HF 2664

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 05/15/2017 04:27pm

A resolution
memorializing Congress and the President of the United States to amend federal veterans
cemetery law to expand eligibility for burial in all federal and state veterans cemeteries
developed with federal funding to include nurses who served in the Cadet Nurse Corps
during World War II.

WHEREAS, in 1943, there was a critical shortage of nurses in the United States and the
military and civilian medical providers struggled to meet the demand for nurses; and

WHEREAS, Congress established the United States Cadet Nurse Corps on June 15, 1943,
to ensure that the United States had a sufficient number of nurses to care for Americans at home
and overseas while the nation fought in World War II; and

WHEREAS, the women who served honorably in uniform as members of the Cadet Nurse
Corps provided a critical war-time service to the nation and are widely considered to have prevented
the collapse of civilian nursing during World War II; and

WHEREAS, the surviving members of the Cadet Nurse Corps are nearing the end of their
natural lives; and

WHEREAS, the Minnesota State Veterans Cemeteries at Little Falls and Preston, and the
state veterans cemeteries of most other states, have been developed with federal subsidies and must
therefore comply with federal rules, such as rules governing eligibility for burial; NOW,
THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Governor and the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it
urges the President and the Congress of the United States, on behalf of a grateful nation, to amend
federal law and policy to allow nurses who served in the Cadet Nursing Corps during World War
II to have the final, eternal honor of perpetual interment within all federal and state veterans
cemeteries throughout the nation, including the Minnesota State Veterans Cemeteries at Little Falls
and Preston, Minnesota.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota shall
transmit copies of this memorial to the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the
Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the United States Secretary
of State, the presiding officers of both houses of the legislatures of each of the other states of the
union, and to Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.