without qualification. For my part, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the distinguished committee, I speak for teeming thousands of my buddies who believe your most courageous chairman, Congressman Olin E. Teague, himself a decorated veteran of World War II, who was disabled on the field of battle, to be fair and honest and one who has the interest of all veterans at heart.

We believe, also, that the ranking member of your committee, Congressman Bryan Dorn, a great and dedicated American from my own native State of South Carolina, a veteran, too, in his own right, to be and is ever mindful and most considerate of our interest. Also you, Chairman Kornegay, and all members of your full committee, I feel will lend sympathetic ears to our earnest pleas. We want to restore prestige to the veterans of World War I. We frankly believe it to be, Mr. Chairman, the world's most exclusive club. While there are those among us, who by right of heritage and otherwise, belong to societies and clubs, let it be for the record, that unless one served his country in World War I, he cannot join nor belong to our organization. Figures made available by the VA indicate that there are 40,000 single veterans living on less than $600 a year. There are 27,000 more who have less than $1,200 a year. There are 90,000 married veterans who have less than $1,000 income and 117,000 who have less than $2,000 income. The situation with our widows, Mr. Chairman, is even more desperate. There are 11,000 widows who have less than $600 a year and are receiving $60 a month as a non-service-connected pension. Another 55,000 have less than $1,200 a year, and 600 widows with 1 child are living on less than $1,000 a year.

So it is, Mr. Chairman, we respectfully submit, and here we realize that there are more than 150 bills before you and also that each major veterans' organization has a different proposition that your committee must make a determination as to type of bill it should report, I believe, in my humble judgment, you should, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, carefully consider the following precepts: First, pass a pension bill; our bill, H.R. 2332, if possible. Second, give consideration to our sick buddies, i.e., more beds for veterans of World War I, because at our age you gentlemen fully realize that each day takes its tolls among our members. We need more and better hospitalization. And while there are some among us who have never been in a veterans' hospital as a patient; there are thousands and thousands of our buddies who have nowhere else to go. We plead for these comrades, Mr. Chairman.

Third, make several technical corrections in Public Law 86-211. (A) Eliminate counting the spouses' earned income,

(B) Eliminate the counting of profit on sale of a home,

(C) Eliminate from counting as income the cost of last illness and burial of a wife or child and certain medical expenses,

(D) Eliminate the 10-percent requirement in physical examination at age 65,

(E) Permit election and reelection by the old law cases to the new law.

I believe this would eliminate some of the apprehensions certain individuals feel about election to the new law. I think only a few cases would ever find it necessary to switch back once the election is made.

In the final analysis, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of this committee, you must make the decision as to how costly a bill you think can get through the Congress. You gentlemen are the representatives of the American people, and we are the people. We should not forget that you represent us; we have no votes in the Congress; we come to you as individuals. We come to you as an organization we hope is worthy of your trust and confidence. We come to you with clean hands for the most part but with hearts and hands bleeding for help for those of our less fortunate comrades.

Again, Mr. Chairman, I am one veteran who desires above all else to help all of my comrades of World War I. To this end, we would earnestly request and prefer some reasonable action with a chance of ultimate success rather than big demands which so far have produced nothing for our buddies.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, for the honor of allowing me to appear before you. Mr. KORNEGAY. Thank you very much.

Mr. Fino?

Mr. FINO. No questions.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Mr. Gerald, I want to thank you for coming here and giving us this statement and the benefit of what I am sure has been a long life of dedication to our fellow veterans and a great knowledge of their problems.

I want to say to you, sir, that when we opened these hearings I made the statement that we were here to get the facts and correct inequities, to do everything we could to bring about an equitable and good pension program.

Now, you pointed out some of the difficulties which the committee has and that there are now 156 pension bills pending. Each major veterans' organization, as you say, has a different approach or different proposition to present.

We are also limited by the amount of money that we can get to apply to the pension program, not because of lack of desire or opposition in the committee or in the Congress, but it is no secret about the trouble one has in getting money from the Bureau of the Budget. I want to say to you and assure you that this committee means business and this committee is hard at its work in trying to help those that you have so graphically pointed out as the needy veterans of this country. Certainly there is no feeling on the part of this committee or any wish to slight the World War I veterans.

I might say my father is a World War I veteran. He was at St. Mihiel and I have heard, since I was old enough to hear, of the troubles and the tribulations and the difficulties and the hardships that were faced and confronted by the veterans of World War I.

I want to say also for my absent colleague, Subcommittee Chairman Dorn, of South Carolina, who as you know, is a veteran of World War II and had, I think, six brothers also to serve in that war, that he is a dedicated American citizen, and I am certain he wants to do everything he can to bring this need to an end.

Thank you so much for coming. We are grateful to you.

Mr. GERALD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You are very kind.
Mr. KORNEGAY. Mrs. Mary Shephard.

Mrs. Shephard, we are delighted to have you with us this morning, and we welcome your testimony.

We would like to ask you at this point to introduce the lady or any other person you have.

STATEMENT OF MRS. MARY SHEPHARD, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, WIDOWS OF WORLD WAR I, INC.

Mrs. SHEPHARD. Thank you.

I have with me Mrs. Bernice Sparks, past national president of our organization.

I have with me our national security chairman, Mrs. Ann Ross, and our historian, Mrs. Pauline Egelsten.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Thank you.

It is a pleasure to have all of you here before the committee this morning.

Mrs. SHEPHARD. Thank you.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Mrs. Shephard, as the national president of the widows of World War I, we welcome you to this committee. You may proceed with your statement.

Mrs. SHEPHARD. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee. I am Mrs. Mary M. Shephard, representing the Widows of World War I, Inc., as their national president. We are an independent organization, and we are not an auxiliary to any other organization.

It is an honor to appear before you in behalf of the widows of veterans of the First World War.

My purpose here today is to speak in the defense of those widows who need a larger pension, and an increase in the amount of limitations.

Mr. Chairman, most of our widows are in the declining years of life. They have been deprived of the support of the husband because of death. We feel that the ill effects of military service, and the conditions under which they lived during the war, shortened their lives. Yet, they are not classed as service connected.

Many are in need of hospitalization but, due to lack of funds, this cannot be had. They need better clothing, and, in many cases, better places to live, rather than a dismal area where perhaps it is not safe for them to live alone.

Before I became national president of our organization, I held the office of an area chairman. It was my duty to contact widows to set up new chapters. There was a group of ladies who invited me to come their community for such purpose. I went, not knowing much about the place, but later found that it was about the poorest county in the State.

The ladies I met were in dire need. They could only buy their winter coal by the basket, the price of which was 35 cents. The ground was very poor, and they would not buy fertilizer, so there was very little garden to be raised. In fact, the hills and hollows were the kind classed as only good for sassafras and rabbits. Their homes were clean, but very poor. Their outside sanitary conditions were so deplorable that three families were required to use the same outbuilding.

One lady who had a one-room home was caring for an aged welfare recipient who had no people. This was her only source of income. Factories were all closed except a shirtwaist factory, where only the young people of the town were employed.

These ladies had existed so long undernourished, and no medical care, that they had an appearance of being much older than they were really. They are widows of veterans of World War I, living on a pension of $60 a month.

With the increasing cost of living, even a small increase to $75 a month would be of great help to them. They do not worry about limitations, for they have no income whatever.

Gentlemen, this town is within 500 miles of Washington, and I am sure there are many more places of the same kind.

We do have among us a few widows who are employed and can make a salary to support their own homes, but they are definitely in the minority, and this group is growing less by the day. We do not include them in pension category.

We also have members who are service connected. Our bill, of course, was not considered for them. I am sure they will appreciate bill H.R. 5250.

The widows along with widows whose income is such that they never will receive pension, still remain in our organization for the great need of friendship.

But with our more privileged widows, we believe a raise in pensions would be much better than to have them placed on public welfare, where they have to sign a pauper's oath.

I also believe our widows should be given consideration, and that they should not have to accept charity. It was their husbands who helped preserve this country so that future generations could live in

peace.

Therefore, we have presented you with this bill, H.R. 6437, requesting $75 a month with $2,400 limitation without dependents, and $3,600 with dependents.

Mr. Chairman, I wish to thank you and your committee as well as your committee staff, for the wonderful consideration you have shown us in drafting and introducing our bill. It has been a pleasure granted us for this hearing today, and privilege to be able to present the reasons for our bill in your presence.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Thank you so much, Mrs. Shephard.

Mr. Fino?

Mr. FINO. Mrs. Shephard, it is indeed a pleasure to see you here this morning.

Mrs. SHEPHARD. Thank you.

Mr. FINO. I want to compliment you on your wonderful presentation here.

If you know, can you tell this committee what percentage of the World War I widows receive relief to supplement their pensions? Do you know?

Mrs. SHEPHARD. No; I really don't have that. We just present our bill on need because it is a different presentation from that which the veterans present.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Your bill, as I understand it, Mrs. Shephard, would provide $75 per month for the widows of World War I veterans? Mrs. SHEPHARD. Yes.

Mr. KORNEGAY. With the following limitations; $3,600 if they have dependents, one child or more?

Mrs. SHEPHARD. That is right.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Or any other person who would fall in the category of a dependent, and $2,400 if they have no dependents?

Mrs. SHEPHARD. Yes.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Does your bill provide an increased allotment for the widow with dependents?

In other words, is there any consideration given to the widow with more than one dependent, and I understand there are 12 World War I widows who have nine dependent children, 12 of these widows in this country. Now, is there any provision in your bill, and what is your suggestion with reference to that proposition? Let me ask you that question.

Mrs. SHEPHARD. Well, it was just brought up for the widows, but, of course, we consider the dependents, too. That would have to go along with the veterans bill.

Mr. KORNEGAY. In other words, you would have no objection to including some allotment or stipend for the dependents of the widows, for the children of the widows?

Mrs. SHEPHARD. Definitely.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Of course, by raising the income limits, that would help certain widows.

Mrs. SHEPHARD. That is right.

Mr. KORNEGAY. But as I said there are 12 World War I widows in the country today who have 9 children. Their income might be nothing or it might be extremely low, so they would need more help, it would appear. Would your organization object to an increased allotment or some sort of provision being made to increase the amount of money for those widows by taking into consideration the number of dependents?

Mrs. SHEPHARD. We just went along with the idea that there was so much granted to each dependent child.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Well, that is true under existing law.

Mrs. SHEPHARD. That is what we had in mind when we brought this up.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Well, I want to thank you very much for coming and testifying on behalf of the Widows of World War I, Inc., and say that certainly we are very much concerned in the area.

I am sure that in any legislation that we draft of pension payments to widows, and as I have said we have 153 pension bills, before the subcommittee now, we are certainly not going to leave the widows

out.

Mrs. SHEPHARD. Thank you so much.

Mr. KORNEGAY. Thank you, ma'am.

The subcommittee will stand adjourned until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.

(Whereupon, at 12 noon, the subcommittee recessed, to reconvene at 10 a.m., Wednesday, May 27, 1964.)