Merchant Marine Research Paper

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Pages: 11
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Context

The United States Merchant Marine, often referred to as the “Fourth Arm of Defense”, transports troops and supplies to the front lines for the United States Armed Forces. In their missions, they come into contact with enemy fire and many have died. Despite this, the United States government has refused to provide veterans benefits to the Merchant Marine. In the first part of my policy proposal, I argued that merchant mariners should receive veterans status and benefits.

Focus and Scope

Members of Congress often consider the viability and feasibility of potential legislation. However, the 115th Congress has only enacted 2 percent of introduced bills into law, the lowest in modern history. With 94 percent of bills dead on arrival, …show more content…
Over the last month, I have analyzed dozens of proposed legislation regarding the expansion of social, financial, and medical benefits for mariners from the 100th Congress to the 115th Congress. Although I have found over 250 bills in this time frame related to the Merchant Marine, only a handful relate to my particular issue including HR 1430, 413, 23, 5112, 1288, 2992, and 154. Of those bills, Congress has only codified a single one into public law. Finding these pieces of legislation has reshaped my policy proposal, provided key data points for my analysis, and has helped me create my research plan. The primary questions I asked in regards to these bills and with developing my policy options was: What allowed a Merchant Marine bill to pass? What common problems should my policy proposal avoid? How are these finding relevant to my research plan? And most importantly, what characteristics should my policy proposal …show more content…
This includes naming federal buildings and post offices, issuing postage stamps, commemorative coins and Congressional Gold Medals, creating new monuments and memorials, establishing commemorative commissions, observances and federal holidays, and requesting presidential proclamations. Outside of legislative options, members of Congress can take it upon themselves to send out certificates of recognition or give floor speeches on issues. Besides the issuing of a Congressional Gold Medal, one of the most popular options of commemoration remains the creation of new monuments and memorials. However, the Merchant Marine already has a federal monument in its honor, the Navy-Merchant Marine Memorial on Columbia Island in Washington DC. Furthermore, issuing the creation of a new monument often costs a lot of money. However, I have found a single exception to this fact. Although the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, colloquially known as the Wall, stands as a federal monument, Congress actually gave the responsibility of funding and maintaining the Wall to a nonprofit known as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. However, Congress and the Department of Defense can make rulings on name additions to the Wall through legislation. In fact, Congress and the
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