I 

113TH 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 as a coastwise merchant seaman during World 

War II, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2013 

Mr. BUTTERFIELD (for himself, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. JONES, Mr. MEADOWS, 

Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. PITTENGER, Mr. HOLDING, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. 

LOBIONDO, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. LIPINSKI, 

Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. SCHWARTZ, 

Mr. LATTA, Mr. ROSS, Ms. HAHN, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. 

MCHENRY, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 

Mr. BARROW of Georgia, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. KEATING, 

Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. KING of New York, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 

PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. HIMES, Mr. 

HONDA, and Mr. WESTMORELAND) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to 

the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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. 


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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 ‘‘World War II Mer5 chant Mariner Service Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Merchant Marine Act, 1936 established 

9 the United States Maritime Commission, and stated 

10 as a matter of policy that the United States should 

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

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

13 national emergency’’. 

14 (2) The Social Security Act Amendments of 

15 1939 (Public Law 76–379) expanded the definition 

16 of employment to include service ‘‘on or in connec17 tion with an American vessel under contract of serv18 ice which is entered into within the United States or 

19 during the performance of which the vessel touches 

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

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

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

23 3, and 6 of the Neutrality Act of 1939, and for 

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

25 repealed section 6 of the Neutrality Act of 1939 (reVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:40 Mar 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1288.IH H1288

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1 lated to the arming of United States vessels) and 

2 authorized the President during the national emer3 gency to arm or permit to arm any United States 

4 vessel. 

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

6 D. Roosevelt, through Executive Order Number 

7 9054, established the War Shipping Administration 

8 that was charged with building or purchasing, and 

9 operating the civilian shipping vessels needed for the 

10 war effort. 

11 (5) During World War II, United States mer12 chant mariners transported goods and materials 

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

14 theaters. 

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

16 States merchant mariners were responsible for 

17 transporting several million members of the United 

18 States Armed Forces back to the United States. 

19 (7) The GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 

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

21 Defense could determine that service for the Armed 

22 Forces by organized groups of civilians, or contrac23 tors, be considered ‘‘active service’’ for benefits ad24 ministered by the Veterans Administration. 


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1 (8) Department of Defense Directive 1000.20 

2 directed that the determination be made by the Sec3 retary of the Air Force, and established the Civilian/ 

4 Military Service Review Board and Advisory Panel. 

5 (9) In 1987, three merchant mariners along 

6 with the AFL–CIO sued Edward C. Aldridge, Sec7 retary of the Air Force, challenging the denial of 

8 their application for veterans status. In Schumacher 

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

10 Court determined that Secretary Aldridge had failed 

11 to ‘‘articulate clear and intelligible criteria for the 

12 administration’’ of the application approval process. 

13 (10) During World War II, women were repeat14 edly denied issuance of official documentation af15 firming their merchant marine seamen status by the 

16 War Shipping Administration. 

17 (11) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 

18 (April 1992) identifies the following acceptable 

19 forms of documentation for eligibility meeting the 

20 requirements set forth in GI Bill Improvement Act 

21 of 1977 (Public Law 95–202) and Veterans Pro22 grams Enhancement Act of 1998 (Public Law 105– 

23 368): 

24 (A) Certificate of shipping and discharge 

25 forms. 


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1 (B) Continuous discharge books (ship’s 

2 deck or engine logbooks). 

3 (C) Company letters showing vessel names 

4 and dates of voyages. 

5 (12) Coast Guard Commandant Order of 20 

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

7 and seagoing barges of the responsibility of submit8 ting reports of seamen shipped or discharged on 

9 forms, meaning certificates of shipping and dis10 charge forms are not available to all eligible individ11 uals seeking to document their eligibility. 

12 (13) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 

13 (April, 1992) states that ‘‘deck logs were tradition14 ally considered to be the property of the owners of 

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

16 and engine logbooks of vessels operated by the War 

17 Shipping Administration were turned over to that 

18 agency by the ship owners, and were destroyed dur19 ing the 1970s’’, meaning that continuous discharge 

20 books are not available to all eligible individuals 

21 seeking to document their eligibility. 

22 (14) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 

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

24 books do not name ports visited during the voyage 

25 due to wartime security restrictions’’, meaning that 


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1 company letters showing vessel names and dates of 

2 voyages are not available to all eligible individuals 

3 seeking to document their eligibility. 

4 SEC. 3. METHODS FOR VALIDATING CERTAIN SERVICE 

5 CONSIDERED TO BE ACTIVE SERVICE BY THE 

6 SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

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

8 an individual performed service under honorable condi9 tions that satisfies the requirements of a coastwise mer10 chant seaman who is recognized pursuant to section 401 

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

12 202; 38 U.S.C. 106 note) as having performed active duty 

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

14 Secretary of Homeland Security shall accept the following: 

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

16 a coastwise merchant vessel seeking such recognition 

17 for whom no applicable Coast Guard shipping or dis18 charge form, ship logbook, merchant mariner’s docu19 ment or Z-card, or other official employment record 

20 is available, the Secretary shall provide such recogni21 tion on the basis of applicable Social Security Ad22 ministration records submitted for or by the indi23 vidual, together with validated testimony given by 

24 the individual or the primary next of kin of the indi25 vidual that the individual performed such service 


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1 during the period beginning on December 7, 1941, 

2 and ending on December 31, 1946. 

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

4 a coastwise merchant vessel seeking such recognition 

5 for whom the applicable Coast Guard shipping or 

6 discharge form, ship logbook, merchant mariner’s 

7 document or Z-card, or other official employment 

8 record has been destroyed or otherwise become un9 available by reason of any action committed by a 

10 person responsible for the control and maintenance 

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

12 accept other official documentation demonstrating 

13 that the individual performed such service during pe14 riod beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on 

15 December 31, 1946. 

16 (3) For the purpose of determining whether to 

17 recognize service allegedly performed during the pe18 riod beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on 

19 December 31, 1946, the Secretary shall recognize 

20 masters of seagoing vessels or other officers in com21 mand of similarly organized groups as agents of the 

22 United States who were authorized to document any 

23 individual for purposes of hiring the individual to 

24 perform service in the merchant marine or dis25 charging an individual from such service. 


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1 (b) TREATMENT OF OTHER DOCUMENTATION.— 

2 Other documentation accepted by the Secretary of Home3 land Security pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall satisfy 

4 all requirements for eligibility of service during the period 

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

6 31, 1946. 

7 (c) BENEFITS ALLOWED.— 

8 (1) BURIAL BENEFITS ELIGIBILITY.—Service of 

9 an individual that is considered active duty pursuant 

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

11 service with respect to providing burial benefits 

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

13 Code, to the individual. 

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

15 An individual whose service is recognized as active 

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

17 appropriate medal, ribbon, or other military decora18 tion based on such service. 

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

20 service is recognized as active duty pursuant to sub21 section (a) shall be honored as a veteran but shall 

22 not be entitled by reason of such recognized service 

23 to any benefit that is not described in this sub24 section. 


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1 (d) DETERMINATION OF COASTWISE MERCHANT

2 SEAMAN.—The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

3 verify that an individual performed service under honor4 able conditions that satisfies the requirements of a coast5 wise merchant seaman pursuant to this section without 

6 regard to the sex, age, or disability of the individual dur7 ing the period in which the individual served as such a 

8 coastwise merchant seaman. 

9 (e) DEFINITION OF PRIMARY NEXT OF KIN.—In this 

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

11 an individual seeking recognition for service under this 

12 section means the closest living relative of the individual 

13 who was alive during the period of such service. 

14 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 90 

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

Æ 


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