National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, the NDAA is one of the most important bills Congress passes annually. In fact, the past decade, the NDAA has been enacted every year. As such, the NDAA often becomes a grab bag for a variety of priorities. To protect the integrity of this process, I believe the NDAA should focus on strengthening the Department of Defense--its systems, its programs, and its personnel. This amendment would provide an unprecedented $25,000 one-time payment from the VA to World War II merchant marines. Therefore, we should not be discussing this proposal as part of the NDAA.

I thank Representative Green for his advocacy on behalf of the merchant marines, and I support the merchant marines. I am also grateful for the bravery of these men who served during World War II. They faced danger, and some made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.

That said, their service has been recognized. The GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 provided a pathway to VA care benefits for civilian groups, known as active duty designees, who supported the Armed Forces in World War II. The merchant marines are considered active duty designees and, as such, received veteran status and eligibility for VA benefits decades ago.

However, this amendment carves out a new benefit for merchant marines unlike anything Congress has authorized in the past, not even for our most highly decorated veterans.

I have heard that merchant marines feel they were shortchanged because they did not receive the GI Bill benefits. However, this bill creates an inequity among other veterans and active duty designees by providing a thank-you payment for merchant marines.

Ultimately, this amendment unfairly singles out one group of service above another. I also have questions about how many merchant marines would be covered under this amendment and why $25,000 was deemed as the appropriate amount.

Considering this bill under regular order before the House Committee of Veterans' Affairs would allow us to ask those questions. It makes more sense to have it done that way. This is why I cannot support this amendment's inclusion in the NDAA tonight.

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Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, as I mentioned, this amendment would provide an unprecedented $25,000 one-time payment for VA World War II merchant marines. It did not go through regular order. It did not go through the committee of jurisdiction. This amendment should be placed in the committee that has jurisdiction to justify so that if not only this group but other groups would be able and should be able to receive benefits, as this amendment requires, we would be able to do that.

Madam Speaker, I support our merchant marines. I always have. My 20 years in the State legislature, I did just that. As a matter of fact, at every veteran ceremony, I mentioned and brought up our merchant marines as our veterans.

That being said, this is not the way to handle this bill. I plead with the Members of this body not to accept this. I am adamantly opposed. I would love to take it up in the committee, not in this bill where it is not the proper place.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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