emoluments, and those who stayed here had not fully performed their duties.

Mr. HALEY. Any further questions?

The gentlelady from Massachusetts.

Mrs. ROGERS. Mr. Riley, I unfortunately was late in coming in, and so I did not hear all of your very valuable testimony. But I gathered that you would like to have the bill as simple as possible for the

veteran.

Mr. RILEY. Yes; involvement just adds regulation on regulation and red tape on red tape.

Mrs. ROGERS. If we could get away from this horrible confusion and discrimination, taking care of this person and that person and the other person, training this person to be a great scientist, when he may not have it in him-I think they all ought to have a chance. Mr. RILEY. You are well known for having generous feelings. Mrs. ROGERS. I agree with you 100 percent in having a simple bill. Mr. RILEY. Thank you. We are with you.

Mrs. ROGERS. I would like to have the Korean war bill continued, and I wish you would give me your advice on it.

Mr. RILEY. That is the crux of our statement. Well, no; we did not say the Korean war.

I joined Mr. Haley a while ago, and you now, in saying it is new thinking so far as I am concerned, but offhand it seems to me that is the simple way to approach it.

Mrs. ROGERS. You have this person over here thinking this, and this candidate over here running for Presidency thinking that, and this person running for the Presidency thinking something else. It is extremely confusing, and I think it is terribly hard for the men going into the service.

Mr. RILEY. Language gets us into trouble, I think. So the simplest is the best.

Mrs. ROGERS. We are very glad to get your advice.

Mr. HALEY. The gentleman from Kansas has a question.

Mr. GEORGE. I would like to ask you, Mr. Riley: You said that no needs test should be applied to the veteran. Would you carry that over into the pension field, as well? I am thinking of World War I pensions.

Mr. RILEY. That is another question in itself. You would have to give me a little time to look at that one, surely.

However, offhand, I would say no; I do not think a needs test should be applied.

In other words, I do not think the benefits, under the veterans' system, are so great that the amount that you receive-and I have had occasion lately to have some secondary experience in that field-is so important as to need to create a needs test.

Mr. GEORGE. Now, a number of committees, some of them appointed by the President, have determined that we are way behind in the field of education, probably at least a decade or more. In addition to being of benefit to the veteran individually, do you not believe that this bill would be of great importance to the country as a whole?

Mr. RILEY. It certainly would elevate the intellectual level of the country, and I think it would have a chain reaction.

Mr. GEORGE. Thank you very much.

Mrs. ROGERS. May I ask one question?

Are you going to have trouble providing the schools?

Mr. RILEY. That is a very delicately balanced subject. I think the committee is meeting on that bill today.

I do not know. I have not had a chance to take a reading with them today, Mrs. Rogers. But there is always difficulty.

Mrs. ROGERS. It is a terrific problem, I have found.

Mr. HALEY. No more questions?

Thank you very much, Mr. Riley. We were glad to have you before the committee this morning.

Mr. RILEY. I hope I have contributed something worthwhile, at least.

Mr. HALEY. We are glad to have your advice and counsel. We always need counsel and advice here in the Congress.

Mr. RILEY. That is very kind of you.

Mr. HALEY. Is there anyone here representing the Young Farmers of Virginia?

Mr. Perrow was supposed to testify. He is not here?

We have a communication from Senator Roman L. Hruska, of Nebraska, enclosing a telegram from Governor Brooks of Nebraska. The letter and telegram will be inserted in the record at this point. (The letter and telegram follow:)

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, February 23, 1960.

Hon. OLIN E. TEAGUE,

Chairman, Veterans' Affairs Committee,
House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In connection with the hearings which your committee is undertaking today, I am sending for appropriate reference the enclosed telegram from the Governor of Nebraska, Ralph G. Brooks.

Kind regards.
Sincerely,

ROMAN L. HRUSKA,

Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.:

ROMAN L. HRUSKA,
U.S. Senator, Nebraska.

LINCOLN, NEBR., February 17, 1960.

With reference to committee hearings held on February 16 I again urge favorable action in the matter of extending 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,

Mrs. ROGERS. What is the program for tomorrow?

Mr. HALEY. Tomorrow you are to have the Fleet Reserve Association, the Bureau of the Budget, the General Accounting Office, and the National Association of State Approval Agencies.

That completes the agenda for the day.

The committee stands adjourned until 10 o'clock tomorrow.

(Whereupon, at 11:30 a.m., the committee was adjourned, to reconvene at 10 o'clock, Friday, February 26, 1960.)

READJUSTMENT BENEFITS FOR INDIVIDUALS ENTERING THE ARMED SERVICES AFTER JANUARY 31, 1955

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1960

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS, Washington, D.C.

The committee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to recess, in room 356, Old House Office Building, Hon. W. J. Bryan Dorn presiding. Mr. DORN. The committee will come to order.

The chairman of the committee has received a letter dated February 26, 1960, enclosing statements by M. D. Mobley, executive secretary of the American Vocational Association; Dr. Kenneth E. Carl, director of the Williamsport Technical Institute, a division of the school district of the city of Williamsport, Pa.; Ray C. Perrow, president, Young Farmers of Virginia; and John Fusaro, Jr., Veteran of World War II, trained under Public Law 346 by the school district of Philadelphia, Pa.

This letter from the American Vocational Association, Inc., also requests that a statement by Cola D. Watson, State supervisor of agricultural education, State department of education, Montpelier, Vt., be made a part of the record.

Without objection, these statements will be inserted in the record. (The statements follow :)

Hon. OLIN E. TEAGUE,

AMERICAN VOCATIONAL ASSOCIATION, INC.,

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY,
Washington, D.C., February 26, 1960.

Chairman, House Veterans' Affairs Committee,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

MY DEAR CONGRESSMAN TEAGUE: Enclosed are statements from the American Vocational Association which we hope you will include in the hearings on the veterans' benefit bills, including S. 1138, now being considered before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. These statements include:

1. Brief statement by M. D. Mobley, executive secretary of the American Vocational Association.

2. Statement by Dr. Kenneth E. Carl, director of the Williamsport Technical Institute, a division of the school district of the city of Williasmport, Pa.

3. Statement by Ray C. Perrow, president, Young Farmers of Virginia, Route 3, Lynchburg, Va.

4. Statement by John Fusaro, Jr., Veteran of World War II, trained under Public Law 346 by the school district of Philadelphia, Pa.

We would also appreciate it if you would include the statement directly submitted to your committee by Mr. Cola D. Watson, State supervisor of agricultural education, State department of education, Montpelier, Vt., along with the statements we are submitting herewith. Mr. Watson is a member of the AVA and his statement is in accord with the policies of our association.

We would like very much to be placed on your mailing list to receive six copies of the hearings when they come from press.

Sincerely yours,

M. D. MOBLEY, Executive Secretary.

STATEMENT FROM THE AMERICAN VOCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. INC.

Mr. Chairman and members of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, the American Vocational Association, representing approximately 30,000 vocational and practical arts educators in the United States, is on record favoring the passage of legislation to extend veteran educational benefits to those who served in the Armed Forces since January 31, 1955. This action was taken at a business meeting of the house of delegates at an annual convention of the association. In support of this position I am happy to submit in behalf of the association, the statements which follow. These statements are from those who have administered and who have benefited from educational programs conducted under previous acts providing educational benefits for veterans.

We would appreciate it very much if you would insert this letter and the statements in the hearing.

Sincerely yours,

M. D. MOBLEY, Executive Secretary.

STATEMENT BY DR. KENNETH E. CARL, DIRECTOR OF THE WILLIAMSPORT TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, A DIVISION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF WILLIAMSPORT, PA.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, it is indeed a pleasure to submit the following statement on behalf of the American Vocational Association and the American Technical Education Association. My professional responsibilities at the Williamsport Technical Institute are concerned with the administration of an extensive program of vocational-technical education of less than college grade. Many veterans have been enrolled in my school since the inception of the veterans' educational benefits program. The organization which I represent strongly urges the enactment of legislation to extend educational benefits to veterans serving during peacetime.

The Williamsport Technical Institute has developed from a small vocational department in the Williamsport High School, established in 1920, into a separate school which still handles the vocational high school students and in addition has a full-time enrollment of 941 adults.

Since 1920, when we had a small program of training for the veterans of World War I, we have trained (and in many cases retrained) thousands of men and women for business and industry in skilled occupations where critical shortages exist. During the 1930's we participated in educational training programs with the WPA, NYA, and CCC in training and retraining of the unemployed. Relief clients were sent to us from many areas in Pennsylvania for this training and we found that even in the depression there were jobs in the midst of high unemployment, and we still believe this to be true.

Many of our courses came into being during World War II when we worked around the clock training for the Army Signal Corps, the Navy, and the war industries that were desperately short of semiskilled, skilled and technical personnel in the mechanical and electronic fields.

All through these years we have been very much interested in the training and retraining of the physically-handicapped adults. Here we are probably the largest facility for such training in the United States. Many States regularly send their handicapped and blind students to us for this training when they are unable to find suitable training facilities in their own States.

We enrolled disabled veterans of World War II before Congress passed the GI bill in 1946. Naturally when this bill was passed we saw quite an influx of veteran students, both disabled and nondisabled.

We presently are offering courses in the following fields: aviation mechanics, automotive, diesel, heavy construction equipment, carpentry and building construction, wood and metal patternmaking, electrical construction, industrial electronics, radio and television, welding, sheet metal, machine shop, toolmaking, plumbing, masonry, business, distributive education, agriculture, architectural drafting, mechanical drafting, structural drafting, tool and die design, office appliance repair, industrial power sewing, sign painting, neon sign fabrication, letterpress printing and offset-lithography. Some of these courses are on a

craftsman basis and others prepare for higher technical occupations. Much of this equipment has been secured from Government surplus, for which we will be eternally grateful.

We maintain close relationships with business and industry. We always have, because we are not merely training our students-we are training them for existing jobs; we are not merely giving courses-we are giving courses designed for the needs of today's industries and they are continually being modified as the requirements of industry change.

While our adult courses are on a posthigh school level, they do not lead to a college degree, nor do they carry any college transfer credit at the present time. They do, however, lead to jobs.

Our present adult full-time (30 hours per week) enrollment is as follows:

Since the beginning of the World War II GI bill, we have enrolled 6,681 veterans of all types. Of this number, 1,138 have had service-connected disabilities, including the totally blind.

We are proud of the veteran students we have had and now have enrolled. Most of them have proven to be excellent students. While we have not kept accurate records of the placement of all of our veterans, I can say that since January 1, 1957, we have graduated 735 veterans and all, to the best of our knowledge, have been placed or secured jobs on their own, in the occupation for which they were trained in or in an occupation related to their training.

To the best of our knowledge, every disabled veteran whom we have trained in our school has been placed in a position in the occupation for which he was trained or in a related occupation. This statement includes the totally blind veterans we trained in production machine operation. This statement may easily be checked by contacting the Veterans' Administration office in WilkesBarre, Pa., through which office all veterans enrolled in our school are processed. The veterans we have had have applied themselves diligently to their studies. They have not been coming to school to collect checks from the Government. The Public Law 550 veterans feel that their educational allotment which is paid to them after they start to school is "their" money to pay their school costs and room and board. Since this money is usually insufficient to pay all costs and it costs them an additional sum of money beyond this allotment, they feel that they must "take home" some learning each day. In some cases, if the school did not live up to their expectations, they transferred to another school that did. The Korean Public Law 550 bill was an improvement over the World War Public Law 346 bill in this respect.

In our local State employment office there were in March 1959, 4,200 people registered as unemployed. Of these, 1,902 were veterans, most of whom had no veteran educational entitlement, inasmuch as they served in the Armed Forces after January 31, 1955. In the State of Pennsylvania as of January 31, 1959, there were 446,754 unemployed people. Of this number, 128,115 were unemployed veterans. We do not know what percentage of these veterans have no educational entitlement under the GI bill, but we may safely assume that a very large number of them lack the skills which are the passports to jobs in modern industry. Moreover, unless they soon receive the training necessary toward acquiring these skills, it will be too late, because as time goes on they will take on obligations of marriage and family, which will make it virtually impossible for them to gain the education they need to obtain worthwhile employment, and thus raise their economic level above that of the unskilled laborer, for which we are seeing a marked declining need in the employment picture.

I should like to mention a survey I completed in June 1959 for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. I found that in Pennsylvania, with one-tenth of the unemployment of the United States in January 1959, we had jobs available. Through a survey of the 14 major labor market areas of Pennsylvania I compiled a list of 228 occupations for which there were jobs open,