COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS EDITH NOURSE ROGERS, Massachusetts, Chairman BERNARD W. (PAT) KEARNEY, New York E. ROSS ADAIR, Indiana WILLIAM L. SPRINGER, Illinois PETER FRELINGHUYSEN, JR., New Jersey ALBERT W. CRETELLA, Connecticut OLIN E. TEAGUE, Texas W, J. BRYAN DORN, South Carolina GEORGE S. LONG, Louisiana HARLAN HAGEN, California D. R. (BILLY) MATTHEWS, Florida A3 American Legion: INDEX Kennedy, Miles D., legislative director... Shapiro, Dr. H. D., senior medical consultant_. Stevens, Charles W., assistant director, national rehabilitation. Arthritis, presumption- Ayres, Hon. William H., statement of Bentley, Hon. Alvin M., statement of Bernstein, Howard. (See Veterans' Administration.) Birdsall, Guy H. (See Veterans' Administration.) Blatnik, Hon. John A., statement of Brooks, Henry C. (See Veterans' Administration.) Burial benefits__. Cash, Chester. (See DAV.) Chief Clerk (Karl Standish). Clark, Omer, W. (See DAV.) Cochrane, George W., letter of.. Compensation table, disability. Compensation, veterans receiving via rate of disability. Davis, Hon. James C., statement of__ Department of the Army, reports_- Department of State, reports.. Disabled American Veterans: Cash, Chester, assistant director of claims__ Downer, Adin M. (See VFW.) Dyess, Dr. W. B. (See Veterans' Administration.) Eastern Paralyzed Veterans' Association, statement of_ Elliott, Hon. Carl, statement of Fino, Hon. Paul A., letter of.. Gross, Hon. H. R., statement of. Hagen, Hon. Harlan, statement of__ Hagen, Hon. Harold C., statement of_ Hébert, Hon. F. Edward, statement of_ Hillings, Hon. Patrick J., statement of.. History of service-connected compensation_ Hosmer, Hon. Craig, statement of, and correspondence__ Inman, Edward K., editor, National Tribune, letter of Japanese and German nationals, payments to Kennedy, Miles D. (See American Legion.) Ketchum, Omar B. (See VFW.) Knapp, Donald C. (See Veterans' Administration.) Kraabel, T. O. (See American Legion.) Lane, Hon. Thomas J., statement of.. McGee, Morris G. (See Eastern Paralyzed Veterans' Association) – 4696-4699 4671 4684-4685 4699 III Natcher, Hon. William H. 4674-4675 4703-4705 4684-4685, 4719-4722, 4739, 4775 4679, 4701, 4755, 4758, 4762, 4811 4759-4762 4779-4780 4709-4710 Facing 4801 Overholser, Dr. Winfred, Superintendent, St. Elizabeths Hospital. Pension criteria_ Perkins, Hon. Carl D., statement of Presumptions, chart of Psychosis presumption 4722-4727, 4759-4762, 4775 Radwan, Hon. Edmund P. 4499, 4670, 4676, 4678-4680, 4684, 4685, 4687, 4689, Reed, Hon. Daniel A., statement of Saylor, Hon. John P. 4680-4684 4708-4709 4679, 4680, 4684, 4698, 4699, 4701, 4705-4708, 4726 4759-4763, 4766, 4767, 4769-4772, 4796, 4798-4806, 4808, 4811 Secrest, Hon. Robert T. 4679, 4680, 4696, 4707, 4710, 4739, 4743, 4744, 4748, 4750, 4753, 4755, 4808-4811 Shapiro, Dr. H. D. (See American Legion.) Stevens, Charles W. (See American Legion.) 4699-4701 Suder, Harry L. (See United Indian War Veterans, U. S. A.) 4676-4679 4717, 4751-4752, 4784-4785, 4806, 4812, 4813 and correspondence__ Ute Indian campaigns. Van Zandt, Hon. James E., statement of .. Veterans' Administration: 4691-4693 4689-4693 4706-4707 Bernstein, Howard, Director, Legislative Projects Service III. 4772-4811 4772-4811 4772-4811 4772-4811 4772-4811 4499-4548, 4550-4553, 4555-4578, 4580-4614, 4619 Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States: 4743-4755 Downer, Adin M., assistant director, national rehabilitation serv- Ketchum, Omar B., director, national rehabilitation service___. 4743-4755 4805 4805 4676-4679, 4699, 4729-4730, 4795-4796, 4810 COMPENSATION AND PENSION BILLS FOR VETERANS AND THEIR DEPENDENTS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1954 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMPENSATION AND PENSIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS, Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met at 10 a. m., pursuant to call, in room 356, Old House Office Building, Hon. Edmund P. Radwan, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding. Mr. RADWAN. The subcommittee will come to order. We are meeting this morning to open hearings on some 70 compensation and pension bills now pending before the Subcommittee on Compensation and Pensions. In the last session, this committee considered several compensation bills and recommended action to the full committee. At the same time, it was agreed that no action would be taken by the subcommittee on non-service-connected bills until the service-connected bills had been disposed of. It therefore seemed appropriate to proceed at this time with all the bills pending before the subcommittee which have thus far had no action. Without objection, I will insert at this point the bills, as well as the reports from the Veterans' Administration. (The bills and reports referred to are as follows:) WAAC BILLS [H. R. 56, 83d Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To define service as a member of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps as active military service under certain conditions Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That active service in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps on or after May 14, 1942, and before September 1, 1943, shall be deemed to be active military service: Provided, That there was subsequent active military service in the Women's Army Corps established pursuant to the provisions of the Act of July 1, 1943 (Public Law 110, Seventy-eighth Congress): Provided further, That compensation or pension payable under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration by virtue of provisions of this Act shall not be paid concurrently with payments of United States employees' compensation based upon such service. Where a person who is eligible for compensation or pension under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration is also eligible for the benefits of the Employees' Compensation Act, such person shall elect which benefit be received. [H. R. 1078, 83d Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide that persons who served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, under certain conditions, shall be deemed to have been in the active military service for the purposes of laws administered by the Veterans' Administration Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who served for a period of ninety days, or more, in any capacity in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps between May 14, 1942, and September 1, 1943, and who suffered from disease or injury due to that service and who was on September 1, 1943, eligible to receive benefits of the Employees' Compensation Act because of that service, shall be deemed to have been in the active military service for the purposes of laws administered by the Veterans' Administration: Provided, That in no event shall payments authorized by this Act be made for any period prior to the passage of this Act: And provided further, That compensation or pension authorized hereunder shall not be payable concurrent with payments of employees' compensation based upon the same service. Where a person is also eligible for the benefits of the Employees' Compensation Act, such person shall elect which benefit shall be received. [H. R. 8041, 83d Cong., 2d sess.] A BILL To provide benefits under the laws administered by the Veterans' Administration based upon service in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps under certain conditions Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who served for at least ninety days in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps who prior to the establishment of the Women's Army Corps was honorably discharged for disability rendering her physically unfit to perform further service in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps or in the Women's Army Corps shall be deemed to have been in the active military service during such period of service for the purposes of laws administered by the Veterans' Administration. No monetary benefits shall accrue by reason of this Act for any period prior to the date of enactment and compensation or pension shall not be payable by virtue of this Act concurrently with United States employees' compensation based on the same service. Any person eligible for compensation or pension by reason of this Act who is also eligible for compensation benefits provided by the United States Employees' Compensation Act of 1917, as amended, shall elect which benefit she shall receive A BILL To amend subparagraph (K) of paragraph II, part I, of Veterans Regulation Numbered 1 (a), as amended, to authorize increased compensation for blindness of one eye with 5/200 visual acuity or less Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subparagraph (K) of paragraph II, part I, of Veterans Regulation Numbered 1 (2), as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: 66 (K) If the disabled person, s the result of service-incurred disability, has suffered the anatomical loss or loss of use of one foot, or one hand, or blindness of one eye, with 5/200 visual acuity or less, the rate of pension provided in part I, paragraph II, subparagraphs (a) to (j), shall be increased by $47 per month; and in the event of anatomical loss or loss of use of one foot, or one hand, or blindness of one eye, with 5/200 visual acuity or less, in addition to the requirement for any of the rates specified in subparagraphs (1) to (n), inclusive, of part I, paragraph II, as herein amended, the rate of pension shall be increased by $47 per month for each such loss or loss of use, but in no event to exceed $400 per month.' SEC. 2. The rates herein specified shall be deemed to include the 20 per centum increase provided under section 2, Public Law 662, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved August 8, 1946. [H. R. 31, 83d Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To authorize restoration of a remarried widow to the rolls upon termination of her remarried status Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any former widow of any person who served in the active military or naval forces of the United States on or after April 21, 1898, who since the death of such person has remarried once, or more than once, and such subsequent or successive marriage has been dissolved either by the death or deaths of such husband or husbands, or by divorce without fault on the part of the wife, shall, while single, be entitled to benefits under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration in the same manner and to the same extent as if she were the unremarried widow of the person who served. |