Sponsors (4)
The bill grants symbolic and burial recognition to Cadet Nurse Corps members (and a path to formal discharge) while explicitly denying broader VA benefits and creating modest administrative costs.
Cadet Nurse Corps members and their families will gain eligibility for VA burial benefits and government-furnished headstones/markers, ensuring official recognition and memorialization.
Individuals who lacked a formal discharge can obtain an honorable discharge within one year, formalizing veteran status for those individuals and simplifying access to the burial-related benefits authorized by the bill.
Cadet Nurse Corps members will be eligible for a Department of Defense service medal or plaque, providing tangible symbolic recognition of their service.
Cadet Nurse Corps members and their families are explicitly excluded from other VA benefits tied to veteran status — such as VA healthcare and many VA programs — limiting substantive support beyond burial recognition.
DoD and VA will incur administrative work and modest costs to verify service, issue discharges, and update records, creating processing burdens for federal employees and taxpayers.
Some families may still be ineligible for burial at Arlington or other interment benefits because the bill excludes benefits related solely to Arlington interment, limiting honors for a subset of eligible individuals.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Treats service in the United States Cadet Nurse Corps from July 1, 1943 through December 31, 1948 as active duty for certain veterans' benefits and requires the Department of Defense to issue honorable discharges, when appropriate, to those former Cadet Nurse Corps members. It limits entitlement from that recognition to specific benefits (including headstones and markers) under chapters 23 and 24 of title 38 and allows the Secretary of Defense to create a medal, plaque, or similar commendation.
Introduced December 3, 2025 by Elizabeth Warren · Last progress December 3, 2025