the administration of laws by the Veterans' Administration, thus tending to save administrative expense and confusion, and would tend to make certain classifications of benefits more equitable and uniform. We believe this bill worthy of being enacted into law by this session of Congress.

I now want to take up before the committee our program to provide pensions for World War veterans suffering with permanent non-service-connected disabilities. Let me first emphasize the fact that three sections in this bill, namely, sections 2, 4, and 5 look toward the liberalization of the definition of permanent and_total disability, so far as non-service-connected cases are concerned.

The Veterans' Administration is now operating under a law which in effect provides that a permanent and total disability shall be taken to exist where there is present any impairment of mind or body which is sufficient to render it impossible for the average person to follow a substantially gainful occupation. We believe that ought to be changed to "to be determined on the basis of inability of the 'individual person,' " rather than the "average person," to follow a gainful occupation. We must realize that although all men supposedly are created equal, they are not created equal in their respective abilities or potentialities. They do not have the same degree of education or experience. They do not, therefore, have the same adaptability or the same employability. If a man, who has had very little experience, education and training, and very little adaptability has become slightly disabled from a physical standpoint, it is entirely possible that he may have been thereby rendered actually unemployable, whereas a man who has adaptability may still be employable and, therefore, did not lose as much. The first man has lost practically all that he had.

Now, on the basis of the "average person" determination, an unemployable disabled man, who is below normal in his ability and in his adaptability, frequently finds that he cannot get a permanent and total rating for his non-service-connected disability. We believe there is dire need for a change in this law. All that it would need would be to change the words "average person" to the word "individual," and also to add the words "and/or defects" following the word "impairment" so that a rating agency could also take into consideration the fact that a man has a defect which in part brings about his unemployability and, therefore, his permanent and total disability.

The Administrator of the Veterans' Administration might say there is no need for any such change in the law, inasmuch as he personally has the authority to rate a claim on an individual basis, but nevertheless, I want to call your attention to the fact that the local rating boards cannot make a determination of permanent and total disability on the basis of the individual case. They must now do so on the basis of the average person. If the local rating board believes the case to be sufficiently meritorious to deserve the attention of the Administrator, then they may send it up to the Central Board of Appeals and finally to the Administrator. If I am not badly mistaken, the testimony submitted by Congressman Van Zandt before this committee was to the effect that there has been somewhat less than 400 cases that have been favorably acted on by the Administrator himself on the basis of the authority that is granted per

sonally to him. As proof of the fact that the Administrator himself considers that such an individualized definition of permanent total disability can be provided for only by the enactment of a law so authorizing, I submit for the record a letter received from General Hines, as follows:

Mr. J. D. CHITTENDEN,

Director, National Service Bureau,

Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States,

DECEMBER 29, 1939.

Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHITTENDEN: Further reference is made to your letter of September 30, 1939, concerning resolutions Nos. 22 and 23 which were adopted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars during the fortieth annual encampment of that organization. The belief is expressed by you that the object of these resolutions may be accomplished by administrative action and you request such action be taken.

Resolution No. 22 contains the request that steps be taken either through legislative enactment or modified regulations to provide for permanent total disability determinations in nonservice-connected cases on the basis of individual inability to earn a support rather than through the application of a rating schedule. The law now permits payments only for disability, that is, for impairments resulting from disease or injury. In dealing with the case of an unemployed veterans, it is difficult to assess the importance of various factors causing continued unemployment, including various personal and economic factors as well as the effect of disability, and thus to determine whether the disability has produced the unemployment. Such determinations as to the effect of disability are necessarily dependent upon comparative ratings assigned in a rating schedule.

You will no doubt recall that several bills were introduced in the Seventysixth Congress, having for their purpose a requirement to assign a rating of permanent total disability to all cases in which the individual was unable to earn a living without reference to the nature and extent of his disability as such. If this resolution is designed to seek that objective regardless of the nature and extent of the disability which is alleged to result in inability to earn a living, legislation to that end would be required.

In the title of resolution No. 23 reference is made to permanent total ratings for active tuberculosis but in the text of the resolution we find the request that regulations or the law be modified so as to provide only total ratings for all active tuberculars. The ratings for disability resulting from pulmonary tuberculosis are based upon (1) the lesions and (2) the symptoms, in accordance with the Scheme for Classification, American Tuberculosis Association. Pulmonary tuberculosis like other diseases, has greatly differing expressions in individuals. The present provisions of the 1933 Schedule for Rating Disabilities, including Extension No. 3, as of May 1939, provide for quite liberal ratings. The Veterans' Administration now concedes total disability in all cases of authenticated active pulmonary tuberculosis. However, the response of this disease to treatment is so favorable, even with men who are World War veterans at their present average age, that permanent total disability cannot now be uniformly conceded.

Very truly yours,

FRANK T. HINES, Administrator.

Mr. VAN ZANDT. Will the gentleman yield?

I have here a communication from General Hines in which he gives the exact statement; you can include that in your testimony.

Mr. RICE. May that be included in the testimony?

The CHAIRMAN. Yes.

(The communication is as follows:)

VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION,

Washington, April 3, 1939.

Hon. JAMES E. VAN ZANDT,

House of Representatives, Washnigton, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. VAN ZANDT: Reference is made to your letter of March 27, 1939, inquiring as to the number of permanent and total pensions, under Veterans Regulation 1 (a), Part III, granted by me personally.

On April 6, 1937, in connection with a study of the adequacy of the rating schedule, instructions were issued to permit reference to central office of all cases in which the veteran or his representative alleged inadequacy of the rating schedule. It was found that, as a class, the cases submitted were not particularly meritorious and accordingly after 6 months, instructions were issued to submit only those cases which were considered to be meritorious by the field offices. Since April 6, 1937, 198 claims have been granted by me personally. Over the same period, 126 were decided favorably by means of advisory opinions furnished to the field offices.

Meanwhile, the field offices continued to grant permanent total ratings under the terms of the rating schedule and the pertinent regulations.

In the fiscal year 1937, original awards of this type amounted to 8,545; in 1938, 10,114; and in the first 8 months of the fiscal year 1939, 7,967. It will be observed that the number of original awards per annum is increasing steadily. This is, of course, to be expected in view of the advancing age and increasing disability among World War veterans.

Very truly yours,

FRANK T. HINES, Administrator.

Mr. RICE. That would seem to indicate a great need for the liberalized definition of permanent total disability that we have been advocating. We have been advocating this change in the law for several years, as well as advocating certain changes in the regulations. In the event of liberalized regulations there might be some hope, but even if the regulations were liberalized we still need a change in the law, because under the law only the Administrator himself may pass on the individual case not covered by the regulations. We believe that that authority ought to be decentralized down to the field where the rating agency has a chance to see the man.

We believe also that the amount payable to these permanently and totally disabled veterans should be increased from the miserable and miserly amount of pension now provided, $30, to some more adequate compensation, namely $60 a month.

Sixty dollars is paid to the veterans of the Spanish-American War suffering with permanent and total non-service-connected disability. In God's name, is there any reason why a World War veteran equally handicapped with a permanent and total non-service-connected disability should be expected to live on the penurious pension of only $30 a month? Damage is not only visited upon him but upon his children. The attitude of the children of such permanently and totally disabled World War veterans receiving the niggardly pension of only $30 per month is well demonstrated by the contents of a letter received from the son of such a veteran, postmarked Union, N. J., reading, as follows:

JANUARY 11, 1940.

DEAR SIR: I am a boy 15 years of age, my father is a V. F. W., serving 22 months, World War. We always had the V. F. W. magazine when my father was well enough to pay. Well to get to the point, a neighbor of ours gives us all the papers and magazines now to read as we are unable to buy them any

more.

I just finished reading the story in December book about push the pension; it makes me feel a little light-hearted. My mother and father are so sad at times we really don't know what to do. My father worked for one firm for 18 years steady and on and off doctored for nervous feelings, finally in nature of epileptic set in and he was unable to work.

The firm could or would not keep him and said the Government should take care of him. Well, to get to the point, I pray to God that whose hands this letter gets to will fight for us unfortunate ones. Our doctors tried to tell the officers at Veterans' Administration at Lyons that it was service-connected but that was impossible finally after 12 months. They gave my father $30 a month penson. Now, we are a family of 5; my mother works real hard. If only you

could make those men realize that they are warm in their offices and have shoes on their feet.

We don't want relief. It is 3 years since my father could work. Who wants a man around that takes spells? I realize that there are many cases but when, as you say, a man is permanently and totally disabled and not able to be employed don't you think a little more pension could be given to keep a family in a country like this from breaking up and God knows what?

I know there are men that get a pension and are able to work, but I only hope that you can make Congress realize that the man that can't work may have a little more. I read about how money can be raised for different things, also to send money across, but to a good father and honest family-(grief). The old-age pension gave $30 for ones; how can we ever get on with only that income with us children trying to grow?

I hope you won't throw my letter away-and try to do what you can for a family that is trying to hold together. There is one God for all and I hope you and all that is fighting for only what I think is right will in return be rewarded. Gratefully,

A BOY OF A GOOD FATHER AND MOTHER.

My father was wounded twice in action.

Remember that with the average age of the World War veteran now about 48, that the veteran who is permanently and totally disabled needs that pension in an adequate amount much more so than does the man who has become aged 65, however bad he needs it, because the average man 48 years of age still has minor children and they deserve our consideration. It is unfair to expect a man to raise his family of children decently on a mere $30 a month. It is not even a decent existence level.

If there is only one thing that this committee can do, it ought to incorporate this change into the law during this session of Congress by passing a bill which would raise the amount of pension for these unemployable disabled veterans from $30 to $60. I consider it to be the most needful of any proposal that has been made before this committee, because we are not only now handicapping these veterans but we are handicapping their wives and growing children.

Mr. GATHINGS. What would that increase cost annually?

Mr. RICE. I do not know the exact estimates of the Veterans' Administration. It has not been made available to us. I would estimate that it would be about $30,000,000 the first year.

Mr. VAN ZANDT. At what rate?

Mr. RICE. $60 per month. That would double the amount now provided. About 55,000 are now receiving such benefits. There would be several additional thousands who would get such pensions if the definition of permanent total disability were liberalized, as proposed by us.

There are three alternate proposals to liberalize the definition. One is on the basis of the individual's inability to follow any substantially gainful occupation, as provided in section 2 and as also provided in Congressman Voorhis' bill, H. R. 7953. There are also two separate bills introduced by Congressman Peterson, H. R. 7943 and H. R. 7944, one of which would liberalize the definition to be on the same basis as the definition for Spanish-American War veterans, that is, that a permanent and total disability should be one which totally incapacitates him for the performance of manual labor so as to render him unable to earn a support.

The other one is based on disability which renders it impossible for the individual to earn support by the performance of manual labor. One is on the basis of the Spanish-American War veterans and the

other is on the basis of language almost analogous to it. The third is on the basis of the mere change in words "average person" to the word "individual," and the insertion of "and/or defect" after the word "impairment." One of these proposed liberalizations for the legal definition of permanent and total disability ought, by all means, to be provided by this Congress.

The last and most important provision, and perhaps the most important provision in this omnibus bill, H. R. 7925, is a bill separately introduced by Congressman McCormack, H. R. 7980, which would provide disability pensions for 90-day honorably discharged World War veterans suffering with permanent non-service-connected disabilities on exactly the same basis, and in exactly the same amounts, as have long been provided for veterans of the Spanish-American War; namely: $20 for a 10 percent disability; $25 for 25-percent disability; $35 for one-half disability; $50 for three-quarters disability; $60 for permanent total disability; and $100 per month if the veteran is in need of an attendant; with the further provision that, if he is past the age of 65, he shall be considered to be permanently and totally disabled and therefore entitled to $60 pension per month.

Mr. VAN ZANDT. This disability pension plan should not be confused with a general pension plan?

Mr. RICE. Absolutely not. It would provide pensions only for those World War veterans suffering with permanent disabilities even though not service-connected. An option would be left to any man to accept pension either on the basis of a combination of all his disabilities, that is, non-service-connected and service-connected lumped together, if you wish; or to accept compensation for his service-connected disabilities. It might be of interest to call attention to the fact that 80 percent of all service-connected disabled veterans receive compensation of less than $60 a month. There can be no doubt whatsoever but that several scores of thousands of those veterans suffering with partial service-connected disabilities actually, are totally disabled and unemployable by reason of the combination of their service-connected and non-service connected disabilities and therefore would have the option of receiving pension for permanent and total non-service-connected disability or compensation for his partial service-connected disabilities, in the event that this proposal became law. Mr. PETERSON. I might say I have known of a number of instances where a man could not secure employment in private industry and in some instances in the Government service a man was turned down as not being physically fit to perform duties, and yet he could not get rated as total and permanent according to the regulations. A few of those cases came to my attention.

Mr. RICE. I am sure there are many such cases, where a man falls between two bridges and finds he is not entitled to receive any benefits whatsoever. Neither can he get a job, nor can he now get a pension. That situation would be taken care of by this proposed disability pension.

Mr. GATHINGS. This definition would care for those cases?

Mr. RICE. Yes; it would, in my opinion, absolutely care for them. Mr. GATHINGS. That is H. R. 7925?

Mr. RICE. Yes; section 2 of H. R. 7925 would be the most simple of the proposed liberalized definitions of permanent and total disability. It is separately in H. R. 7953, introduced by Congressman Voorhis.