X CONTENTS Page House Document No. 804, Seventy-eighth Congress (veto message). Kemp, Maj. Elmer, United States Army, retired... Shaw, Brig. Gen. George C., United States Army, retired.. Stevens, Charles V., national adjutant, United Philippine War Ulio, Maj. Gen. J. A., The Adjutant General, War Department... Memorandum from Stevens, Charles V., national adjutant, United Philip- Speech of Lesinski, Hon. John, chairman, Committee on Invalid Pensions.... Chandler, Col. Robert E., Judge Advocate General's Department, Military Personnel Division, Army Service Forces - Floyd, William M., national commander, Regular Veterans' Associa- Hines, Brig. Gen. Frank T., Administrator of Veterans' Affairs.. Ketchum, Omar B., national legislative representative, Veterans of The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs on H. R. 128.. The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs on H. R. 4099, Seventy-eighth The Committee on Invalid Pensions, to accompany H. R. 3251.. PHILIPPINE UPRISINGS AND CAMPAIGNS AFTER JULY 4, 1902, AND PRIOR TO JANUARY 1, 1914 TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1945 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10:30 a. m., the Honorable Frank W. Boykin presiding. Mr. BOYKIN. We will come to order, gentlemen. The chairman could not be here. He asked me to pinch-hit for him. He is ill and had to return home to Detroit. He has prepared a statement, as he always does. I will read it. It is his, and not mine, but I am for it: The purpose of this meeting is to hold hearings on H. R. 128, a bill identical to H. R. 4099 of the last Congress, which was vetoed by the President on December 8, 1944. You have before you on the table a copy of the bill of this Congress, as well as the reports of the Secretary of War and the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, together with the veto message of the President and hearings on H. R. 4099 of the last Congress. We will not have General Hines with us this morning, but he will be with us when we resume hearings. If the committee members have no objection I would like the testimony we receive to come from only the officers of recognized veterans' organizations and I have previously asked them to present testimony in the form of rebuttals to the objections raised by the President and General Hines to this legislation. We have been holding hearings on this subject matter for several Congresses last past, and it is my opinion that it is very worthy legislation. Frankly, I do not agree with the objections set forth in the veto message and the reports of the Secretary of War and the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs. This legislation covers service between 1902 and 1913 involving actual hostilities in certain Provinces and on certain islands, which service was in reality a continuation of the Philippine Insurrection, for which the War Department issued a campaign medal, and as pointed out here on prior occasions, there was much fighting in the areas mentioned during those years. General Shaw has described in detail to this committee on several occasions the service of our troops out there. He served as a lieutenant under General Pershing, who was a captain at that time. For the purpose of the record, I will insert herein a copy of the bill, as well as the reports of the Secretary of War and the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs and the veto message of the President on H. R. 4099 of last Congress. We will hear as many of the witnesses as possible this morning. (The documents referred to are as follows:) [H. R. 128, 79th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To extend the period of the Philippine Insurrection so as to include active service with the United States military or naval forces engaged in hostilities in the Moro Province, including Mindanao, or in the islands of Samar and Leyte, between July 5, 1902, and December 31, 1913 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purposes of Public Law Numbered 2, Seventy-third Congress, March 20, 1933, and Veterans Regulations, as amended, or laws reenacted by Public Law Numbered 269, Seventy-fourth Congress, August 13, 1935, as amended, the Philippine Insurrection shall be deemed to have 1 ended July 4, 1902: Provided, That where there was active service with the United States military or naval forces engaged in the hostilities in the Moro Province, including Mindanao, or in the islands of Samar and Leyte, the date herein stated shall extend to December 31, 1913. PENSIONS PHILIPPINE UPRISINGS AND CAMPAIGNS FROM JULY 5, 1902, TO DECEMBER 31, 1913 Hon. JOHN LESINSKI, WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 3, 1945. Chairman, Committee on Invalid Pensions, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. LESINSKI: The War Department is opposed to the enactment of H. R. 128, Seventy-ninth Congress, a bill to extend the period of the Philippine Insurrection so as to include active service with the United States military or naval forces engaged in hostilities in the Moro Province, including Mindanao, or in the islands of Samar and Leyte, between July 5, 1902, and December 31, 1913. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to extend under certain circumstances the period of the Philippine Insurrection to December 31, 1913, so as to confer benefits based upon war service on persons who served in the United States military or naval forces engaged in hostilities in the Moro Province, including Nindanao and the islands of Samar and Leyte, between July 5, 1902, and December 31, 1913. If the proposed legislation were enacted such persons and their dependents would become entitled to service pensions and other benefits on a parity with persons who served in the Spanish-American War, Boxer Rebellion, or the Philippine Insurrection prior to July 5, 1902. By proclamation of the President dated July 4, 1902, the Philippine Insurrection was declared to be at an end except in territory occupied by the Noro tribes. By Act No. 787 (June 1, 1903) the Philippine Commission provided for the establishment of civil government in the oro Province, effective July 15, 1903. The Commission's designation of that date for the establishment of civil administration recognized and fixed July 15, 1903, as the formal ending date of the Philippine Insurrection in the Moro Province. The War Department has consistently held that military operations subsequent to July 15, 1903, were not in continuation of that insurrection in the Moro Province. Service pensions (service-connected disability not required) have been authorized only for veterans and the dependents of veterans who have rendered active military or naval service for a specified period in time of war. They have never been authorized on the basis of peacetime service. The military operations in the Moro Province after July 15, 1903, are analogous to military activities in the suppression of Indian uprisings in the past, during times of peace. It is the considered opinion of the War Department that the military operations subsequent to that date were not conducted in time of war. Awards of the Philippine Campaign Medal for service between 1902 and 1913 do not establish any recognition of such service as wartime service. Wartime service is not a necessary prerequisite for the award of campaign or service medals. Authorizations for such medals have scmetimes been specifically predicated upon service other than that in time of war. The proposed statutory extension of the Philippine Insurrection beyond July 15, 1903, would entail highly objectionable consequences in respect to veterans' benefits. It would materially deviate from the sound and longestablished policy of abiding by an official determination as to the ending dates of wars. The door would be open to interminable extensions of wartime status for active service. Such legislation would depart from wartime service as the basis for service pensions. This bill would afford special treatment for a particular group to the exclusion of other groups who may have served in military occupations, expeditions, or campaigns, during peacetime. Such other groups would have a precedent upon which to base demands for similar treatment. The War Department would have no responsibility in the administration of H. R. 128, if enacted, and it is unable to furnish an estimate of the cost of the proposed legislation. For the foregoing reasons, the War Department recommends that H. R. 128 be not favorably considered. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, Hon. JOHN LESINSKI, HENRY L. STIMSON, Secretary of War. VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Washington, D. C., January 18, 1945. Chairman, Committee on Invalid Pensions, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. LESINSKI: Futher reference is made to your letter dated January 6, 1945, requesting a report on H. R. 128, Seventy-ninth Congress, a bill to extend the period of the Philippine Insurrection so as to include active service with the United States military or naval forces engaged in hostilities in the Moro Province, including Mindanao, or in the islands of Samar and Leyte, between July 5, 1902, and December 31, 1913. This bill is identical with H. R. 4099, Seventy-eighth Congress, on which the Veterans' Administration submitted an adverse report to your committee under date of March 8, 1944. This report was printed by your committee. H. R. 4099 was passed by both Houses of Congress and was disapproved by the President on December 8, 1944 (message from the President of the United States, H. Doc. No. 804). There have been no changes in facts or circumstances which would warrant any material change in the report forwarded to your committee under date of March 8, 1944, except that the bill was amended to conform with the amendment proposed on page 2 of the printed report, and the rate of pension payable under part III of Veterans Regulation No. Î (a), as amended, as referred to on page 4 of the printed report, was increased to $50 per month, and $60 per month under certain conditions, under the provisions of Public Law 313, Seventy-eighth Congress, approved May 27, 1944. In view of the foregoing, the Veterans' Administration is unable to recommend favorable consideration of the bill. Advice has been received from the Bureau of the Budget that there would be no objection by that office to the submission of this report to your committee. Very truly yours, FRANK T. HINES, Administrator. The report of the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, dated March 8, 1944, in connection with H. R. 4099, Seventy-eighth Congress, was as follows: Hon. JOHN LESINSKI, VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Chairman, Committee on Invalid Pensions, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. LESINSKI: Further reference is made to your letter dated February 1, 1944, requesting a report on H. R. 4099, Seventy-eighth Congress, a bill to extend the period of the Philippine Insurrection so as to include active service with the United States military or naval forces engaged in hostilities in the Moro Province, including Mindanao, or in the islands of Samar and Leyte, between July 5, 1902, and December 31, 1913, which reads as follows: "That for the purposes of Public Law Numbered 2, Seventy-third Congress, March 20, 1933, and Veterans Regulations, as amended, or laws reenacted by Public Law Numbered 269, Seventy-fourth Congress, August 13, 1935, as amended, the Philippine Insurrection shall be deemed to have extended from August 13, 1898, to July 4, 1902, both dates inclusive: Provided, That where there was active service with the United States military or naval forces engaged in the hostilities in the Moro Province, including Mindanao, or in the islands of Samar and Leyte, the dates herein stated shall extend to December 31, 1913." |