I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1288 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to accept additional documentation when considering the application for veterans status of an individual 

who performed service in the merchant marines during World War II, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 31, 2011 

Mr. BUTTERFIELD (for himself, Mr. JONES, Mr. MCINTYRE, and Mr. 

FORTENBERRY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to accept 

additional documentation when considering the application for veterans status of an individual who performed 

service in the merchant marines 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 ‘‘World War II Mer5 chant Mariner Service Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The Merchant Marine Act, 1936 established 

2 the United States Maritime Commission, and stated 

3 as a matter of policy that the United States should 

4 have a merchant marine that is ‘‘capable of serving 

5 as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war or 

6 national emergency’’. 

7 (2) The Social Security Act Amendments of 

8 1939 (Public Law 76–379) expanded the definition 

9 of employment to include service ‘‘on or in connec10 tion with an American vessel under contract of serv11 ice which is entered into within the United States or 

12 during the performance of which the vessel touches 

13 at a port in the United States, if the employee is 

14 employed on and in connection with such vessel’’. 

15 (3) The Joint Resolution to repeal sections 2, 

16 3, and 6 of the Neutrality Act of 1939, and for 

17 other purposes (Public Law 77–294; 55 Stat. 764) 

18 repealed section 6 of the Neutrality Act of 1939 (re19 lated to the arming of United States vessels) and 

20 authorized the President during the national emer21 gency to arm or permit to arm any United States 

22 vessel. 

23 (4) On February 7, 1942, President Franklin 

24 D. Roosevelt, through Executive Order Number 

25 9054, established the War Shipping Administration 


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1 that was charged with building or purchasing, and 

2 operating the civilian shipping vessels needed for the 

3 war effort. 

4 (5) During World War II, United States mer5 chant mariners transported goods and materials 

6 through ‘‘contested waters’’ to the various combat 

7 theaters. 

8 (6) At the conclusion of World War II, United 

9 States merchant mariners were responsible for 

10 transporting several million members of the United 

11 States Armed Forces back to the United States. 

12 (7) The GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 

13 (Public Law 95–202) provided that the Secretary of 

14 Defense could determine that service for the Armed 

15 Forces by organized groups of civilians, or contrac16 tors, be considered ‘‘active service’’ for benefits ad17 ministered by the Veterans Administration. 

18 (8) Department of Defense Directive 1000.20 

19 directed that the determination be made by the Sec20 retary of the Air Force, and established the Civilian/ 

21 Military Service Review Board and Advisory Panel. 

22 (9) In 1987, three merchant mariners along 

23 with the AFL–CIO sued Edward C. Aldridge, Sec24 retary of the Air Force, challenging the denial of 

25 their application for veterans status. In Schumacher 


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1 v. Aldridge (665 F. Supp. 41 (D.D.C. 1987)), the 

2 Court determined that Secretary Aldridge had failed 

3 to ‘‘articulate clear and intelligible criteria for the 

4 administration’’ of the application approval process. 

5 (10) During World War II, women were repeat6 edly denied issuance of official documentation af7 firming their merchant marine seamen status by the 

8 War Shipping Administration. 

9 (11) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 

10 (April 1992) identifies the following acceptable 

11 forms of documentation for eligibility meeting the 

12 requirements set forth in GI Bill Improvement Act 

13 of 1977 (Public Law 95–202) and Veterans Pro14 grams Enhancement Act of 1998 (Public Law 105– 

15 368): 

16 (A) Certificate of shipping and discharge 

17 forms. 

18 (B) Continuous discharge books (ship’s 

19 deck or engine logbooks). 

20 (C) Company letters showing vessel names 

21 and dates of voyages. 

22 (12) Coast Guard Commandant Order of 20 

23 March, 1944, relieved masters of tugs, towboats, 

24 and seagoing barges of the responsibility of submit25 ting reports of seamen shipped or discharged on 


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1 forms, meaning certificates of shipping and dis2 charge forms are not available to all eligible individ3 uals seeking to document their eligibility. 

4 (13) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 

5 (April, 1992) states that ‘‘deck logs were tradition6 ally considered to be the property of the owners of 

7 the ships. After World War II, however, the deck 

8 and engine logbooks of vessels operated by the War 

9 Shipping Administration were turned over to that 

10 agency by the ship owners, and were destroyed dur11 ing the 1970s’’, meaning that continuous discharge 

12 books are not available to all eligible individuals 

13 seeking to document their eligibility. 

14 (14) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 

15 (April, 1992) states ‘‘some World War II period log 

16 books do not name ports visited during the voyage 

17 due to wartime security restrictions’’, meaning that 

18 company letters showing vessel names and dates of 

19 voyages are not available to all eligible individuals 

20 seeking to document their eligibility. 

21 SEC. 3. METHODS FOR VALIDATING CERTAIN SERVICE 

22 CONSIDERED TO BE ACTIVE SERVICE BY THE 

23 SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of verifying that 

25 an individual performed service under honorable condiVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:15 Apr 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1288.IH H1288

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1 tions that satisfies the requirements of as a member of 

2 the merchant marine who is recognized pursuant to sec3 tion 401 of GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 (Public Law 

4 95–202; 38 U.S.C. 106 note) as having performed active 

5 duty service for the purposes of all laws administered by 

6 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Home7 land Security shall consider the following: 

8 (1) In the case of an individual seeking such 

9 recognition for whom no applicable Coast Guard 

10 shipping or discharge form, ship logbook, or other 

11 official employment record is available, the Secretary 

12 may provide such recognition on the basis of applica13 ble Social Security Administration records submitted 

14 by the individual, together with validated testimony 

15 given by the individual or the primary next of kin 

16 of the individual that the individual performed such 

17 service during the period beginning on December 7, 

18 1941, and ending on December 31, 1946. 

19 (2) In the case of an individual seeking such 

20 recognition for whom the applicable Coast Guard 

21 shipping or discharge form, ship logbook, or other 

22 official employment record has been destroyed or 

23 otherwise become unavailable by reason of any ac24 tion committed by a person responsible for the con25 trol and maintenance of such form, logbook, or 


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1 record, the Secretary shall accept other official docu2 mentation demonstrating that the individual per3 formed such service during period beginning on De4 cember 7, 1941, and ending on December 31, 1946. 

5 (3) For the purpose of determining whether to 

6 recognize service allegedly performed during the pe7 riod beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on 

8 December 31, 1946, the Secretary shall recognize 

9 masters of seagoing vessels or other officers in com10 mand of similarly organized groups as agents of the 

11 United States who were authorized to document any 

12 individual for purposes of hiring the individual to 

13 perform service in the merchant marine or dis14 charging an individual from such service. 

15 (b) TREATMENT OF OTHER DOCUMENTATION.— 

16 Other documentation accepted by the Secretary of Home17 land Security pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall satisfy 

18 all requirements for eligibility of service during the period 

19 beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on December 

20 31, 1946. 

21 (c) DEFINITION OF PRIMARY NEXT OF KIN.—In this 

22 section, the term ‘‘primary next of kin’’ with respect to 

23 an individual seeking recognition for service under this 

24 section means the closest living relative of the individual 

25 who was alive during the period of such service. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 90 

2 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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