STATEMENT OF FRANCIS W. STOVER, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE, VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES Mr. STOVER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On my left is Norman D. Jones, director of our National Veterans Service. I move that the prepared statement he incorporated in the record and will appreciate your doing so. Senator TALMADGE. Without objection, so ordered. (The prepared statement of Mr. Stover follows:) STATEMENT OF FRANCIS W. STOVER, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE, VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE U.S. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: Permit me to express my deep appreciation for the privilege of appearing before this Subcommittee to present the position of the Veterans of Foreign Wars concerning the bills before you respecting veterans compensation payments. No group is more deserving than veterans who were wounded or disabled while in the service of their country. The Veterans of Foreign Wars has always held to that high principle. Year after year the delegates to our Conventions have approved resolutions calling for the highest consideration for our comrades who were wounded or injured while serving in the Armed Forces. This principle is reflected in a national mandate approved by our most recent National Convention. It is identified as Resolution Number 604, entitled, "Compensation for Service Connected Veterans" and reads as follows: Whereas, veterans who have suffered wounds and disabilities during wartime service in defense of our great nation deserve the highest consideration or, if deceased, their surviving widows, children and parents; and Whereas, compensation payments reflect the average impairment in loss of earning power caused by specific disabilities or combination of disabilities; and Whereas, there has been a failure to keep compensation payments on a par with the increased cost of living, which has skyrocketed during the last decade, and continues to do so; and Whereas, a shortened life span caused by a service connected disability is not a factor in his loss of earning capacity; and Whereas, the 100% totally disabled veteran is now receiving only $5,400 a year which is substantially below the average family income of Americans; and Whereas, no increase in disability compensation has reflected a raise in the rates of those veterans receiving statutory awards for specific losses; now, therefore Be it resolved, by the 72nd National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, that the Congress improve the compensation program by increasing compensation rates and dependency allowances for the service disabled so that the average loss of earning power caused by the veterans disability will reflect the high American standard of living; and Be it further resolved, that there be substantial increases not only in all basic compensation rates and dependency allowances, but that the statutory awards for specific losses, such as a foot or hand or eye, be also increased to reflect the increased cost of living since the statutory awards were last increased; and Be it further resolved, that the Veterans of Foreign Wars supports legislation which would accomplish much needed increases in service connected compensation rates and carry out the purpose and intent of this resolution. S. 3338 carries out this V.F.W. mandate and our long standing position that disabled veterans should receive the highest consideration. A 10% increase is warranted not only to keep up with the cost of living, but to offset anticipated future inflationary increases. There is however, a glaring omission, as far as the Veterans of Foreign Wars is concerned, in S. 3338. Going on now about twenty years, there has been no increase in the $47 a month statutory award for the loss or loss of use of an extremity. The $47 a month is paid to certain seriously disabled veterans in addi tion to their basic compensation payments. It is noted that S. 3338 would not increase this $47 a month rate which has not been increased since 1952. A bill which would bring $47 a month statutory award to a realistic level in line with inflationary increases over the past two decades is S. 1564 by Senator Inouye of Hawaii. The Veterans of Foreign Wars favors Senator Inouye's proposal and urges this Subcommittee to favorably consider his proposal. In any event, the V.F.W. urges that the $47 statutory award be increased by at least 10% in the legislation which this Subcommittee favorably considers and recommends to the full Committee. It is noted, Mr. Chairman, that is S. 3338 a new statutory allowance would be authorized described as a clothing allowance. The clothing allowance would be paid to a small group of seriously disabled veterans who are forced to wear a prosthetic appliance for the rest of their lives. It has been brought to the attention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars that veterans wearing prosthetic appliances have a higher than ordinary clothing bill. As veterans describe it, prosthetic appliances "tear up their clothes." The Veterans of Foreign Wars, therefore, commends Senator Talmadge and the Members of this Committee for incorporating this provision as one of the provisions of S. 3338. Mr. Chairman, the Veterans of Foreign Wars has a current national mandate unanimously approved by the delegates to our most recent National Convention held in Dallas, Texas, in August, identified as Resolution Number 736, entitled, "Review of Forfeited Benefits." S. 3074, which is before your Subcommittee for consideration, and was introduced by Chairman Hartke, substantially carries out V.F.W. Resolution Number 736 which reads as follows: Whereas, prior to 1959 the Veterans Administration revoked all benefits earned by military service in approximately 5,000 cases, in most cases because of simple infractions of governing laws and regulations; and Whereas, in 1959, at the instigation of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, the Congress enacted and the President approved legislation discontinuing forfeiture of authority of the Veterans Administration, except in cases involving claimants not currently under the jurisdiction of the courts of this country; and Whereas, foreiture of all benefits in most of these cases is manifestly unjust and not commensurate with the degree of the alleged offense; now, therefore Be it resolved, by the 72nd National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, that the Congress of the United States be urged to enact legislation authorizing review of all cases involving forfeiture of benefits and revocation of such forfeiture actions if warranted under regulations established pursuant to the legislation adopted in 1959. Mr. Chairman, before January 1, 1959, the Veterans' Administration had the power and authority to forfeit veterans rights and benefits for certain infractions of veterans laws and regulations. At that time, the Congress made a sweeping review of the forfeiture power of the VA and enacted a law as provided in Section 3503 of Title 38, United States Code. The provisions of the new forfeiture law were not, however, retroactive and did not apply to previous cases where veterans had lost all their rights and benefits for infractions which were considered punishable by the VA in that manner. Since that time, the Veterans of Foreign Wars has urged the Congress to authorize the VA to review those cases which were forfeited for fraud on or before September 1, 1959. The Veterans of Foreign Wars commends this Subcommittee for taking up and considering S. 3074 which will provide due process and justice, I am sure, for thousands of veterans whose benefits have been forfeited for more than a decade. As V.F.W. Resolution 736 indicates, forfeiture, in many cases, was manifestly unjust and not commensurate with the degree of the alleged offense. These, Mr. Chairman, are the views and recommendations of the Veterans of Foreign Wars regarding the compensation bills before you. It is urgently recommended that in your deliberations, favorable consideration be given to these views and that legislation recommended by your Subcommittee to the full Committee include the recommendations of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Thank you. Mr. STOVER. I Would just like to hit a few highlights of my statement. I think one of the things that we tend to overlook sometimes is that the cornerstone of all veterans' programs is disability compensation and the oldest continuous veterans' benefit in this Nation is compensa tion for those who have borne the battle and their widows and families. This is the way it has been ever since George Washington. The present war in Vietnam has been described as the most crippling war in our history. The wounded were taken off the battlefield by helicopters and rushed to the rear and their lives were saved, but many are destined to live with terrible disabilities which no amount of compensation can ever make them whole again. The cornerstone of all veterans' programs is therefore the compensation program. In that regard the Veterans of Foreign Wars has adopted a large number of resolutions calling for a high degree of compensation for those wounded or disabled while on active duty in the Armed Forces. The bill, S. 3338 carries out our mandates and we support it. However, we do feel that S. 3338 should include a provision to bring up to date the statutory amount of $47 a month. This hasn't been increased since 1952. We support the bill by Senator Inouye which would bring this particular benefit up to $80 a month. That is S. 1564 which has been discussed previously by all the witnesses, I believe, and deserves favorable consideration. Another statutory award which would be a brand new one is the proposed clothing allowance of $150 a year. I think Mr. Jones will agree with me that the present provisions of law in the VA regarding compensation for wear and tear of clothing are not being fully utilized. We hear reports that the men who have prosthetic appliances get their clothes torn thereby and have a higher than ordinary clothing bill I think the evidence of all of the witnesses preceding me this morning has demonstrated beyond any slight doubt that this is needed, and that this VA allowance of $150 a year is substantiated by overwhelming evidence. The last thing, Mr. Chairman, this forfeiture bill which would make it possible for the VA to review all these cases which were forfeited before 1959 is long overdue. We are delighted that this committee has seen fit to consider this bill. We have been trying to get the Congress to authorize the VA to go back and review all those cases, because I am sure it will show that that harsh punishment was meted out by the VA for irregularities, punishment way beyond the scope of the socalled fraud or misrepresentations. We commend you for having this bill under consideration and thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Senator TALMADGE. Thank you very much, Mr. Stover. As always you are thoroughly prepared, brief and to the point. It is a pleasure to have you appear as a witness before our committee. You may rest assured that the views of the VFW will be given full consideration. Any questions, Senator Hansen? Senator HANSEN. No questions. Senator TALMADGE. The next witness is Leon Sanchez. Mr. Sanchez has not arrived and without objection we will insert his statement in the record at this point. (Mr. Sanchez subsequently supplied the following statement:) Mr. GUY H. MCMICHAEL III, AMVETS NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, General Counsel, Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, DEAR MR. MCMICHAEL: Reference is made to the hearings held before your Subcommittee on Compensation and Pensions on March 29, 1972. This organiza tion was extended an invitation to appear and offer our position with regard to bills entitled S-3338, S-3344, S-3074 and S-1564. We were unable to appear at that time, but we would appreciate the opportunity of presenting the AMVET mandates with regard to proposed compensation legislation. Attached is copy of the statement that had been prepared for presentation. Your study and consideration of our proposals will be deeply appreciated. Verly truly yours, Enclosure. LEON SANCHEZ, National Service and Legislative Director. STATEMENT OF LEON SANCHEZ, NATIONAL SERVICE AND LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, AMVETS (AMERICAN VETERANS OF WORLD WAR II, KOREA AND VIETNAM) Senator Talmadge, and Members of this Subcommittee on Compensation and Pensions: Thank you and the members of your staff for the invitation extended to AMVETS to present our views on the bills under consideration to provide an increase in compensation rates for disabled veterans. The last increase granted veterans with service-connected disability was on July 1, 1970. We support S. 3338 and S. 3334, as a cost-of-living increase at this time is certainly in order. A resolution was approved at our 27th National Convention last August in Los Angeles, urging that an adequate raise in the statutory awards be enacted. We therefore urge favorable consideration of S. 1564, which would increase from $47.00 to $80.00 the special monthly award for anatomical loss, or loss of use of body organs. The last increase enacted for statutory awards was in 1952, twenty years ago. Certainly in this day and age, when so many demands, requests and suggestions are being made on the expenditure of the Federal income, those who gave of themselves in defense of their Country cannot be turned aside. Although your Subcommittee is considering specific legislation, we would like to go on record and present AMVET mandates in the area of compensation legislation for the disabled veteran, his widow and dependents. You may desire to consider legislation at this time to correct the present inequity in the amounts paid for "peacetime" and "wartime" rates in serviceconnected disability statutes. The current regulations require that only 80% of wartime rates be paid to the peacetime veterans. Since the needs of these handicapped veterans are equal, AMVETS is on record urging Congress to equalize the rates of disability compensation. A single veteran, who is totally disabled and considered "peacetime", now received $360.00 per month compared to the single and totally disabled "wartime” veteran, who receives $450.00 per month. AMVETS, through its Convention delegates, expresses concern with the present regulation of the Veterans Administration with regard to carcinoma (cancer). The Veterans Administration will recognize a carcinoma condition as service-connected, if it is diagnosed in service, or within one year from the date of separation from service. Much research has been undertaken on this disease, and the etiology, and length of time of existence before discovery remains in doubt. The one-year presumptive period is too limiting, and under sound medical principles, a three-year period from the date of separation from service should be granted whenever carcinoma is diagnosed with service-connection conceded. Legislation should be introduced to amend existing legislation to provide a two-year presumptive period of service-connection for a psychosis, which develops within two years from the date of separation from service. At the present time, Veterans Administration regulations provide for a one-year presumptive period for service-connection, although conceding service-connection for treatment purposes only if the condition is diagnosed within two years following release from service. Here again, it would be most difficult to establish the earliest manifestation of the disease entity, and a two-year presumptive period appears logical in view of the Veterans Administration's decision in favor of service-connection recognition for treatment purposes. The members of this Subcommittee, as is true of all Senators serving on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, must deal with very complex and, at the same time, very emotional problems. We of AMVETS, I suppose, cannot fully comprehend the enormity of your task, but we seek to understand and will present only legislation that is reasonable and worthy of consideration. Our National Commander, Joe F. Ramsey, Jr., in asking me to extend his personal greetings, stated that we seek only such legislation that will make it easier for our service-connected disabled veterans to live in the dignity which they have earned. Thank you, and be assured that the AMVETS stand ready and willing to assist you in every way possible. Senator TALMADGE. The final witness is Veterans of World War I of the U.S.A., Inc., Col. Herbert M. Houston, legislative director, accompanied by the national commander, Mr. J. B. Koch, national adjutant Mr. Floyd Henderson and Mr. Dallas Halverstadt. We are delighted to have you. STATEMENT OF HERBERT M. HOUSTON, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE OF VETERANS OF WORLD WAR I OF THE U.S.A., INC., ACCOMPANIED BY J. B. KOCH, NATIONAL COMMANDER, AND FLOYD HENDERSON AND DALLAS HALVERSTADT Mr. HOUSTON. Thank you Mr. Chairman. Our national commander here on my left and the national adjutant here on my right. Mr. Chairman, we have a very brief statement. I would like to point out that this statement only contains a policy of our organization. It does not go into detail in the many aspects of the subject. We have left the documenting of these to other organizations, which we concur in testimony of many of them. So in brevity of this statement, we wish to point out the support of our organization in this very important question of compensation. At our national convention each year we adopt the policy of the organization by a process of resolutions. At our most recent convention we had two strong resolutions; one on compensation and one on pensions. The one on compensation, which we are addressing today, was an adopted resolution calling for an increased rating in the percentage of allocations to those on compensation. As was pointed out in our testimony in presenting our program, we are of the opinion that there is so much ambiguity in the reading that it is a little puzzling to us. For instance, the 10-percent disability actually figures out to 6 percent of the 100 percent disability where, in our thinking, it should be greatly increased. Another illustration, the 50-percent disabled should be $225 whereas it is $135. The Veterans of World War I feel that they are by experience justified in calling attention to these inequities in compensation. Those who were classified as disabled during the wartime service at the close of World War I were over 200,000. They were classified as disabled and ranging from 10 to 100 percent. They were classified as service connected by a board of doctors. The Economy Act reclassified all those in the lower classifications and wiped out their compensation payments and set up the present rating system. This created a moral situation which has remained through the years among the veterans of World War I. It was a drastic slap in the face to young disabled veterans creating a persecution complex which has been uncorrected. (The prepared statement of Mr. Houston follows:) STATEMENT OF HERBERT M. HOUSTON, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE, VETERANS OF WORLD WAR I OF THE U.S.A., INC. Mr. Chairman and Members of this Distinguished Committee: Thank you for the opportunity and privilege of presenting the views of the Veterans of World War I of the United States of America regarding a number of bills pending before this Subcommittee on Compensation. |