I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1605 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to repeal requirements that applicants 

for merchant seamen licenses and certificates and merchant mariner’s 

documents must take oaths, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2007 

Mr. LATOURETTE (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, and Mr. LOBIONDO) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to repeal requirements that applicants for merchant seamen licenses and 

certificates and merchant mariner’s documents must take 

oaths, 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 ‘‘Merchant Mariner Cre5 dentials Improvement Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OATHS. 

2 Sections 7105 and 7305 of title 46, United States 

3 Code, and the items relating to such sections in the anal4 ysis for chapters 71 and 73 of such title, are repealed. 

5 SEC. 3. DURATION OF CREDENTIALS. 

6 (a) MERCHANT MARINER’S DOCUMENTS.—Section 

7 7302(f) of title 46, United States Code, is amended to 

8 read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(f) PERIODS OF VALIDITY AND RENEWAL OF MER10 CHANT MARINERS’ DOCUMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub12 section (g), a merchant mariner’s document issued 

13 under this chapter is valid for a 5-year period and 

14 may be renewed for additional 5-year periods. 

15 ‘‘(2) ADVANCE RENEWALS.—A renewed mer16 chant mariner’s document may be issued under this 

17 chapter in advance but is not effective until the date 

18 that the previously issued merchant mariner’s docu19 ment expires.’’. 

20 (b) DURATION OF LICENSES.—Section 7106 of such 

21 title is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘§ 7106. Duration of licenses 

23 ‘‘(a) LICENSE RENEWAL.—A license issued under 

24 this part is valid for a 5-year period and may be renewed 

25 for additional 5-year periods; except that the validity of 

26 a license issued to a radio officer is conditioned on the 


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1 continuous possession by the holder of a first-class or sec2 ond-class radiotelegraph operator license issued by the 

3 Federal Communications Commission. 

4 ‘‘(b) ADVANCE RENEWALS.—A renewed license 

5 issued under this part may be issued in advance but is 

6 not effective until the date that the previously issued li7 cense expires.’’. 

8 (c) CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRY.—Section 7107 of 

9 such title is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘§ 7107. Duration of certificates of registry 

11 ‘‘(a) CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRY RENEWAL.—A cer12 tificate of registry issued under this part is valid for a 

13 5-year period and may be renewed for additional 5-year 

14 periods; except that the validity of a certificate issued to 

15 a medical doctor or professional nurse is conditioned on 

16 the continuous possession by the holder of a license as a 

17 medical doctor or registered nurse, respectively, issued by 

18 a State. 

19 ‘‘(b) ADVANCE ISSUANCE.—A renewed certificate of 

20 registry issued under this part may be issued in advance 

21 but is not effective until the date that the previously issued 

22 certificate of registry expires.’’. 

23 SEC. 4. PROCESSING TIME FOR DOCUMENTS. 

24 Section 2110 of title 46, United States Code, is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(l) LIMITATION WITH RESPECT TO PROCESSING

2 TIME.—The Secretary may not charge a fee under this 

3 section for the application, processing, or issuance of a 

4 merchant mariner’s document for an individual under 

5 chapter 73 if, within 30 days after the date the individual 

6 submits a complete application for the document, the Sec7 retary has not— 

8 ‘‘(1) issued the document to the individual; or 

9 ‘‘(2) notified the individual that the document 

10 will not be issued because the individual does not 

11 meet the qualifications for issuance of that docu12 ment under that chapter.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. FINGERPRINTING. 

14 (a) MERCHANT MARINER LICENSES AND DOCU15 MENTS.—Chapter 75 of title 46, United States Code, is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘§ 7507. Fingerprinting 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Depart19 ment in which the Coast Guard is operating may not re20 quire an individual to be fingerprinted for the issuance 

21 or renewal of a license, a certificate of registry, or a mer22 chant mariner’s document under chapter 71 or 73 if the 

23 individual was fingerprinted when the individual applied 

24 for a transportation security card under section 70105.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for such 

2 chapter is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘7507. Fingerprinting.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION TO EXTEND THE DURATION OF LI4 CENSES, CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRY, AND 

5 MERCHANT MARINERS’ DOCUMENTS. 

6 (a) MERCHANT MARINER LICENSES AND DOCU7 MENTS.—Chapter 75 of title 46, United States Code, as 

8 amended by section 5(a) of this Act, is further amended 

9 by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 7508. Authority to extend the duration of licenses, 

11 certificates of registry, and merchant 

12 mariner documents 

13 ‘‘(a) LICENSES AND CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRY.— 

14 Notwithstanding section 7106 and 7107, the Secretary of 

15 the department in which the Coast Guard is operating 

16 may extend for one year an expiring license or certificate 

17 of registry issued for an individual under chapter 71 if 

18 the Secretary determines that such action is required to 

19 enable the Coast Guard to eliminate a backlog in proc20 essing applications for such licenses or certificates of reg21 istry. 

22 ‘‘(b) MERCHANT MARINER DOCUMENTS.—Notwith23 standing section 7302(g), the Secretary may extend for 

24 one year an expiring merchant mariner’s document issued 

25 for an individual under chapter 71 if the Secretary deterVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 Mar 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605

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1 mines that such action is required to enable the Coast 

2 Guard to eliminate a backlog in processing applications 

3 for such documents. 

4 ‘‘(c) MANNER OF EXTENSION.—Any extensions 

5 granted under this section may be granted to individual 

6 seamen or a specifically identified group of seamen. 

7 ‘‘(d) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority 

8 for providing an extension under this section shall expire 

9 on June 30, 2009.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for such 

11 chapter, as amended by section 5(b), is further amended 

12 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘7508. Authority to extend the duration of licenses, certificates of registry, and 

merchant mariner documents.’’. 

13 SEC. 7. MERCHANT MARINER DOCUMENTATION. 

14 (a) INTERIM CLEARANCE PROCESS.—Not later than 

15 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec16 retary of the department in which the Coast Guard is op17 erating shall develop an interim clearance process for 

18 issuance of a merchant mariner document to enable a 

19 newly hired seaman to begin working on an offshore sup20 ply vessel or towing vessel if the Secretary makes an initial 

21 determination that the seaman does not pose a safety and 

22 security risk. 

23 (b) CONTENTS OF PROCESS.—The process under 

24 subsection (a) shall include a check against the consoliVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:55 Mar 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605

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1 dated and integrated terrorist watch list maintained by the 

2 Federal Government, review of the seaman’s criminal 

3 record, and review of the results of testing the seaman 

4 for use of a dangerous drug (as defined in section 2101 

5 of title 46, United States Code) in violation of law or Fed6 eral regulation. 

7 SEC. 8. MERCHANT MARINER ASSISTANCE REPORT. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall 

10 submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra11 structure of the House of Representatives and the Com12 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

13 Senate a report regarding a plan— 

14 (1) to expand the streamlined evaluation proc15 ess program that was affiliated with the Houston 

16 Regional Examination Center of the Coast Guard to 

17 all processing centers of the Coast Guard nation18 wide; 

19 (2) to include proposals to simplify the applica20 tion process for a license as an officer, staff officer, 

21 or operator and for a merchant mariner’s document 

22 to help eliminate errors by merchant mariners when 

23 completing the application form (CG–719B), includ24 ing instructions attached to the application form and 

25 a modified application form for renewals with quesVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:12 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605

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1 tions pertaining only to the period of time since the 

2 previous application; 

3 (3) to provide notice to an applicant of the sta4 tus of the pending application, including a process to 

5 allow the applicant to check on the status of the ap6 plication by electronic means; and 

7 (4) to ensure that all information collected with 

8 respect to applications for new or renewed licenses, 

9 merchant mariner documents, and certificates of 

10 registry is retained in a secure electronic format. 

11 SEC. 9. MERCHANT MARINER SHORTAGE REPORT. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation, acting 

14 through the Administrator of the Maritime Administra15 tion, shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and 

16 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the 

17 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

18 the Senate a report concerning methods to address the 

19 current and future shortage in the number of merchant 

20 mariners, particularly entry-level mariners, including an 

21 evaluation of whether an educational loan program pro22 viding loans for the cost of on-the-job training would pro23 vide an incentive for workers and help alleviate the short24 age. 


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1 SEC. 10. MERCHANT MARINER DOCUMENT STANDARDS. 

2 Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Secretary of the department in which the 

4 Coast Guard is operating shall submit to the Committee 

5 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 

6 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate— 

8 (1) a plan to ensure that the process for an ap9 plication, by an individual who has, or has applied 

10 for, a transportation security card under section 

11 70105 of title 46, United States Code, for a mer12 chant mariner document can be completed entirely 

13 by mail; and 

14 (2) a report on the feasibility of, and a timeline 

15 to, redesign the merchant mariner document to com16 ply with the requirements of such section, including 

17 a biometric identifier, and all relevant international 

18 conventions, including the International Labour Or19 ganization Convention Number 185 concerning the 

20 seafarers identity document, and include a review on 

21 whether or not such redesign will eliminate the need 

22 for separate credentials and background screening 

23 and streamline the application process for mariners. 

Æ 


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