[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 23 Reported in House (RH)]






                                                 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 
individuals 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 
  Committee 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 jurisdiction of the committee concerned

                             July 27, 2007

 Additional sponsors: Ms. Linda T. Sanchez 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 California, 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 Tennessee, Mr. Tierney, 
Mr. LaHood, Mr. Cardoza, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Moran of 
Virginia, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Weller of Illinois, Mr. 
Shuler, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, 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 Tennessee, 
  Mr. King of New York, Mr. Brown of South Carolina, Mr. Peterson of 
  Minnesota, Ms. Lee, Mr. Mica, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Boren, Mr. Udall of 
Colorado, Mr. Boyd of Florida, Ms. Velazquez, 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 Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Radanovich, Mr. Bishop of 
 Georgia, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Baird, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Meehan, 
  Mr. Kildee, Mr. Ramstad, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Thompson of 
  California, 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. Fortuno, 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 Virginia, 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. Berman, 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 
 Wisconsin, 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
 [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 Representatives 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 MERCHANT MARINE.

    (a) Establishment of Compensation Fund.--Subchapter II of chapter 5 
of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:
``Sec. 532. Merchant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund
    ``(a) Compensation Fund.--(1) There is in the general fund of the 
Treasury a fund to be known as the `Merchant 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 individual is an 
individual who--
            ``(A) before October 1, 2009, submits to the Secretary an 
        application containing such information and assurances as the 
        Secretary may require;
            ``(B) has not received benefits under the Servicemen'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 engaged in 
qualified service if, between December 7, 1941, and December 31, 1946, 
the person--
            ``(A) was a member of the United States merchant marine 
        (including the Army Transport Service and the Naval Transport 
        Service) serving as a crewmember of a vessel that was--
                    ``(i) operated by the War Shipping Administration 
                or the Office of Defense Transportation (or an agent of 
                the Administration or Office);
                    ``(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 property 
                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 Secretary 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 compensation 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.
            ``(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 documents submitted 
to Congress by the Secretary in support of the President's budget for 
each fiscal year, detailed information on the operation of the 
compensation fund, including the number of applicants, the number of 
eligible individuals receiving benefits, the amounts paid out of the 
compensation 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 regulations to 
carry out this section.''.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prescribe 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 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.''.
                                                 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 Transport 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