A VOTE FOR MERCHANT MARINERS -- (Extensions of Remarks - February 08, 2006)
SPEECH OF HON. BOB FILNER OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2006Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, my bill, H.R. 23 , the ``Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act'' will correct the injustice that has been inflicted on a group of World War II veterans, the World War II United States Merchant Marines.
Senator Larry Craig has posted on his Web site his views of S. 1272, the Senate companion bill to H.R. 23 . His views have been addressed by the co-chairs of the Just Compensation Committee of the U.S. Merchant Marine Combat Veterans. They have requested that the Senator's views and their letter be placed into the Congressional Record.
What is Senator Craig's position on S. 1272?
Without question, the service provided by members of the U.S. Merchant Marine was invaluable to America's victory over the Axis powers during World War II. Merchant Mariners in oceangoing missions served alongside active components of the Armed Forces as they braved the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans to deliver vital supplies and manpower to the warfront. Undaunted by their difficult missions, Merchant Mariners suffered heavy casualties from enemy naval forces and land-to-sea artillery fire. To all members of the U.S. Merchant Marine who put themselves in harm's way, I say ``thank you'' for your service.
Civilian groups like the U.S. Merchant Marine have frequently performed the equivalent of military service throughout our nation's history. In recognition of that fact, Congress, through the enactment of Public Law 95-202 (established in 1977), a process by which civilian groups could be recognized for their service and be classified as ``veterans'' for purposes of all benefits administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Secretary of the Air Force was chosen to be the Executive Agent of the Defense Department in making decisions about granting that status. And the Air Force Secretary's decisions are informed by a review process conducted by the Civilian Military Service Review Board. Since 1977, 30 groups have been recognized as having attained veteran status. In 1988, members of the U.S. Merchant Marine who served between December 7, 1941 and August 15, 1945 were recognized.
The criteria for having civilian service equated with military service are necessarily stringent. That is as it should be; we should never water down what it means to be a veteran of the United States Armed Forces.
With that perspective in mind, I turn now to the merits of S. 1272. S. 1272, among other things, would entitle certain members of the U.S. Merchant Marine (or, if deceased, their surviving spouses) who served between December 7, 1941 and December 31, 1946, to a $1,000 monthly payment. The $1,000 monthly payment would be in addition to any other VA benefits. The following are the reasons why I do not support S. 1272:
(1) The cost of S. 1272 is considerable. Senate rules would require the Committee to identify offsets for the new entitlement spending. Assuming that just 3,000 Merchant Mariners and surviving spouses are alive today (the lowest estimate I have heard), the Committee would have to find $36 million of offsets in the first year alone. And the Committee would be limited to finding those offsets within other veterans' benefits programs and services, a task that I and other Senators undertake only under extraordinary circumstances.
(2) The precedent set by enacting S. 1272 would likely result in additional spending. For example, the Congress would have very little justification to not extend the same $1,000 monthly payment to the 29 other groups who have been recognized since 1977 as having attained veteran status. Furthermore, Congress has often granted benefits to veterans long after their service. For example, Congress did not establish presumptions of service-connection for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange until 20 years after the herbicide spraying had ceased. S. 1272 might create an expectation that retroactive payments for these, and other veterans is owed.
(3) While service in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II was extremely dangerous, there is little precedent for conferring a VA benefit (on top of all other benefits) on the basis of casualty rates, danger of duty, or acts of gallantry. Only Medal of Honor recipients receive such a payment. To use a similar justification to award Merchant Mariners a $1,000 monthly payment would rightly lead to claims from others who served no less valiantly than they.
(4) As previously mentioned, members of the U.S. Merchant Marine who were in active oceangoing service between December 7, 1941 to August 15, 1945 are already veterans, entitled to full veterans' benefits from VA. However, S. 1272 would confer a veterans' benefit on individuals who served (in addition to the dates above) between August 16, 1945 and December 31, 1946. In effect, the bill seeks to grant a veteran's benefit to individuals who are not veterans.
For all of these reasons, I cannot support S. 1272. I want to make clear however, that my opposition to S. 1272 does not mean that I do not share a profound respect for the service rendered to the country by members of the U.S. Merchant Marine who served during World War II. They were rightly recognized as veterans of the Armed Forces in 1988, and the nation owes them gratitude.
The response from the Merchant Mariners:
Senator LARRY E. CRAIG,
Chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC.
Mis-information is prevalent and must be rebutted when Veterans of World War II are maligned. Especially the reputations of 9,000 men who gave their lives for this country and lay for the most part in Davy Jones' locker at the bottom of the sea. There are no monuments or headstones where they lay forgotten by the millions of people who benefited from their valiant sacrifices. There are no MIA lists because the government didn't want to disclose the huge losses in the Merchant Marine during World War II.Let's correct the Record--I am referring to the website of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. A Bill before the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 23 --``A Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2005'' and its companion Bill in the U.S. Senate, S. 1272 sponsored by Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska is under attack by Senator Larry Craig of Idaho. We would like to point out that this attack is full of misinformation.
Senator Craig is eloquent in his praise of the U.S. Merchant Marine but undermines their credibility with erroneous and false statements, possibly not intentional but nevertheless damaging to their efforts to establish their rights under the G.I. Bill that benefited all other Veterans of World War II.
(1) Senator Craig lists on his website as item No. 1 ``The Cost of S. 1272 is considerable'' assuming that just 3,000 Merchant Marine and the wives are alive today. Two things are wrong about that statement. Compared to the cost of lives lost on September 11th at over $1,400,000 each, the cost per surviving Merchant Marine remaining life span under S. 1272 is negligible. A truer count of remaining Merchant Marine Veterans of World War II has been estimated at close to 10,000 with an estimated 3,000 wives. This has been established by the survivors in their voluntary unincorporated association of the Just Compensation Committee members. It is hard to believe that the Veterans' Affairs Committee would be hard pressed to find $120,000,000 to fund the first year of an approximate ten year cost to compensate these Veterans for the 40 years of failure to deliver them the G.I. Bill of Rights.
(2) Senator Craig further says on his website that S. 1272 would result in additional spending on 29 other groups who have attained Veterans' status also. These 29 groups total less than 1,000 civilians under military authority, most of whom are dead today and were very far from ``harm's way.'' The Merchant Marine had 250,000 men on armed vessels during World War II, all volunteers, who were in ``harm's way'' 100 percent of their service time with 81% exposed to enemy action. Senator Craig states that Congress often granted benefits to Veterans long after service. Millions and millions of dollars were granted to Veterans under the G.I. Bill of 1944. The problem is Congress has failed to pay the Merchant Marine Veterans for over 40 years.
(3) Senator Craig keeps referring to the Merchant Marine claim as similar to Medal of Honor recipients. This is not true and a distortion of facts. All other Veterans of World War II received assistance in the equivalent value of $120,000 in 1946 dollars. Adjusted for inflation, the U.S. Government owes the Merchant Marine Veterans over $1 million dollars each for their 40 years of neglectful lack of timely payment of benefits. No one covets the $1,000 per month paid to Medal of Honor recipients which the government bestows on them. A $1,000 per month for the 78- to 88-year-old Merchant Marine Veterans of World War II with an expected 3- to 5-year remaining lifetime is a bargain settlement for our government. Most of these aged Veterans subsist on Social Security payments and Medicare struggling to survive in these days of rampant inflation.
(4) Senator Craig states in his website that ``In effect, the bill seeks to grant a Veterans' benefit to individuals, not Veterans.'' The U.S. Congress passed the Fairness Act that recognized that World War II officially ended December 31, 1946 and those who gave service up to that date were entitled to be called Veterans.
We thank Senator Craig for stating that the members of the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II ``were rightly recognized as Veterans of Armed Forces in 1988 and the nation owes them its gratitude.''
I would like to refresh the recollection of the members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate by setting forth the words of the most honored leaders of World War II as to their regard of the men who sailed the ships of the Merchant Marine.
The Merchant Mariners of World War II have been our forgotten heroes.
``The men and women who build the ships, the men who sail them, are making it possible to transport fighting men and supplies wherever they are needed to defeat the enemy. The Army is deeply indebted to these men and women for their unceasing effort to do everything in their power to hasten the day of victory.''--General of the Army George C. Marshall, U.S. Army Chief of Staff.
``When final victory is ours there is no organization that will share its credit more deservedly than the Merchant Marine.''--General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe.
``The Merchant Marine ..... has repeatedly proved its right to be considered as an integral part of our fighting team.''-- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Theater.
``The men and ships of the Merchant Marine have participated in every landing operation by the United States Marine Corps from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima--and we know they will be at hand with supplies and equipment when American amphibious forces hit the beaches of Japan itself ..... We of the Marine Corps salute the men of the merchant fleet.''--General A.A. Vandergrift, Commander, U.S. Marine Corps.
``..... their contribution was just as important as that of the troops ..... During the Tripoli campaign I went down to the waterfront and personally thanked the men and skippers of the merchant ships for getting through with the stuff .....''-- Field Marshall Sir Bernard Montgomery.
``Because the Navy shares life and death, attack and victory, with the men of the United States Merchant Marine, we are fully aware of their contribution to the victory which must come.''--Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations.
``I wish to commend to you the valor of the merchant seamen participating with us in the liberation of the Philippines. With us they have shared the heaviest enemy fire. On these islands I have ordered them off their ships and into foxholes when their ships became untenable targets of attack. At our side they have suffered in bloodshed and in death ..... They have contributed tremendously to our success. I hold no branch in higher esteem than the Merchant Marine Service.''--General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.
``Our growing power on the seas is not alone a war measure. As a post-war policy, American ships will retain the commanding position in world trade which we are now approaching our war effort .....''--Vice Admiral E.S. Land USN (Ret.), War Shipping Administrator.