IB 
Union Calendar No. 171 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 23 
[Report No. 110–269, Part I] 
To amend title 46, United States Code, to provide benefits to certain individ-
uals who served in the United States merchant marine (including the 
Army Transport Service and the Naval Transport Service) during World 
War II. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 4, 2007 
Mr. FILNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Ways 
and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
JULY 27, 2007 
Additional sponsors: Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. 
MOORE of Kansas, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. WAMP, Mrs. DAVIS of California, 
Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SHIMKUS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 
ALTMIRE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. PAUL, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. 
ROSKAM, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. HARE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LINCOLN 
DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. ARCURI, 
Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BONNER, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of Cali-
fornia, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. TERRY, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 
BOUSTANY, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. HONDA, Ms. 
BERKLEY, Mr. PORTER, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. KANJORSKI, Ms. CORRINE 
BROWN of Florida, Mr. DOYLE, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. REYES, Ms. SHEA- 
PORTER, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. GORDON of Ten-
nessee, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. CARDOZA, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, 
Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. WELLER of Illinois, Mr. SHULER, Mr. LARSON of Con-
necticut, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. SPACE, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. PASCRELL, 
Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, Mr. 
OLVER, Mr. STARK, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Ten-
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nessee, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. PE-
TERSON of Minnesota, Ms. LEE, Mr. MICA, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. BOREN, 
Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. BOYD of Florida, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. 
WATSON, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Ms. 
MATSUI, Mr. NADLER, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Ms. CARSON, Mr. 
LOBIONDO, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. 
WAXMAN, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. MCCOTTER, 
Ms. SUTTON, Mr. MARCHANT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. 
NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. RANGEL, Mrs. MALONEY of 
New York, Mr. WOLF, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. 
HODES, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. DENT, Ms. HOOLEY, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. 
PICKERING, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. WILSON 
of Ohio, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. WU, Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Mr. 
PAYNE, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. POE, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. 
WELCH of Vermont, Mr. PETRI, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. 
FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. ALLEN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. 
MARKEY, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. COOPER, Mr. BARROW, Mrs. BOYDA of 
Kansas, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. HAYES, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. 
RAHALL, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. HOLT, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. HALL of New York, Ms. EDDIE BER-
NICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 
SCHIFF, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. KIL-
DEE, Mr. RAMSTAD, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. THOMPSON of Cali-
fornia, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. CAMP of Michigan, Mr. 
PLATTS, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 
LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. 
JONES of North Carolina, Mr. COSTA, Mr. BACA, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. 
PASTOR, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. FORTUN˜O, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. CONYERS, 
Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. FARR, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. FOSSELLA, 
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. ISSA, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, 
Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. WALSH of New York, Mr. 
CARNAHAN, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. SCOTT of Vir-
ginia, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. THOMPSON of 
Mississippi, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Mrs. BONO, Mr. LEWIS of 
Georgia, Mr. BAKER, Mr. FORBES, Mr. ROSS, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. BER-
MAN, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WATT, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. KIND, 
Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. LOEBSACK, 
Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. TIBERI, 
Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Mr. TANCREDO, Ms. MOORE of Wis-
consin, Mr. MCHUGH, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. LUCAS, 
Mr. LEVIN, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Mr. STUPAK, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. 
KINGSTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. RUSH, 
Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. ALEXANDER, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. 
UPTON, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. 
MELANCON, and Mrs. LOWEY 
JULY 27, 2007 
Reported from the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs with amendments 
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
JULY 27, 2007 
Committee on Ways and Means discharged; committed to the Committee of 
the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 4, 2007] 
A BILL 
To amend title 46, United States Code, to provide benefits 
to certain individuals who served in the United States 
merchant marine (including the Army Transport Service 
and the Naval Transport Service) during World War 
II. 
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 ‘‘Belated Thank You to 
the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. PAYMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS WHO SERVED DURING 
WORLD WAR II IN THE UNITED STATES MER-
CHANT MARINE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPENSATION FUND.—Sub-
chapter II of chapter 5 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 532. Merchant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund 
‘‘(a) COMPENSATION FUND.—(1) There is in the gen-
eral fund of the Treasury a fund to be known as the ‘Mer-
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chant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund’ (in this section 
referred to as the ‘compensation fund’). 
‘‘(2) Subject to the availability of appropriations for 
such purpose, amounts in the fund shall be available to the 
Secretary without fiscal year limitation to make payments 
to eligible individuals in accordance with this section. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—(1) An eligible indi-
vidual is an individual who— 
‘‘(A) before October 1, 2009, submits to the Sec-
retary an application containing such information 
and assurances as the Secretary may require; 
‘‘(B) has not received benefits under the Service-
men’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (Public Law 78– 
346); and 
‘‘(C) has engaged in qualified service. 
‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), a person has en-
gaged in qualified service if, between December 7, 1941, and 
December 31, 1946, the person— 
‘‘(A) was a member of the United States mer-
chant marine (including the Army Transport Service 
and the Naval Transport Service) serving as a crew-
member of a vessel that was— 
‘‘(i) operated by the War Shipping Admin-
istration or the Office of Defense Transportation 
(or an agent of the Administration or Office); 
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‘‘(ii) operated in waters other than inland 
waters, the Great Lakes, and other lakes, bays, 
and harbors of the United States; 
‘‘(iii) under contract or charter to, or prop-
erty of, the Government of the United States; 
and 
‘‘(iv) serving the Armed Forces; and 
‘‘(B) while so serving, was licensed or otherwise 
documented for service as a crewmember of such a 
vessel by an officer or employee of the United States 
authorized to license or document the person for such 
service. 
‘‘(c) AMOUNT
OF PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall 
make a monthly payment out of the compensation fund in 
the amount of $1,000 to an eligible individual. The Sec-
retary shall make such payments to eligible individuals in 
the order in which the Secretary receives the applications 
of the eligible individuals. 
‘‘(d) 
AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—(1) 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the compensa-
tion fund amounts as follows: 
‘‘(A) For fiscal year 2008, $120,000,000. 
‘‘(B) For fiscal year 2009, $108,000,000. 
‘‘(C) For fiscal year 2010, $97,000,000. 
‘‘(D) For fiscal year 2011, $85,000,000. 
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‘‘(E) For fiscal year 2012, $75,000,000. 
‘‘(2) Funds appropriated to carry out this section shall 
remain available until expended. 
‘‘(e) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall include, in docu-
ments submitted to Congress by the Secretary in support 
of the President’s budget for each fiscal year, detailed infor-
mation on the operation of the compensation fund, includ-
ing the number of applicants, the number of eligible indi-
viduals receiving benefits, the amounts paid out of the com-
pensation fund, the administration of the compensation 
fund, and an estimate of the amounts necessary to fully 
fund the compensation fund for that fiscal year and each 
of the three subsequent fiscal years. 
‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe reg-
ulations to carry out this section.’’. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pre-
scribe the regulations required under section 532(f) of title 
38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at 
the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after 
the item related to section 531 the following new item: 
‘‘532. Merchant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund.’’. 
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend title 
38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs to establish the Merchant Mariner Equity 
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Compensation Fund to provide benefits to certain individ-
uals who served in the United States merchant marine 
(including the Army Transport Service and the Naval 
Transport Service) during World War II.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 171 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 23 
[Report No. 110–269, Part I] 
A BILL 
To amend title 46, United States Code, to provide 
benefits to certain individuals who served in the 
United States merchant marine (including the 
Army Transport Service and the Naval Trans-
port Service) during World War II. 
JULY 27, 2007 
Reported from the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs with 
amendments 
JULY 27, 2007 
Committee on Ways and Means discharged; committed to 
the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 
Union and ordered to be printed 
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