I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1109

To amend the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to establish reemployment rights

for certain merchant seamen.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1993

Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself, Mr. STUDDS, Mr. FIELDS of Texas, Mr. TAUZIN,

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. MANTON, Mr.

SAXTON, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. INHOFE, Ms. SCHENK, Mr.

KING, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. REED, Mr.

STUPAK, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ANDREWS of Maine, Mr. KINGSTON, and

Mr. PICKETT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

A BILL

To amend the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to establish

reemployment rights for certain merchant seamen.

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 ‘‘Merchant Seamen Re5 employment Rights Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS FOR CERTAIN MERCHANT

2 SEAMEN.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Merchant Marine

4 Act, 1936 (46 App. U.S.C. 1131) is amended by inserting

5 after section 301 the following new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 302. (a) An individual who is certified by the

7 Secretary of Transportation under subsection (c) shall be

8 entitled to reemployment rights and other benefits sub9 stantially equivalent to the rights and benefits provided

10 for by chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code, for any

11 member of a Reserve component of the Armed Forces of

12 the United States who is ordered to active duty.

13 ‘‘(b) An individual may submit an application for cer14 tification under subsection (c) to the Secretary of Trans15 portation not later than 45 days after the date the individ16 ual completes a period of employment described in sub17 section (c)(1)(A) with respect to which the application is

18 submitted.

19 ‘‘(c) Not later than 20 days after the date the Sec20 retary of Transportation receives from an individual an

21 application for certification under this subsection, the Sec22 retary shall—

23 ‘‘(1) determine whether or not the individual—

24 ‘‘(A) was employed in the activation or op25 eration of a vessel—
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1 ‘‘(i) in the National Defense Reserve

2 Fleet maintained under section 11 of the

3 Merchant Ship Sales Act of 1946, in a pe4 riod in which that vessel was in use or

5 being activated for use under subsection

6 (b) of that section;

7 ‘‘(ii) that is requisitioned or pur8 chased under section 902 of this Act; or

9 ‘‘(iii) that is owned, chartered, or con10 trolled by the United States and used by

11 the United States for a war, armed con12 flict, national emergency, or maritime mo13 bilization need (including for training pur14 poses or testing for readiness and suit15 ability for mission performance); and

16 ‘‘(B) during the period of that employ17 ment, possessed a valid license, certificate of

18 registry, or merchant mariner’s document is19 sued under chapter 71 or chapter 73 (as appli20 cable) of title 46, United States Code; and

21 ‘‘(2) if the Secretary makes affirmative deter22 minations under paragraph (1) (A) and (B), certify

23 that individual under this subsection.

24 ‘‘(d) For purposes of reemployment rights and bene25 fits provided by this section, a certification under sub-
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1 section (c) shall be considered to be the equivalent of a

2 certificate referred to in clause (1) of section 4301(a) of

3 title 38, United States Code.’’.

4 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub5 section (a) shall apply to employment described in section

6 302(c)(1)(A) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as

7 amended by subsection (a), occurring after August 2,

8 1990.

9 (c) EMPLOYMENT ENDING BEFORE ENACTMENT.—

10 Notwithstanding subsection (b) of section 302 of the Mer11 chant Marine Act, 1936, as amended by this Act, an indi12 vidual who, in the period beginning August 2, 1990, and

13 ending on the date of the enactment of this Act, completed

14 a period of employment described in subsection (c)(1)(A)

15 of that section may submit an application for certification

16 under subsection (c) of that section with respect to that

17 employment not later than 45 days after the date of the

18 enactment of this Act.

19 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 120 days after

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of

21 Transportation shall issue regulations implementing this

22 section.

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