II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1775 

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

who performed service as a coastwise merchant seaman during World 

War II, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 15, 2015 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and 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 as a coastwise merchant seaman 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18 repealed section 6 of the Neutrality Act of 1939 (re19 lated to the arming of United States vessels) and 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 the GI Bill Improvement 

13 Act of 1977 (Public Law 95–202) and the Veterans 

14 Programs Enhancement Act of 1998 (Public Law 

15 105–368): 

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, and 

24 seagoing barges of the responsibility of submitting 

25 reports of seamen shipped or discharged on forms, 


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1 meaning certificates of shipping and discharge forms 

2 are not available to all eligible individuals seeking to 

3 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 Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jul 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.IS S1775

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1 tions that satisfies the requirements of a coastwise mer2 chant seaman who is recognized pursuant to section 401 

3 of the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 (Public Law 95– 

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

5 service for the purposes described in subsection (c)(1), the 

6 Secretary of Homeland Security shall accept the following: 

7 (1) In the case of an individual who served on 

8 a coastwise merchant vessel seeking such recognition 

9 for whom no applicable Coast Guard shipping or dis10 charge form, ship logbook, merchant mariner’s docu11 ment or Z-card, or other official employment record 

12 is available, the Secretary shall provide such recogni13 tion on the basis of applicable Social Security Ad14 ministration records submitted for or by the indi15 vidual, together with validated testimony given by 

16 the individual or the primary next of kin of the indi17 vidual that the individual performed such service 

18 during the period beginning on December 7, 1941, 

19 and ending on December 31, 1946. 

20 (2) In the case of an individual who served on 

21 a coastwise merchant vessel seeking such recognition 

22 for whom the applicable Coast Guard shipping or 

23 discharge form, ship logbook, merchant mariner’s 

24 document or Z-card, or other official employment 

25 record has been destroyed or otherwise become unVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jul 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1775.IS S1775

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1 available by reason of any action committed by a 

2 person responsible for the control and maintenance 

3 of such form, logbook, or record, the Secretary shall 

4 accept other official documentation demonstrating 

5 that the individual performed such service during pe6 riod beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on 

7 December 31, 1946. 

8 (3) For the purpose of determining whether to 

9 recognize service allegedly performed during the pe10 riod beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on 

11 December 31, 1946, the Secretary shall recognize 

12 masters of seagoing vessels or other officers in com13 mand of similarly organized groups as agents of the 

14 United States who were authorized to document any 

15 individual for purposes of hiring the individual to 

16 perform service in the merchant marine or dis17 charging an individual from such service. 

18 (b) TREATMENT OF OTHER DOCUMENTATION.— 

19 Other documentation accepted by the Secretary of Home20 land Security pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall satisfy 

21 all requirements for eligibility of service during the period 

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

23 31, 1946. 

24 (c) BENEFITS ALLOWED.— 


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1 (1) BURIAL BENEFITS ELIGIBILITY.—Service of 

2 an individual that is considered active duty pursuant 

3 to subsection (a) shall be considered as active duty 

4 service with respect to providing burial benefits 

5 under chapters 23 and 24 of title 38, United States 

6 Code, to the individual. 

7 (2) MEDALS, RIBBONS, AND DECORATIONS.— 

8 An individual whose service is recognized as active 

9 duty pursuant to subsection (a) may be awarded an 

10 appropriate medal, ribbon, or other military decora11 tion based on such service. 

12 (3) STATUS OF VETERAN.—An individual whose 

13 service is recognized as active duty pursuant to sub14 section (a) shall be honored as a veteran but shall 

15 not be entitled by reason of such recognized service 

16 to any benefit that is not described in this sub17 section. 

18 (d) DETERMINATION OF COASTWISE MERCHANT

19 SEAMAN.—The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

20 verify that an individual performed service under honor21 able conditions that satisfies the requirements of a coast22 wise merchant seaman pursuant to this section without 

23 regard to the sex, age, or disability of the individual dur24 ing the period in which the individual served as such a 

25 coastwise merchant seaman. 


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1 (e) PRIMARY NEXT OF KIN DEFINED.—In this sec2 tion, the term ‘‘primary next of kin’’ means, with respect 

3 to an individual seeking recognition for service under this 

4 section, the closest living relative of the individual who was 

5 alive during the period of such service. 

6 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

7 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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