Hearings

The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen of the committee, I take genuine pleasure in introducing Gen. Omar N. Bradley, United States Army, the new Administrator of Veterans' Affairs. General Bradley.

(Members of the committee greeted General Bradley.)

The CHAIRMAN. The purpose of this meeting is to hold hearings on two bills, the first being by our distinguished colleague, Mr. Hendricks, of Florida, H. R. 1653, for the relief of the soldiers who served on the Mexican border; the second being by our distinguished colleague, Mr. Ludlow, of Indiana, H. R. 2073, to extend to the veterans of the Mexican border service of 1916 and 1917 and their widows all the provisions, privileges, rights, and benefits of laws enacted for the benefit of veterans of the Spanish-American War.

For the purpose of the record, I will insert at this point in the record copies of the two bills and also the reports of the Veterans' Administration relative thereto.

(The matter referred to is as follows:)

[H. R. 1653, 79th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL For the relief of the soldiers who served on the Mexican border

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all Acts conferring compensation and hospitalization benefits upon veterans of World War I shall be extended to include those veterans who served on the Mexican border as members of the Regular Army or National Guard from June 1916 to April 1917, inclusive, and who received honorable discharges. Also to include the widows of such veterans provided such widows have not remarried.

BENEFITS FOR VETERANS OF MEXICAN BORDER SERVICE AND THEIR DEPENDENTS

VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Washington, D. C., March 12, 1945.

Hon. JOHN LESINSKI,
Chairman, Committee on Invalid Pensions,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. LESINSKI: Further reference is made to your letter dated January 23, 1945, requesting a report on H. R. 1653, Seventy-ninth Congress, a bill for the relief of the soldiers who served on the Mexican border, which reads as follows:

"That all Acts conferring compensation and hospitalization benefits upon veterans of World War I shall be extended to include those veterans who served on the Mexican border as members of the Regular Army or National Guard

from June 1916 to April 1917, inclusive, and who received honorable discharges Also to include the widows of such veterans provided such widows have not remarried."

This bill is similar to H. R. 3749, Seventy-seventh Congress and H. R. 5026, Seventy-sixth Congress. The only difference between this bill and the foregoing two bills is that this bill specifically includes the unremarried widows of veterans who served on the Mexican border.

Under existing law service in the National Guard is pensionable by the United States Government only when the National Guard is mustered into Federal service, and, therefore, if further consideration is to be given to the bill it is suggested that it should be amended specifically to include members of the National Guard only when mustered into the Federal service.

As to those veterans who served on the Mexican border in the Regular Army and as to those who served on the Mexican border under orders federalizing the National Guard units, and the unremarried widows of these two groups, adequate provision to pay wartime rates for service-connected disability is presently contained in Veterans Regulation 1 (a), pait II, paragraph I (c), as amended by Public Law 359, Seventy-seventh Congress, approved December 19, 1941. This provision reads in part as follows:

"Any veteran otherwise entitled to pension under the provisions of part II of this regulation or the general pension law shall be entitled to receive the rate of pension provided in part I of this regulation, if the disability resulted from an injury or disease received in line of duty (1) as a direct result of armed conflict, or (2) while engaged in extrahazardous service, including such service under conditions simulating war, * * *

"The dependents of any deceased veteran, whose death resulted from an injury or disease received in line of duty as described in this subparagraph, otherwise entitled to pension under the provisions of part II of this regulation or the general pension law, shall be entitled to pension at the rates provided for service-connected death compensation benefits for dependents of World War veterans by section 5 of Public Law Numbered 198, Seventy-sixth Congress, as amended (U. S. C., title 38, sec. 472b), or if barred by the insurance limitations thereof, the rates provided by paragraph IV of part I, Veterans Regulation Numbered 1 (a), as amended.”

Relative to those persons who served on the Mexican border as members of the unfederalized National Guard and their unremarried widows, it is emphasized that it has long been the established pension policy to grant monetary benefits only for diseases, injuries, or deaths which were incurred during active service in the Federal forces. The National Guard is primarily a State unit and remains such unless and until it is federalized. It is the view of the Veterans' Administration that pension benefits should be restricted to those in active military or naval service of the Federal Government and not extended to those whose service was performed under jurisdiction of the several States.

The bill, if enacted, would increase the class and number of ex-service personnel eligible for hospital care. At the present time members of the Regular Army or federalized National Guard who served on the Mexican border from June 1916 to April 1917, and who were discharged or released from active service under conditions other than dishonorable are entitled to hospital care if discharged from service for a disability incurred in line of duty, or if they are in receipt of pension for a service-incurred disability. In the course of its history, forces of the United States Government have engaged in numerous campaigns and expeditions and to confer the benefit of hospitalization upon a small group as proposed in this legislation would be discriminatory in excluding those persons who served in other engagements, campaigns, and expeditions.

From the data available to the Veterans' Administration, it is not possible to furnish an estimate of cost of the proposed legislation.

For the foregoing reasons the Veterans' Administration is unable to recommend favorable consideration of H. R. 1653, Seventy-ninth Congress, by your committee.

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 as the enactment of the proposed legislation would not be in accord with the program of the President.

Very truly yours,

FRANK T. HINES, Administrator.

[H. R. 2073, 79th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To extend to the veterans of the Mexican border service of 1916 and 1917 and their widows all the provisions, privileges, rights, and benefits of laws enacted for the benefit of veterans of the SpanishAmerican War

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all the provisions, privileges, rights, and enefits of veterans of the Spanish-American War are hereby extended to those eterans of the Mexican border service of 1916 and 1917, inclusive, who answered he calls of the President of May 9, 1916, and June 18, 1916, and were accepted or active Federal service, and/or to those who enlisted and were accepted for ictive service in the Federalized units of the National Guard pursuant to the bove calls of the President, and who served ninety days or more between May ), 1916, and April 6, 1917.

SEC. 2. Widows of such veterans to be entitled to all the rights and benefits of aws enacted for the benefit of widows of the Spanish-American War.

BENEFITS For VeteranS OF MEXICAN BORDER SERVICE AND THEIR DEPENDENTS VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Washington, D. C., May 14, 1945.

Hon. JOHN LESINSKI,

Chairman, Committee on Invalid Pensions,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. LESINSKI: Further reference is made to your letter dated February 9, 1945, requesting a report on H. R. 2073, Seventy-ninth Congress, a bill to extend to the veterans of the Mexican border service of 1916 and 1917 and their widows all the provisions, privileges, rights, and benefits of laws enacted for the benefit of veterans of the Spanish-American War, which reads as follows:

"That all the provisions, privileges, rights, and benefits of veterans of the Spanish-American War are hereby extended to those veterans of the Mexican border service of 1916 and 1917, inclusive, who answered the calls of the President of May 9, 1916, and June 18, 1916, and were accepted for active Federal service, and/or to those who enlisted and were accepted for active service in the federalized units of the National Guard pursuant to the above calls of the President, and who served ninety days or more between May 9, 1916, and April 6, 1917.

"SEC. 2. Widows of such veterans to be entitled to all the rights and benefits of laws enacted for the benefit of widows of the Spanish-American War."

The purpose of this bill is to confer upon those persons who answered the President's calls of May 9, 1916, and June 18, 1916, and were accepted for active Federal service on the Mexican border, including the federalized National Guard, and who served 90 days or more, existing benefits provided by law for veterans of the Spanish-American War, including the Boxer Rebellion and the Philippine Insurrection. The enactment of the bill would grant to these veterans benefits in excess of those extended by existing law to veterans of World War I. Its enactment would also make a distinction between benefits afforded members of the Regular Establishment and persons specified in the bill who served side by side on the Mexican border between May 9, 1916, and April 6, 1917.

It may not be inappropriate to refer briefly to benefits presently available to veterans of the Mexican border service. Active military service of federalized members of the National Guard and of the Regular Establishment during the period of Mexican border service in 1916 and 1917 entitles such persons to all benefits prescribed by law or Veterans Regulations for former members of the Regular Establishment, or as they are sometimes called, peacetime veterans.

These benefits include pensions for disability resulting from personal injury or disease contracted in line of duty or for aggravation of a preexisting injury or disease contracted or suffered in line of duty and not the result of the person's own willful misconduct. Pension is also payable on account of the death of such veterans from service-connected cause.

As to those veterans who served on the Mexican border in the Regular Army or in the federalized National Guard, adequate provisions to pay wartime rates for disability incurred in armed conflict or under circumstances constituting extra hazardous service and for death from such disability are presently contained in

« 이전 계속 »

도서