General Assembly Senate Joint Resolution No. 25
January Session, 2017 LCO No. 4527
*04527SJ00025VA_*
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
General Assembly
Senate Joint
Resolution No. 25
January Session, 2017
LCO No. 4527
*04527SJ00025VA_*
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING CONGRESS TO RECOGNIZE WOMEN IN THE CADET NURSE CORPS DURING WORLD WAR II AS VETERANS.
Resolved by this Assembly:
WHEREAS, after the United States entered World War II, the demand for nurses increased dramatically, outstripping supply and creating a nursing shortage; and
WHEREAS, in order to alleviate this critical shortage, a plan was conceived to accelerate the training of nursing students and allow such nursing students to serve during such training; and
WHEREAS, on March 29, 1943, Congresswoman Frances P. Bolton of Ohio introduced a bill in the United States House of Representatives to establish a special government program to facilitate the training of nurses, which bill was passed unanimously by both chambers of Congress, was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 15, 1943, and became effective as Public Law 74 on July 1, 1943; and
WHEREAS, the Bolton Act of 1943 created the Cadet Nurse Corps to be administered by the United States Public Health Service and supervised by the Division of Nurse Education, which division reported to the Surgeon General of the United States; and
WHEREAS, over one thousand nursing schools throughout the United States joined the Cadet Nurse program during its existence, facilitating the training of over 125,000 nurses during World War II and greatly increasing the wartime supply of nurses and care for American citizens on both the home and war fronts; and
WHEREAS, by replacing graduate nurses who had already entered into active duty in the armed forces of the United States, the Cadet Nurse Corps prevented the collapse of nursing care in hospitals throughout the United States and service members returned from war to a strong health care system and received necessary and quality care from Cadet Nurses; and
WHEREAS, having demonstrated their skill, devotion and patriotism, members of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps deserve the utmost admiration and appreciation of the nation; and
WHEREAS, a former member of the Cadet Nurse Corps is not included in the United States government's definition of what constitutes a "veteran", and accordingly such former member is not eligible to receive certain veterans' benefits administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies; and
WHEREAS, recognizing former members of the Cadet Nurse Corps as veterans would be an appropriate and warranted gesture of commendation and gratitude to women whose service and dedication to their communities and to their nation deserves such a gesture.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Connecticut General Assembly hereby petitions the United States Congress to amend federal law to recognize as veterans those women who served honorably during World War II as members of the Cadet Nurse Corps.
Co-Sponsors: SEN. OSTEN, 19th Dist.
Co-Sponsors:
SEN. OSTEN, 19th Dist.
S.J. 25