S.Amdt. 1610

SA 1610. Mr. SCHATZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities
of the Department of Defense and for military construction, to
prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of part II of subtitle D of title V, add the
following:

SEC. 540. RECEIPT BY MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WITH PRIMARY
MARINER DUTIES OF TRAINING THAT COMPLIES WITH
NATIONAL STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS.

(a) In General.--Section 2105 of title 10, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections
(c) and (d), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new
subsection (b):
``(b) Members With Primary Mariner Duties.--(1) For
purposes of the program under this section, the Secretary of
Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall each
ensure that members of the armed forces with primary mariner
duties receive training that complies with national standards
and requirements under the International Convention on
Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping
(STCW).
``(2) The following shall comply with basic training
standards under national requirements and the International
Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and
Watchkeeping:
``(A) The recruit training provided to each member of the
armed forces.
``(B) The training provided to each member of the armed
forces who is assigned to a vessel.
``(3) Under the program, each member of the armed forces
who is assigned to a vessel of at least 100 gross tons (GRT)
in a deck or engineering career field shall be provided the
following:
``(A) A designated path to applicable credentials under the
national requirements and the International Convention on
Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping
consistent with the responsibilities of the position to which
assigned.
``(B) The opportunity, at Government expense, to attend
credentialing programs that provide merchant mariner training
not offered by the armed forces.
``(4)(A) For purposes of the program, the material
specified in subparagraph (B) shall be submitted to the
National Maritime Center of the Coast Guard for assessment of
the compliance of such material with national requirements
and the International Convention on Standards of Training,
Certification, and Watchkeeping.
``(B) The material specified in this subparagraph is as
follows:
``(i) The course material of each unclassified course for
members of the armed forces in marine navigation, leadership,
and operation and maintenance.
``(ii) The unclassified qualifications for assignment for
deck or engineering positions on waterborne vessels.
``(C) The National Maritime Center shall conduct
assessments of material for purposes of this paragraph. Such
assessments shall evaluate the suitability of material for
the service at sea addressed by such material and without
regard to the military pay grade of the intended
beneficiaries of such material.
``(D) If material submitted to the National Maritime Center
pursuant to this paragraphs is determined not to comply as
described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary offering such
material to members of the armed forces shall submit to the
Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of
Representatives a report setting forth the actions to be
taken by such Secretary to bring such material into
compliance.''.
(b) Additional Requirements.--
(1) In general.--Each Secretary concerned shall establish,
for members of the Armed Forces under the jurisdiction of
such Secretary, procedures as follows:
(A) Procedures by which members identify qualification gaps
in training and proficiency assessments and complete training
or assessments approved by the Coast Guard in addressing such
gaps.
(B) Procedures by which members obtain service records of
any service at sea.
(C) Procedures by which members may submit service records
of service at sea and other military qualifications to the
National Maritime Center for evaluation and issuance of a
Merchant Marine Credential.
(D) Procedures by which members may obtain a medical
certificate for use in applications for Merchant Marine
Credentials.
(2) Use of military drug test results in merchant marine
credential applications.--The Secretaries of the military
departments and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall
jointly establish procedures by which the results of
appropriate drug tests administered to members of the Armed
Forces by the military departments may be used for purposes
of applications for Merchant Marine Credentials.
(3) Secretary concerned defined.--In this subsection, the
term ``Secretary concerned'' has the meaning given that term
in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code.
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