Original Honoring Our WWII Merchant Mariners Act of 2025
Latest action · Dec 19, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
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.
- IntroducedJan 3, 2025
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Original Honoring Our WWII Merchant Mariners Act of 2025
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to distribute a payment of $25,000 to U.S. merchant marines who engaged in qualified service during World War II. To be eligible, an individual must apply for the benefit and must not have received benefits under the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. The bill sets forth what constitutes qualified service, including time frame of service and licensing requirements.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Sep 8, 2025.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Mark DeSaulnier | Sep 8, 2025 |
Committees 1
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 Jan 3, 2025 |
| Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee | Referred Dec 19, 2025 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 19, 2025Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
- Jan 3, 2025Introduced in House
- Jan 3, 2025Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
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. 171, no. 1, January 3, 2025, page H36.
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish the Merchant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund 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.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Original Honoring Our WWII Merchant Mariners Act of 2025
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 3, 2025Introduced 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.
