Month: December 2018

Senator Osten Seeks Federal Recognition for Cadet Nurses and An Official Day for Them in Connecticut

State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) and four state representatives will introduce a bill in 2019 that asks the federal government to give “veteran” status to the nearly 125,000 cadet nurses who provided medical care to American civilians during World War II.

The bill also seeks to mark June 15 as “Cadet Nurse Corps Day” in Connecticut in order to recognize and honor the service of Connecticut’s cadet nurses.

The desire for federal recognition of the nurses as veterans—with all the federal benefits eligible to them—will be introduced as a non-binding legislative resolution. The bill is being introduced by Sen. Osten and state Representatives Kevin Ryan (D-Montville), John Hampton (D-Simsbury), Kathleen McCarty (R-Waterford) and Mike France (R-Ledyard).

“Two years ago I submitted similar legislation seeking federal recognition for our cadet nurses—who are really an unsung part of America’s great sacrifices during World War II—and it went nowhere. But there has been renewed interest recently on a national level in cadet nurses, and I’m hoping that Connecticut’s push can be part of this broader effort to give these women the recognition and the thanks that they deserve,” said Sen. Osten, who is a U.S. Army veteran. “These nurses are getting older. There’s not a lot of time left to finally do the right thing for them.”

Just this week, it was reported that U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., is co-sponsoring the “U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps Service Recognition Act,” a federal bill which asks Congress to recognize cadet nurses as veterans. A companion bill is expected to be introduced in the U.S. House by U.S. Reps. Cheri Buston, D-Illinois, and Greg Gianforte, R-Montana.

It is estimated that by the end of the war in 1945, about 125,000 cadet nurses were providing 80 percent of the nursing care in American hospitals while other nurses served overseas.

The United States Cadet Nurse Corps was established by the U.S. Congress on June 15, 1943, and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 1, 1943. Its purpose was to ensure the country had enough nurses to care for its citizens at home and abroad during World War II.

The nurse corps was a non-discriminatory program that allowed Native Americans, African Americans, and relocated Japanese Americans to participate. The program was open to women ages of 17 to 35, in good health, who had graduated from an accredited high school. Successful applicants were eligible for a government subsidy that paid for tuition, books, uniforms, and a stipend. In exchange, they were required to pledge to actively serve in essential civilian or federal government services for the duration of World War II.

The American Hospital Association credited the cadet student nurses with helping to prevent the collapse of civilian nursing during the war. The Corps operated from 1943 until 1948: 124,065 women graduated from participating nursing schools, including about 3,000 African Americans, 40 Native Americans, and 400 Japanese Americans. The federal government spent $160 million on the program.

Sen. Osten, Southeastern CT Delegation File Bill to Bypass Federal Interior Department

State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) and several members of the southeastern Connecticut legislative delegation have submitted a bipartisan bill for the 2019 legislative session that seeks to clarify the federal Department of the Interior’s role in approving minor changes to the existing Tribal-State Compact between the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes and the State of Connecticut – changes that are needed in order for the tribes to operate a new casino in East Windsor.

The legislation is being introduced to secure quicker approval of the agreement between the state and the tribes to jointly operate the new East Windsor casino, which is being built to compete with the new MGM-owned casino in Springfield, Mass.

Legislators say the federal government’s foot-dragging in approving a minor amendment to the Tribal-State Compact “is negatively impeding business development, job retention and growth.”

“Connecticut doesn’t need Interior Department approval to amend our compact with the tribes when there is no impact on the exclusivity provisions; they said so last year in writing. So let’s codify that in state law and get moving on the East Windsor casino, because every day we wait is another job lost and another dollar out the door for Connecticut,” Sen. Osten said.

The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Osten, Tim Larson (D-East Hartford), Steve Cassano (D-Manchester), Paul Formica (R-Niantic), Heather Somers (R- Groton) and state Representatives Kevin Ryan (D-Montville), Emmett Riley (D-Norwich), Christine Conley (D-Groton), Joe de la Cruz (D-Groton), Linda Orange (D-Colchester), Chris Soto (D-New London), Kathleen McCarty (R-Waterford), Holly Cheeseman (R-Niantic), Mike France (R-Ledyard), and Doug Dubitsky (R-Hampton).

The terms of original 1994 Tribal-State Compact were effective only “upon publication of notice of approval of this Compact by the Secretary of the Interior of the United States in the Federal Register,” according to federal law. That occurred.

But that 1994 Tribal-State Compact also stated that “the terms and conditions of this Compact shall not be modified, amended or otherwise altered except by written agreement of both parties” and with the afore-mentioned approval by the Interior Department.

In September 2017, U.S. Interior Department Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Michael S. Black wrote the tribes and Governor Malloy to say that Interior Department action on the amended Tribal-State Compact to operate the East Windsor casino “is unnecessary at this time” because “the tribes have entered an agreement with the state whereby they have agreed that the exclusivity provisions” of the original 1994 Tribal-State Compact “will not be breached by this arrangement.”

Then, in May, the Interior Department approved changes to the state’s compact with the Mohegans. But the Interior Department has not yet approved the changes to the Pequots’ compact: approval of both changes is necessary to begin operation of the East Windsor casino.

“I think there’s a fair amount of confusion and disarray in Washington, D.C. right now as it is,” Sen. Osten said. “We’ve already been told our decades-old compact with the tribes is not affected by the new East Windsor casino, so let’s do what we have to legislatively to get people working in Connecticut as soon as possible.”