I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2593
To provide veterans benefits to certain individuals who serve in the United 
States merchant marine during a period of war. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 24, 2003
Mr. RADANOVICH (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, and Ms. HARMAN) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Vet-
erans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To provide veterans benefits to certain individuals who serve 
in the United States merchant marine during a period 
of war.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combat Merchant 
Mariners Veterans Benefits Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR VETERANS BENEFITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 
qualifying service of an individual in the United States 
merchant marine during a period of war for a total period
equal to at least 12 months shall be considered to be active 
duty in determining the individual’s eligibility for veterans 
benefits under all laws administered by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs. 
(b) QUALIFYING SERVICE.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, qualifying service is any of the following: 
(1) OCEAN, COASTAL, OR INTERCOASTAL VOY-
AGES.—Service on a vessel of the United States on 
ocean, coastwise, or intercoastal voyages during a 
period of war in a combat zone of such war if such 
service is rendered to the Armed Forces in a capac-
ity considered civilian employment or contractual 
service at the time the service is performed. 
(2) FORCIBLE DETENTION OR INTERNMENT.—
Any period of forcible detention or internment by an 
enemy government or hostile force as a result of hos-
tile action against a vessel of the United States 
while the individual was performing service referred 
to in paragraph (1) on that vessel. 
(3) OTHER SERVICE.—Any period of service in 
the War Shipping Administration, the United States 
Maritime Service, or a maritime training program 
conducted or recognized by the Armed Forces, ex-
cept that not more than six months of such service
may be included in calculating the period of service 
referred to in subsection (a). 
(c) APPLICABILITY
OF
MINIMUM
ACTIVE-DUTY 
SERVICE
REQUIREMENTS.—The minimum active-duty 
service requirement of any law administered by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs shall apply in determining an 
individual’s eligibility for veterans benefits under this Act. 
SEC. 3. WAIVER OF PERIOD OF SERVICE. 
The requirement of section 2(a) that the period of 
service referred to in that section be equal to at least 12 
months shall not apply to an individual who is perma-
nently disabled in the performance of the service referred 
to in such section while the vessel of the United States 
on which the individual is performing the service is sub-
jected to hostile action. 
SEC. 4. VERIFICATION OF SERVICE. 
The service referred to in section 2(a) may be verified 
by—
(1) entries in a continuous discharge book; 
(2) a certificate of discharge to merchant sea-
men; 
(3) a certificate of substantially continuous 
service; or
(4) any other documentation available from the 
Secretary of Transportation or the head of any other 
Federal agency. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘individual in the United States 
merchant marine’’ means any citizen or resident 
alien of the United States serving as a civilian or 
civil service member of the United States merchant 
marine. 
(2) The terms ‘‘period of war’’ and ‘‘Armed 
Forces’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec-
tion 101 of title 38, United States Code. 
(3) The term ‘‘combat zone’’ means an area in 
which the Armed Forces are engaged in combat, as 
determined by the Secretary of Defense. 
(4) The term ‘‘vessel of the United States’’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 2101(46) of 
title 46, United States Code. 
SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY AND PROHIBITION OF RETRO-
ACTIVE BENEFITS. 
Service referred to in section 2(a) that was performed 
before the date of the enactment of this Act shall be count-
ed for purposes of this Act. An individual who performs 
such service before the date of the enactment of this Act
may not be provided veterans benefits that accrue as a 
result of the enactment of this Act for any period before 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
Æ