"(1) date of letter and effective date of approval of courses; "(2) proper address and name of each educational institution or training establishment; “(3) authority for approval and conditions of approval, referring specifically to the approved catalog or bulletin published by the educational institution; "(4) name of each course approved ; "(5) where applicable, enrollment limitations such as maximum numbers authorized and student-teacher ratio; "(6) signature of responsible official of State approving agency; and "(7) such other fair and reasonable provisions as are considered neces sary by the appropriate State approving agency. " 1956. Disapproval of courses and discontinuance of allowances "(a) Any course approved for the purposes of this chapter which fails to meet any of the requirements of this chapter shall be immediately disapproved by the appropriate State approving agency. An educational institution or training establishment which has its courses disapproved by a State approving agency will be notified of such disapproval by a certified or registered letter of notification and a return receipt secured. "(b) The Administrator may discontinue the education and training allowance of any eligible veteran if he finds that the course of education or training in which such veteran is enrolled fails to meet any of the requirements of this chapter or if he finds that the educational institution or training establishment offering such course has violated any provisions of this chapter or fails to meet any of its requirements. "(c) Each State approving agency shall notify the Administrator of each course which it has disapproved under this section. "SUBCHAPTER VII-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS " 1961. Authority and duties of Administrator "Payments under this chapter shall be subject to audit and review by the General Accounting Office as provided by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 and the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950. “§ 1962. Educational and vocational counseling "The Administrator may arrange for educational and vocational counseling to persons eligible for education and training under this chapter. At such intervals as he deems necessary, he shall make available information respecting the need for general education and for trained personnel in the various crafts, trades, and profesions. Facilities of other Federal agencies collecting such information shall be utilized to the extent he deems practicable. "§ 1963. Control by agencies of United States "No department, agency, or officer of the United States, in carrying out this chapter, shall exercise any supervision or control, whatsoever, over any State approving agency, State educational agency, or State apprenticeship agency, or any educational institution or training establishment. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prevent any department, agency, or officer of the United States from exercising any supervision or control which such department, agency, or officer is authorized by law to exercise over any Federal educational institution or training establishment, or to prevent the furnishing of education or training under this chapter in any institution or establishment over which supervision or control is exercised by such other department, agency, or officer under authority of existing provisions of law. "§ 1964. Conflicting interests "(a) Every officer or employee of the Veterans' Administration, or of the Office of Education, who has, while such an officer or employee, owned any interest in, or received any wages, salary, dividends, profits, gratuities, or services from, any educational institution operated for profit in which an eligible veteran was pursuing a course of education or training under this chapter shall be immediately dismissed from his office or employment. "(b) If the Administrator finds that any person who is an officer or employee of a State approving agency has, while he was such an officer or employee, owned any interest in, or received any wages, salary, dividends, profits, gratui ties, or services from, an educational institution operated for profit in which an eligible veteran was pursuing a course of education or training under this chapter, he shall discontinue making payments under section 1945 of this title to such State approving agency unless such agency shall, without delay, take such steps as may be necessary to terminate the employment of such person and such payments shall not be resumed while such person is an officer or employee of the State approving agency, or State Department of Veterans Affairs or State Department of Education. "(c) A State approving agency shall not approve any course offered by an educational institution operated for profit and, if any such course has been approved, shall disapprove each such course, if it finds that any officer or employee of the Veterans' Administration, the Office of Education, or the State approving agency owns an interest in, or receives any wages, salary, dividends, profits, gratuities, or services from, such institution. "(d) The Administrator may, after reasonable notice and public hearings, waive in writing the application of this section in the case of any officer or employee of the Veterans' Administration, of the Office of Education, or of a State approving agency, if he finds that no detriment will result to the United States or to eligible veterans by reason of such interest or connection of such officer or employee. "§ 1965. Reports by institutions "(a) Educational institutions and training establishments shall, without delay, report to the Administrator in the form prescribed by him, the enrollment, interruption, and termination of the education or training of each eligible veteran enrolled therein under this chapter. "(b) The Administrator shall pay to each educational institution which is re quired to submit reports and certifications to the Administrator under this chapter, an allowance at the rate of $1 per month for each eligible veteran enrolled in and attending such institution under the provisions of this chapter to assist the educational institution in defraying the expense of preparing and submitting such reports and certifications. Such allowances shall be paid in such manner and at such times as may be prescribed by the Administrator, except that if any institution fails to submit reports or certifications to the Administrator as required by this chapter, no allowance shall be paid to such institution for the month or months during which such reports or certifications were not submitted as required by the Administrator. "§ 1966. Overpayments to veterans "Whenever the Administrator finds that an overpayment has been made to a veteran as the result of (1) the willful or negligent failure of the educational institution or training establishment to report, as required by this chapter and applicable regulations, to the Veterans' Administration excessive absences from a course, or discontinuance or interruption of a course by the veteran or (2) false certification by the educational institution or training establishment, the amount of such overpayment shall constitute a liability of such institution or establishment, and may be recovered in the same manner as any other debt due the United States. Any amount so collected shall be reimbursed if the overpayment is recovered from the veteran. This section shall not preclude the imposition of any civil or criminal liability under this or any other law. "§ 1967. Examination of records "The records and accounts of educational institutions and training establishments pertaining to eligible veterans who received education or training under this chapter shall be available for examination by duly authorized representatives of the Government. "§ 1968. False or misleading statements "The Administrator shall not make any payments under this chapter to any person found by him to have willfully submitted any false or misleading claims. In each case where the Administrator finds that an educational institution or training establishment has willfully submitted a false or misleading claim, or where a veteran, with the complicity of an educational institution or training establishment, has submitted such a claim, he shall make a complete report of the facts of the case to the appropriate State approving agency and where deemed advisable to the Attorney General of the United States for appropriate action. "§ 1969. Information furnished by Federal Trade Commission "The Federal Trade Commission shall keep all State approving agencies advised of any information coming to its attention which would be of assistance to such agencies in carrying out their duties under this chapter. " 1970. Effective date and retroactive allowances "The provisions of this chapter shall take effect as of September 1, 1959. In the event this chapter is enacted subsequent to such date, the Administrator shall prescribe regulations for making retroactive payments of education and training allowances, upon application therefor, to eligible veterans for education or training pursued by them on or after September 1, 1959, and prior to the date of the enactment of this chapter." (b) The table of contents at the beginning of such title is amended by inserting immediately after "39. Automobiles for Disabled Veterans. the following: 1901" "40. Education of Veterans Who Serve Between January 31, 1955, and July 1, 1963_ 1908". (c) The table of chapters at the beginning of part III of such title is amended by inserting immediately after "39. Automobiles for Disabled Veterans__ 1901" the following: "40. Education of Veterans Who Served Between January 31, 1955, and July 1, 1963___ (d) Such title is further amended 1908". (1) by inserting in section 102(a) (2) immediately after "chapter 33" the following: "or 40", and by striking out "chapters 19 and 33" in section 102(b), and inserting in lieu thereof "chapters 19, 33, and 40"; (2) by striking out in section 111 (a) "33 or 35", and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "33, 35, or 40"; (3) by inserting in section 211(a) after "1761," the following: "1961,"; (4) by striking out in section 1662(b) "chapters 31 and 35" and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "chapters 31, 35, and 40"; (5) by striking out in section 1711(b) "chapter 31 or 33", and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "chapter 31, 33, or 40"; (6) by striking out in section 1734(a) "chapter 31 or 33" and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "chapter 31, 33, or 40"; (7) by striking out in section 3013 “and 35” and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "35, and 40"; (8) by inserting after "chapter 35" in section 1611(a)(2) the following: "or education or training under chapter 40"; and (9) by inserting in section 1634 immediately before the comma following "therein" the following: "under this chapter or chapter 40”. (e) Public Law 85-857 (72 Stat. 1264) is amended by adding at the end of section 12(a) the following: "The period of education or training to which a veteran is entitled under part VIII, Veterans Regulation Numbered 1(a) as saved from repeal by this subsection together with education or training received under chapter 33 or 40 of title 38 of the United States Code shall not exceed forty-eight months in the aggregate." SEC. 3. (a) Section 1502(a) of title 38 of the United States Code is amended to read as follows: "(a) Every veteran who is in need of vocational rehabilitation on account of a service-connected disability which is, or but for the receipt of retirement pay would be, compensable under chapter 11 of this title shall be furnished such Vocational rehabilitation as may be prescribed by the Administrator, if such disability or "(1) arose out of service during World War II or the Korean conflict; "(2) arose out of service either between July 25, 1947, and June 27, 1950, or subsequent to January 31, 1955, and is rated for compensation purposes as 30 per centum or more, or if less than 30 per centum is clearly shown to have caused a pronounced employment handicap." (b) The first sentence of paragraph (2) of section 1502 (c) of such title is amended to read as follows: "(2) Vocational rehabilitation may not be afforded a veteran on account of post-World War II service after nine years following his discharge or release; except vocational rehabilitation may be afforded to any person until "(A) August 20, 1963, if such person was discharged or released before August 20, 1954; or "(B) nine years after the date of the enactment of the Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1959 if such person is eligible for vocational rehabilitation by reason of a disability arising from service prior to such enactment either between July 25, 1947, and June 27, 1950, or subsequent to January 31, 1955." (c) Paragraph (3) of section 1502 of such title is amended to read as follows: "(3) Vocational rehabilitation may not be afforded outside of a State to a veteran on account of service after July 25, 1947, if the veteran, at the time of such service, was not a citizen of the United States." (d) Section 1502 (d) of such title is repealed. SEC. 4. (a) Chapter 37 of title 38 of the United States Code is amended by inserting immediately after section 1817 the following new section: "§ 1818. Veterans who serve between January 31, 1955, and July 1, 1963 "(a) Each veteran who served on active duty at any time between January 31, 1955, and July 1, 1963, shall be eligible for the benefits of this chapter (except sections 1813 and 1815, and business loans under section 1814, of this title), subject to the provisions of this section, if his total service was for a period of more than one hundred and eighty days, or if he was discharged or released from a period of active duty, any part of which occurred between January 31, 1955, and July 1, 1963, for a service-connected disability. "(b) No veteran shall be eligible for benefits under this section so long as he is eligible under this chapter for any unused benefits derived from service during World War II or the Korean conflict. Any veteran who is eligible for benefits under this section and who has obtained benefits under this chapter by reason of service during World War II or the Korean conflict shall have his benefits under this section reduced by the amount of any benefits previously obtained under this chapter. Benefits shall not be afforded under this section to any individual on account of service as a commissioned officer of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, or the Regular or Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service. "(c) Loans may be guaranteed under this section if made before July 1, 1973. If a loan report or application for loan guaranty is received by the Administrator before July 1, 1973, an additional period not to exceed one year will be allowed for disbursement of the loan and the issuance of evidence of guaranty. Direct loans authorized by this section shall be subject to the provisions of section 1811(h) of this title. "(d) A fee shall be collected from each veteran obtaining a loan guaranteed or made under this section, and no loan shall be guaranteed or made under this section until the fee payable with respect to such loan has been collected and remitted to the Administrator. The amount of the fee shall be established from time to time by the Administrator, but shall in no event exceed one-half of 1 per centum of the total loan amount. The amount of the fee may be inIcluded in the loan to the veteran and paid from the proceeds thereof. "(e) There is hereby created a Mortgage Guaranty Fund (hereinafter referred to as the 'Fund') which shall be available to the Administrator to carry out the provisions of this chapter with respect to all transactions arising from the guaranty of loans under this section. Fees collected by the Administrator under subsection (d) of this section shall be deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the Fund together with all other moneys received, including those from the management or sale of properties or the liquidation of any security acquired, as a consequence of the guaranty of loans under this section. "(f) The guaranty on any loan made to a veteran which is guaranteed under the provisions of this section shall be payable to the holder under the provisions of this chapter without regard to the amount on deposit to the credit of the Administrator in the Fund. If the balance in the Fund is insufficient at any time to carry out the provisions of this chapter with respect to transactions arising from the guaranty of loans under this section, the Administrator shall use funds appropriated to the Veterans' Administration under the heading of 'Readjustment Benefits' for such purpose, and sums sufficient therefor are hereby authorized to be appropriated. Reimbursement to the appropriation shall be made of the amounts thereof which may have been used by the Administrator for the purposes of the Fund when, and if, in the opinion of the Administrator the balance in the Fund is sufficiently in excess of the probable demands thereon to permit such reimbursement. "(g) From time to time, but not earlier than five years after the termination of authority to guarantee and make loans under this section, the Administrator shall cause to be deposited into the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of miscellaneous receipts, such of the moneys in such Fund as in his judg ment are not needed for the purpose for which they were provided. When all claims, expenses, or losses which may arise under the provisions of this chapter with respect to transactions arising from the guaranty of loans under this section have been paid, any balance remaining in the Fund shall be deposited by the Administrator with the Treasurer of the United States to the credit of miscellaneous receipts. "(h) Moneys in the Fund may be invested by the Administrator from time to time in obligations of the United States or obligations guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States." (b) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 37 of such title is amended by inserting immediately below "1817. Release from liability under guaranty." the following: "1818. Veterans who serve between January 31, 1955, and July 1, 1963." (c) Section 1822 (a) of such title is amended by striking out "or 1813", and inserting in lieu thereof "1813, or 1818". Passed the Senate July 21, 1959. Attest: FELTON M. JOHNSTON, Secretary. CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D.C., February 18, 1960. Hon. OLIN E. TEAGUE, Chairman, Veterans' Affairs Committee, DEAR CONGRESSMAN TEAGUE: Attached is a copy of a wire I received from the Governor of Nebraska, Hon. Ralph G. Brooks, urging favorable consideration by your committee of legislation to extend educational benefits to peacetime veterans. I am sure you will want to consider this with the evidence you are collecting and to include it in the record of hearings. I would also like to add my own personal feelings on this subject. I have often stated that I feel new veterans' programs and other new legislation involving large outlays of Federal funds should be based on some evidence of need. However, I strongly feel that as long as young citizens are involuntarily inducted into our armed services, interrupting their normal period of education, one of the best financial investments we can make in our country's future is to assist and encourage these veterans to continue their education. I heartily support legislation of this type. Sincerely, DONALD F. MCGINLEY, House Office Building, Washington, D.C.: DONALD F. MCGINLEY. LINCOLN, NEBR., February 7, 1960. With reference to committee hearings held on February 16 I again urge favorable action in the matter of expending educational benefits to our youth who entered the armed services subsequent to January 31, 1955. Any assistance given these young men and women to improve their status through the medium of education and training represents an investment that will bear dividends in the continued progress and security of the Nation. RALPH G. BROOKS, Governor, State of Nebraska. |