‘(E) For fiscal year 2014, $75,000,000. 

20 ‘‘(2) Funds appropriated to carry out this section shall 

21 remain available until expended. 

22 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall include, in docu23 ments submitted to Congress by the Secretary in support 

24 of the President’s budget for each fiscal year, detailed infor25 mation on the operation of the compensation fund, includVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:10 May 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H23.RH H23

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1 ing the number of applicants, the number of eligible indi2 viduals receiving benefits, the amounts paid out of the com3 pensation fund, the administration of the compensation 

4 fund, and an estimate of the amounts necessary to fully 

5 fund the compensation fund for that fiscal year and each 

6 of the three subsequent fiscal years. 

7 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe reg8 ulations to carry out this section.’’. 

9 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pre11 scribe the regulations required under section 532(f) of title 

12 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

13 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at 

14 the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after 

15 the item related to section 532 the following new item: 

‘‘533. Merchant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 45 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 23 

[Report No. 111–98] 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct 

Transport Service) during World War II. the Army Transport Service and the Naval in the United States merchant marine (including provide benefits to certain individuals who served Merchant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish the 

MAY 7, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS