[H. R. 6984, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To amend part I of Veterans Regulation Numbered 1 (a) to provide a presumption of service-connection in certain cases involving idiopathic convulsive seizures

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section I (c) of part I of Veterans Regulation Numbered 1 (a) is amended by inserting immediately after the colon preceding the fourth proviso therein the following: "Provided further, That idiopathic convulsive seizures manifesting a 10 per centum degree of disability or more within six months from the date of separation from active service shall be conclusively presumed to have been incurred in or aggravated by active service :".

[H. R. 7088, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To authorize the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to fix a special compensation rate for service-incurred disability in certain cases

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That paragraph II, part I, Veterans Regulation Numbered 1 (a), as amended, is hereby amended by adding a new subparagraph (r) to read as follows:

“(r) In any case in which the Administrator finds the severity, type, or nature of disability warrants a compensation award in excess of the rate prescribed for total disability in subparagarph (j), and he finds that he cannot provide for establishment of a rate compatible with the extent of existing disability under authority conferred upon him in subparagraph (p), he may, in his discretion, award the rate prescribed in subparagraph (1) or such lesser rate as he may deem appropriate."

SEC. 2. Paragraph II, part II, Veterans Regulation Numbered 1 (a), as amended, is hereby amended by adding this sentence following the period: "For the purposes of this part, the Administrator shall have the same authority to award a rate of compensation compatible with the extent of existing disability that it conferred upon him in subparagraph (r), paragraph II, part I, of this Veterans Regulation, as added by section 1 of this Act."

SEC. 3. This Act shall be effective from date of its approval.

[H. R. 7448, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To provide increases of compensation for certain disabled female veterans who have dependent husbands

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 4 of the Act entitled "An Act to provide increases of compensation for certain veterans with service-connected disabilities who have dependents", approved July 2, 1948, as amended (38 U. S. C. 743), is hereby amended by inserting immediately before the period at the end thereof the following: ", ', except that the term 'wife' as used in this Act includes a dependent husband".

[H. R. 7573, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To amend the Veterans Regulations to provide that meningitis developing a 10 per centum or more degree of disability within one year after separation from active service shall be presumed to be service connected

`Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subparagraph (c) of paragraph I, part I, Veterans Regulation Numbered 1 (a), as amended, is hereby amended by adding after the words "encephalitis lethargica residuals;" the word "meningitis ;".

[H. R. 9671, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to provide that the burial allowance payable thereunder shall be increased to $250

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That sections 802 and 803 of the Veterans'

Benefits Act of 1957 are hereby amended by striking out "$150" each place it occurs therein, and inserting in lieu thereof each time "$250".

SEC. 2. The amendments made by this Act shall apply only with respect to deaths occurring on or after the date of its enactment.

[H. R. 9710, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to increase to $250 the amount payable on account of the burial and funeral expenses of certain veterans

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 802 (a) and section 803 (a) are each amended by striking out "$150" and inserting in lieu thereof "$250".

SEC. 2. The amendment made by this Act shall apply with respect to deaths occurring more than thirty days after the enactment of this Act.

[H. R. 9726, 85th Cong., 2d sess. 1.

A BILL To amend the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to provide that the Veterans' Administration shall not sever service connection of any veterans' disability when he has been in receipt of compensation for ten or more years, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title XXI of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

"PRESERVATION OF SERVICE CONNECTION IN CERTAIN CASES

"SEC. 2109. (a) Where a disability of a veteran has been adjudicated as service connected, and he has been in receipt of compensation on account of such disability for ten or more years (including periods in which he has been in receipt of pension solely because of section 423 (b) or the prior corresponding provisions of law), the Administrator shall not thereafter deny that such disability is service connected.

"(b) Where the Administrator has determined before the date of enactment of this subsection that a disability of a veteran is not service connected, and such veteran had received compensation on account of such disability for ten or more years before the date of such determination (including periods in which he was in receipt of pension solely because of section 423 (b) or the prior corresponding provisions of law), upon application by the veteran or any dependent of the veteran claiming benefits under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration, such disability of the veteran shall be considered thereafter as a service-connected disability."

SEC. 2. The Table of Contents contained in the first section of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended by inserting immediately below

"Sec. 2108. Preservation of certain disability ratings."

the following:

"Sec. 2109. Preservation of service connection in certain cases."

[H. R. 9730, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To stabilize and "freeze" as of January 1, 1958, the Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, and the extensions thereto, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That part B, title II, section 210 (c) of Public Law 85-56 (71 Stat. 92), be amended to read as follows: "Except to the extent inconsistent with the provisions hereof, the Administrator has authority to make all rules and regulations which are necessary or appropriate to carry out the laws administered by the Veterans' Administration and are consistent therewith, including regulations with respect to the nature and extent of proofs and evidence and the method of taking and furnishing them in order to establish the right to benefits under such laws, the forms of application by claimants under such laws, the methods of making investigations and medical examinations, and the manner and form of adjudications and awards."

That part F, title III, section 355 of Public Law 85-56 (71 Stat. 103), be amended to read as follows: "The Administrator is authorized and directed to apply a schedule of ratings of reductions in earning capacity from specific injuries or combination of injuries. The ratings shall be based, as far as practicable, upon the average impairments of earning capacity resulting from such injuries in civil occupations. The Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, including all extensions thereto, which schedule is so constructed as to provide ten grades of disability upon which payments of compensation shall be based, is hereby frozen as to its instructions, expressed policies, terms, evaluations and all other data contained therein, effective as of January 1, 1958, and no additions, either express or implied; deletions; changes; modifications or other alterations in the aforesaid schedule, by whatever source proposed, will be effective subsequent to January 1, 1958, until and unless approved by the Congress and enacted into law."

Nothing contained herein repeals or modifies in any way the authority now vested in the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs or his designee to authorize administratively ratings in excess of the schedular evaluations when it is determined by him or his designee that the Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, and/or its extensions, are inadequate in their application to the facts in an individual case.

[H. R. 9896, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To revise the basis for establishing wartime service connection for multiple sclerosis and the chronic functional psychoses

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 313 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 313. For the purposes of section 310, and subject to the provisions of section 314, in the case of any veteran who served for ninety days or more during a period of war

"(1) a chronic disease becoming manifest to a degree of 10 per centum or more within one year from the date of separation from such service; "(2) a tropical disease, and the resultant disorders or disease originating because of therapy, administered in connection with such diseases, or as a preventive thereof, becoming manifest to a degree of 10 per centum or more within one year from the date of separation from such service, or at a time when standard or accepted treatises indicate that the incubation period thereof commenced during such service;

"(3) active tuberculous disease, multiple sclerosis, or any of the chronie functional psychoses developing a 10 per centum degree of disability or more within three years from the date of separation from such service; shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of service."

SEC. 2. This Act shall be effective from the date of its approval.

[H. R. 10029, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To provide a two year presumptive period of service connection for organic heart disease which develops within two years from the date of separation from active service

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 313, Public Law 85-56 is hereby amended by adding a subparagraph numbered 5 to read as follows: “(5) organic heart disease developing a 10 per centum degree of disability or more within two years from the date of separation from such service;" immediately preceding the words "shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of service."

[H. R. 10134, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to provide that the Veterans' Administration shall not sever service connection of any veteran's disability when he has been in receipt of compensation for ten or more years, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title XXI of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

"PRESERVATION OF SERVICE CONNECTION IN CERTAIN CASES

"SEC. 2109. (a) Where a disability of a veteran has been adjudicated as service connected, and he has been in receipt of compensation on account of such disability for ten or more years (including periods in which he has been in receipt of pension solely because of section 423 (b) or the prior corresponding provisions of law), the Administrator shall not thereafter deny that such disability is service connected.

"(b) Where the Administrator has determined before the date of enactment of this subsection that a disability of a veteran is not service connected, and such veteran had received compensation on account of such disability for ten or more years before the date of such determination (including periods in which he was in receipt of pension solely because of section 423 (b) or the prior corresponding provisions of law), upon application by the veteran or any dependent of the veteran claiming benefits under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration, such disability of the veteran shall be considered thereafter as a service-connected disability."

SEC. 2. The table of contents contained in the first section of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended by inserting immediately below

"Sec. 2108. Preservation of certain disability ratings."

the following:

"Sec. 2109. Preservation of service connection in certain cases."

[H. R. 10462, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend section 201 of the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act to provide for paying dependency and indemnity compensation to the survivors of certain deceased veterans having serious service-connected disabilities

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 201 of the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act is amended (1) by striking out "or" at the end of subparagraph (2); (2) by inserting "or" at the end of subparagraph (3); and (3) by inserting immediately below such subparagraph (3) the following: "(4) while in receipt of compensation for a disability described in subsection (1), (m), (n), (o), or (p) of section 315 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957;".

SEC. 2. The amendment made by this Act shall take effect on the first day of the first calendar month which begins after the date of its enactment.

[H. R. 10748, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To prohibit the severance of a service-connected disability which has been in effect for ten or more years

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a service connection which has been made for compensation, pension, or insurance purposes under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration, and which has been in force for ten or more years, shall not be severed thereafter unless on a showing that the original rating was based on fraud or gross misrepresentation.

[H. R. 10797, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 so as to afford a conclusive presumption of soundness under certain canditions in wartime cases

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 312 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 (Public Law 85-56; 71 Stat. 96), is amended by substituting a colon for the period at the end thereof and adding the following: "Provided, That any disability acquired, appearing, or recurring in the active military, naval, or air service during a period of war or the Korean conflict after the veteran has continuously served for ninety days therein shall be conclusively presumed to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service except as to obvious patent defects."

[H. R. 10798, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act to authorize the granting of death compensation to certain widows and parents notwithstanding a prior election to receive dependency and indemnity compensation

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subsection 206 (b) of the Servicemen's Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act (Public Law 881, Eighty-fourth Congress) is amended by adding the following new paragraph:

"(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing limitations of this subsection, on and after the effective date of this amendatory Act, any widow or parent who has elected to receive and has been granted dependency and indemnity compensation by reason of this section may upon application, and if found to be otherwise eligible, be granted death compensation under the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 in lieu of dependency and indemnity compensation."

[H. R. 11343, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To stabilize and "freeze" as of January 1, 1958, the Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, and the extensions thereto, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That part B, title II, section 210 (c) of Public Law 85-56 (71 Stat. 92), be amended to read as follows: "Except to the extent inconsistent with the provisions hereof, the Administrator has authority to make all rules and regulations which are necessary or appropriate to carry out the laws administered by the Veterans' Administration and are consistent therewith, including regulations with respect to the nature and extent of proofs and evidence and the method of taking and furnishing them in order to establish the right to benefits under such laws, the forms of application by claimants under such laws, the methods of making investigations and medical examinations, and the manner and form of adjudications and awards."

That part F, title III, section 355 of Public Law 85-56 (71 Stat. 103), be amended to read as follows: "The Administrator is authorized and directed to apply a schedule of ratings of reductions in earning capacity from specific injuries or combination of injuries. The ratings shall be based, as far as practicable, upon the average impairments of earning capacity resulting from such injuries in civil occupations. The Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, including all extensons thereto, which schedule is so constructed as to provide ten grades of disability upon which payments of compensation shall be based, is hereby frozen as to its instructions, expressed policies, terms, evaluations and all other data contained therein, effective as of January 1, 1958, and no additions, either express or implied; deletions; changes; modifications or other alterations in the aforesaid schedule, by whatever source proposed, will be effective subsequent to January 1, 1958, until and unless approved by the Congress and enacted into law."

Nothing contained herein repeals or modifies in any way the authority now vested in the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs or his designee to authorize administratively ratings in excess of the schedular evaluations when it is determined by him or his designee that the Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, and/or its extensions, are inadequate in their application to the facts in an indivdual case.

[H. R. 11528, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To provide benefits to certain veterans of World War I who were in the active service on November 11, 1918, and their dependents

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 313 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 (38 U. S. C. 2313) is amended by inserting immediately after "period of war" the following: "or for any period of time if he was in the active service on November 11, 1918".

SEC. 2. Section 421 (b) of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 (38 U. S. C. 2421 (b)) is amended (1) by striking out "or" at the end of subparagraph (2); (2) by striking out the period at the end of subparagraph (3) and inserting “; or"; and (3) by inserting immediately below such subparagraph (3) the following: