World War II Merchant Mariner Service Act
Latest action · Aug 13, 2015 Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 4, 2015
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
World War II Merchant Mariner Service Act
Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to accept additional documentation for verifying that an individual performed honorable service as a coastwise merchant seaman during the period beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on December 31, 1946, for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977. Requires such documentation to include Social Security Administration records and validated testimony in the case of the absence of Coast Guard shipping or discharge forms, ship logbooks, documents, or other official employment records.
Requires the Secretary, when determining whether to recognize service allegedly performed during such period, to recognize masters of seagoing vessels or other command officers who were authorized to document an individual for purposes of hiring for or discharging from the merchant marine.
Considers any service so recognized as active-duty service for purposes of veterans' burial benefits. Makes such veterans eligible for any appropriate military medals, ribbons, and decorations. Requires the Secretary to verify that an individual performed such service under honorable conditions without regard to their sex, age, or disability during the service period.
Cosponsors 167
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 4, 2015 to Apr 14, 2016; 1 is an original cosponsor, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-NC | Walter B. Jones | Original | Mar 4, 2015 |
| R-VA | Robert J. Wittman | Mar 26, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Alcee L. Hastings | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Charles B. Rangel | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-NC | David E. Price | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-TX | Eddie Bernice Johnson | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| R-NJ | Frank A. LoBiondo | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-VA | Gerald E. Connolly | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-GA | Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-WA | Jim McDermott | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-CT | Joe Courtney | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Linda T. Sánchez | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-GU | Madeleine Z. Bordallo | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| R-NC | Mark Meadows | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-OR | Peter A. DeFazio | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| R-NY | Richard L. Hanna | Apr 14, 2015 | |
| D-ME | Chellie Pingree | Apr 16, 2015 | |
| R-CA | Dana Rohrabacher | Apr 16, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Michael M. Honda | Apr 16, 2015 | |
| R-NY | Peter T. King | Apr 16, 2015 | |
| R-VA | J. Randy Forbes | Apr 21, 2015 | |
| D-CA | John Garamendi | Apr 21, 2015 | |
| D-PA | Robert A. Brady | Apr 21, 2015 | |
| D-VA | Robert C. "Bobby" Scott | Apr 21, 2015 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | Apr 22, 2015 | |
| R-NC | George Holding | Apr 28, 2015 | |
| R-NE | Jeff Fortenberry | Apr 28, 2015 | |
| D-PA | Matt Cartwright | Apr 28, 2015 | |
| D-MA | William R. Keating | Apr 28, 2015 | |
| R-WA | Jaime Herrera Beutler | Apr 29, 2015 | |
| R-NC | Richard Hudson | Apr 29, 2015 | |
| R-NC | David Rouzer | May 1, 2015 | |
| R-NC | Robert Pittenger | May 1, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Paul Tonko | Jun 1, 2015 | |
| D-WA | Derek Kilmer | Jun 2, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Steve Israel | Jun 2, 2015 | |
| D-MN | Betty McCollum | Jun 12, 2015 | |
| D-VA | Donald S. Beyer, Jr. | Jun 12, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Grace F. Napolitano | Jun 12, 2015 | |
| R-NY | Lee M. Zeldin | Jun 16, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Janice Hahn | Jun 23, 2015 | |
| D-MN | Timothy J. Walz | Jun 23, 2015 | |
| D-NC | Alma S. Adams | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| R-TX | Blake Farenthold | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| D-MD | C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| D-MN | Collin C. Peterson | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Corrine Brown | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| R-FL | Dennis A. Ross | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| R-AK | Don Young | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Juan Vargas | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| D-HI | Mark Takai | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| R-NC | Mark Walker | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| D-WA | Rick Larsen | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Ted Lieu | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Theodore E. Deutch | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| R-KY | Thomas Massie | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| R-SC | Trey Gowdy | Jul 8, 2015 | |
| D-NJ | Frank Pallone, Jr. | Jul 9, 2015 | |
| D-GA | Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. | Jul 9, 2015 | |
| R-NC | Renee L. Ellmers | Jul 10, 2015 | |
| R-IA | Rod Blum | Jul 10, 2015 | |
| R-CA | Duncan Hunter | Jul 13, 2015 | |
| R-GA | Earl L. "Buddy" Carter | Jul 13, 2015 | |
| R-AZ | Trent Franks | Jul 13, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Judy Chu | Jul 22, 2015 | |
| D-PA | Michael F. Doyle | Jul 22, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Nita M. Lowey | Jul 22, 2015 | |
| D-MN | Richard M. Nolan | Jul 22, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Sean Patrick Maloney | Jul 22, 2015 | |
| D-IL | Tammy Duckworth | Jul 22, 2015 | |
| R-FL | Carlos Curbelo | Jul 23, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Jose E. Serrano | Jul 23, 2015 | |
| R-GA | Lynn A. Westmoreland | Jul 23, 2015 | |
| D-TX | Al Green | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| D-NE | Brad Ashford | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| D-IL | Daniel Lipinski | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| D-MD | Elijah E. Cummings | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| D-TX | Gene Green | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| R-IL | John Shimkus | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| D-OH | Marcy Kaptur | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Mark Takano | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| R-MO | Sam Graves | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| R-NE | Adrian Smith | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-IN | André Carson | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-MI | Brenda L. Lawrence | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-PA | Chaka Fattah | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| R-FL | Curt Clawson | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| R-WA | Dan Newhouse | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| R-OH | David P. Joyce | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Debbie Wasserman Schultz | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-CO | Ed Perlmutter | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| R-NY | Elise M. Stefanik | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-CT | Elizabeth H. Esty | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-CT | James A. Himes | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-RI | James R. Langevin | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-CT | John B. Larson | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Kathleen M. Rice | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-IL | Luis V. Gutierrez | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| R-NV | Mark E. Amodei | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-MA | Niki Tsongas | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-MA | Richard E. Neal | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| R-IL | Rodney Davis | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-CT | Rosa L. DeLauro | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| R-IA | Steve King | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Tony Cárdenas | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Zoe Lofgren | Sep 8, 2015 | |
| D-NJ | Donald Norcross | Sep 24, 2015 | |
| R-IN | Luke Messer | Sep 24, 2015 | |
| D-OH | Tim Ryan | Sep 24, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Jim Costa | Sep 28, 2015 | |
| R-LA | Charles W. Boustany, Jr. | Sep 29, 2015 | |
| R-CO | Scott R. Tipton | Sep 29, 2015 | |
| D-NJ | Albio Sires | Oct 1, 2015 | |
| R-FL | Bill Posey | Oct 1, 2015 | |
| R-VA | E. Scott Rigell | Oct 1, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Karen Bass | Oct 2, 2015 | |
| R-PA | Michael G. Fitzpatrick | Oct 2, 2015 | |
| R-KS | Lynn Jenkins | Oct 6, 2015 | |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Oct 6, 2015 | |
| R-MI | Candice S. Miller | Oct 9, 2015 | |
| R-PA | Charles W. Dent | Oct 9, 2015 | |
| R-MN | Erik Paulsen | Oct 22, 2015 | |
| D-NM | Michelle Lujan Grisham | Oct 22, 2015 | |
| D-WI | Ron Kind | Oct 22, 2015 | |
| D-WA | Suzan K. DelBene | Oct 23, 2015 | |
| R-VA | Bob Goodlatte | Oct 27, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Loretta Sanchez | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| R-IL | Peter J. Roskam | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| R-OH | Robert E. Latta | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Nov 4, 2015 | |
| D-OR | Suzanne Bonamici | Nov 4, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Alan S. Lowenthal | Nov 17, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Brad Sherman | Nov 17, 2015 | |
| D-IA | David Loebsack | Nov 17, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Frederica S. Wilson | Nov 17, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Lucille Roybal-Allard | Nov 17, 2015 | |
| R-OH | Bill Johnson | Nov 19, 2015 | |
| D-NJ | Bill Pascrell, Jr. | Dec 1, 2015 | |
| D-GA | John Lewis | Dec 1, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Julia Brownley | Dec 1, 2015 | |
| R-TX | Michael T. McCaul | Dec 1, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Patrick Murphy | Dec 1, 2015 | |
| D-IL | Bill Foster | Dec 3, 2015 | |
| D-MA | Joseph P. Kennedy III | Dec 3, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Lois Frankel | Dec 3, 2015 | |
| D-TX | Beto O'Rourke | Dec 7, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Brian Higgins | Dec 7, 2015 | |
| R-KY | Harold Rogers | Dec 7, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Raul Ruiz | Dec 11, 2015 | |
| D-NH | Ann M. Kuster | Dec 16, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Grace Meng | Dec 16, 2015 | |
| D-IL | Mike Quigley | Dec 16, 2015 | |
| R-VA | H. Morgan Griffith | Dec 17, 2015 | |
| R-GA | Barry Loudermilk | Jan 6, 2016 | |
| D-IL | Cheri Bustos | Jan 6, 2016 | |
| D-CA | Jared Huffman | Jan 6, 2016 | |
| D-NY | Louise McIntosh Slaughter | Jan 6, 2016 | |
| D-CA | Pete Aguilar | Jan 8, 2016 | |
| D-WA | Adam Smith | Feb 1, 2016 | |
| D-IL | Danny K. Davis | Feb 1, 2016 | |
| R-WI | Sean P. Duffy | Feb 1, 2016 | |
| D-NY | Carolyn B. Maloney | Feb 3, 2016 | |
| R-NY | John Katko | Feb 3, 2016 | |
| R-IL | Mike Bost | Feb 8, 2016 | |
| R-NH | Frank C. Guinta | Mar 7, 2016 | |
| R-NY | Christopher P. Gibson | Apr 14, 2016 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Referred Mar 4, 2015 |
| Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee | Referred Mar 19, 2015 | |
| House | Armed Services Committee | Referred Mar 4, 2015 |
| Military Personnel Subcommittee | Referred Aug 13, 2015 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Aug 13, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
- Mar 19, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
- Mar 4, 2015Introduced in House
- Mar 4, 2015Referred 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.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 37, March 4, 2015, page H1616.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 1775 | World War II Merchant Mariner Service Act | Identical bill | Jul 15, 2015 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- 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.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- World War II Merchant Mariner Service Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Cemeteries and funerals
- Conflicts and wars
- Government information and archives
- Marine and inland water transportation
- Military personnel and dependents
- National Guard and reserves
- Personnel records
- Transportation employees
- Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
- Veterans' loans, housing, homeless programs
- Veterans' medical care
- Veterans' organizations and recognition
- Veterans' pensions and compensation
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 4, 2015Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
