§6309 — Title 41 Public Contracts | U.S. Code

Summary

An employer must not refuse to hire someone just because they cannot show a birth certificate if the person gives an honorable discharge or a document replacing it from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Coast Guard. The employer may only refuse if the discharge paper clearly says the person might not have been a U.S. citizen when it was issued. This rule only applies to employers who make, store, or repair weapons, military supplies, parts, or related items, or who build, fix, or install buildings or facilities, and only when they are working under a federal government contract or under a contract that the President or the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary of the Department where the Coast Guard operates says is needed for national defense.

Title 41, §6309

Public Contracts — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)An employer described in subsection (b) may not deny employment, on account of failure to produce a birth certificate, to an individual who submits, in lieu of the birth certificate, an honorable discharge certificate (or certificate issued in lieu of an honorable discharge certificate) from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Coast Guard of the United States, unless the honorable discharge certificate shows on its face that the individual may have been an alien at the time of its issuance.

(b)An employer referred to in subsection (a) is an employer—

(1)engaged in—

(A)the production, maintenance, or storage of arms, armament, ammunition, implements of war, munitions, machinery, tools, clothing, food, fuel, or any articles or supplies, or parts or ingredients of any articles or supplies; or

(B)the construction, reconstruction, repair, or installation of a building, plant, structure, or facility; and

(2)engaged in the activity described in paragraph (1) under—

(A)a contract with the Federal Government; or

(B)any contract that the President, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating certifies to the employer to be necessary to the national defense.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 6309(a)41:49.June 22, 1942, ch. 432, § 1, 56 Stat. 375. 6309(b)41:50.June 22, 1942, ch. 432, § 2, 56 Stat. 376; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(16), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 154. In subsection (a), the words “Air Force” are added because of section 207(a) and (f) of the National Security Act of 1947 (ch. 343, 61 Stat. 502, 503). section 207(a) and (f) was repealed by section 53 of the Act of August 10, 1956 (ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 676). section 1 of the Act of August 10, 1956 (70A Stat. 1) enacted Title 10, “Armed Forces” and under subtitle D of title 10 the Department of the Air Force remained an independent administrative entity in the Department of Defense. Subsection (b)(2)(B) is set out as a separate provision to clarify that the certification applies only to contracts other than contracts with the Federal Government. If the certification were to be construed as applying to all contracts, then the words “under a contract with the United States or” in section 2 of the Act of June 22, 1942, would be rendered meaningless. In subsection (b)(2)(B), the words “Secretary of the Army” are substituted for “Secretary of War”, and the words “Secretary of the Air Force” are added, because of section 205(a) and 207(a) and (f) of the National Security Act of 1947 (ch. 343, 61 Stat. 501, 502, 503). section 205(a) and 207(a) and (f) were repealed by section 53 of the Act of August 10, 1956 (ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 676). section 1 of the Act of August 10, 1956 (70A Stat. 1) enacted Title 10, “Armed Forces” and under sections 3010 to 3013 and 8010 to 8013 the Departments of the Army and Air Force remained under the administrative supervision of the Secretaries of the Army and Air Force, respectively. The words “Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating” are substituted for “Secretary of Transportation” because of 6:468(b) and (h), 551(d), and 552(d), 14:1 and 3, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002 (H. Doc. No. 108–16, 108th Cong., 1st Sess. (6 U.S.C. 542 note)).

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2021—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–283 inserted “Space Force,” after “Marine Corps,”.

§6309 Honorable discharge certificate in lieu of birth certificate