section 6 of the Neutrality Act of 1939 (related to the 
arming of United States vessels) and authorized the 
President during the national emergency to arm or 
permit to arm any United States vessel. 
(4) On February 7, 1942, President Franklin D. 
Roosevelt, through Executive Order Number 9054, es-
tablished the War Shipping Administration that was 
charged with building or purchasing, and operating 
the civilian shipping vessels needed for the war effort. 
(5) During World War II, United States mer-
chant mariners transported goods and materials 
through ‘‘contested waters’’ to the various combat the-
aters. 
(6) At the conclusion of World War II, United 
States merchant mariners were responsible for trans-
porting several million members of the United States 
Armed Forces back to the United States. 
(7) The GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 (Pub-
lic Law 95–202) provided that the Secretary of De-
fense could determine that service for the Armed 
Forces by organized groups of civilians, or contrac-
tors, be considered ‘‘active service’’ for benefits admin-
istered by the Veterans Administration. 
(8) Department of Defense Directive 1000.20 di-
rected that the determination be made by the Sec-
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retary of the Air Force, and established the Civilian/ 
Military Service Review Board and Advisory Panel. 
(9) In 1987, three merchant mariners along with 
the AFL–CIO sued Edward C. Aldridge, Secretary of 
the Air Force, challenging the denial of their applica-
tion for veterans status. In Schumacher v. Aldridge 
(665 F. Supp. 41 (D.D.C. 1987)), the Court deter-
mined that Secretary Aldridge had failed to ‘‘articu-
late clear and intelligible criteria for the administra-
tion’’ of the application approval process. 
(10) During World War II, women were repeat-
edly denied issuance of official documentation affirm-
ing their merchant marine seaman status by the War 
Shipping Administration. 
(11) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 (April 
1992) identifies the following acceptable forms of doc-
umentation for eligibility meeting the requirements 
set forth in the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 
(Public Law 95–202) and Veterans Programs En-
hancement Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–368): 
(A) Certificate of shipping and discharge 
forms. 
(B) Continuous discharge books (ship’s deck 
or engine logbooks). 
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(C) Company letters showing vessel names 
and dates of voyages. 
(12) Coast Guard Commandant Order of March 
20, 1944, relieved masters of tugs, towboats, and sea-
going barges of the responsibility of submitting re-
ports of seamen shipped or discharged on forms, 
meaning certificates of shipping and discharge forms 
are not available to all eligible individuals seeking to 
document their eligibility. 
(13) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 (April 
1992) states that ‘‘deck logs were traditionally consid-
ered to be the property of the owners of the ships. 
After World War II, however, the deck and engine 
logbooks of vessels operated by the War Shipping Ad-
ministration were turned over to that agency by the 
ship owners, and were destroyed during the 1970s’’, 
meaning that continuous discharge books are not 
available to all eligible individuals seeking to docu-
ment their eligibility. 
(14) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 (April, 
1992) states ‘‘some World War II period log books do 
not name ports visited during the voyage due to war-
time security restrictions’’, meaning that company 
letters showing vessel names and dates of voyages are 
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not available to all eligible individuals seeking to doc-
ument their eligibility. 
(b) METHODS
FOR VALIDATING CERTAIN SERVICE 
CONSIDERED TO BE ACTIVE SERVICE BY THE SECRETARY 
OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of verifying 
that an individual performed service under honorable 
conditions that satisfies the requirements of a coast-
wise merchant seaman who is recognized pursuant to 
section 401 of the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 
(Public Law 95–202; 38 U.S.C. 106 note) as having 
performed active duty service for the purposes de-
scribed in paragraph (3)(A), the Secretary of Home-
land Security shall accept the following: 
(A) In the case of an individual who served 
on a coastwise merchant vessel seeking such rec-
ognition for whom no applicable Coast Guard 
shipping or discharge form, ship logbook, mer-
chant mariner’s document or Z-card, or other of-
ficial employment record is available, the Sec-
retary shall provide such recognition on the basis 
of applicable Social Security Administration 
records submitted for or by the individual, to-
gether with validated testimony given by the in-
dividual or the primary next of kin of the indi-
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vidual that the individual performed such service 
during the period beginning on December 7, 
1941, and ending on December 31, 1946. 
(B) In the case of an individual who served 
on a coastwise merchant vessel seeking such rec-
ognition for whom the applicable Coast Guard 
shipping or discharge form, ship logbook, mer-
chant mariner’s document or Z-card, or other of-
ficial employment record has been destroyed or 
otherwise become unavailable by reason of any 
action committed by a person responsible for the 
control and maintenance of such form, logbook, 
or record, the Secretary shall accept other official 
documentation demonstrating that the indi-
vidual performed such service during period be-
ginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on 
December 31, 1946. 
(C) For the purpose of determining whether 
to recognize service allegedly performed during 
the period beginning on December 7, 1941, and 
ending on December 31, 1946, the Secretary shall 
recognize masters of seagoing vessels or other offi-
cers in command of similarly organized groups 
as agents of the United States who were author-
ized to document any individual for purposes of 
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