LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION urging the New York State Congressional deleg-
ation to pass the United States Cadet Nurse Corps Equity Act, H.R. 1522

WHEREAS, The United States Cadet Nurse Corps Equity Act H.R. 1522 would
provide that service of the members of the organization known as the
United States Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II constitute active
military service for purposes of laws administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs; and
WHEREAS, This legislation would provide a former member of the United
States Cadet Nurse Corps to be eligible for the same benefits as any
veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States; and
WHEREAS, United States Cadet Nurse Corps was a program established by
the federal government in 1943 with the primary purpose of ensuring that
the United States had enough nurses to care for the needs of its citi-
zens on both the home and war fronts; and
WHEREAS, This program contributed to a dramatic rise in the number of
nursing students, a greater public recognition of nurses, and changes in
the manner in which nurses were educated and trained; and
WHEREAS, With many women becoming employed in war-related factories,
and more and more doctors and nurses joining the war effort, the need to
recruit and train more nurses became more pressing by 1943; and
WHEREAS, The Nurse Training Act, known as The Bolton Act of 1943,
created the United States Cadet Nurse Corps which offered an innovative
solution to the pressing shortage of nurses at the start of World War
II; it offered tuition and other financial incentives and a quick way to
train a corps of nurses who would temporarily free graduate nurses for
military duty; and
WHEREAS, Between 1943 and 1945, about 15 percent were assigned to U.S.
Army and Navy hospitals, marine hospitals, other federal hospitals, and
Veterans Administrative centers and facilities to care for wounded and
returning soldiers; about 80 percent were assigned to non-federal hospi-
tals, but many still met the needs of returning veterans; now, there-
fore, be it
RESOLVED, That the New York State Congressional delegation be and
hereby is respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to pass the
United States Cadet Nurse Corps Equity Act, H.R. 1522; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to each member of the Congressional delegation from the State of
New York.