Page images
PDF
EPUB

of caring for the disabled and their dependents have not increased disproportionately to the rising cost of war, to the rising cost of civilian living, or to the increasing income of our Nation.

If it is trite it is nevertheless true to say that our veterans didn't start the wars. They only fought them.

If it is trite it is nevertheless true to say that those who begrudge the cost of benefits and services to veterans would have lost the right to make any statement if a nation rich and strong and powerful as is ours had not been preserved by those who are our veterans.

It was gratifying to hear our new President, in his message on the state of the Union, reveal his views; and at this time I would like to include in my statement this portion of his speech:

"I repeat that there are many important subjects of which I make no mention today. Among these is our great and growing body of veterans. America has traditionally been generous in caring for the disabled and the widow and orphan of the fallen. These millions remain close to all our hearts. Proper care of our uniformed citizens and appreciation of the past service of our veterans are part of our accepted governmental responsibilities."

THE VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION CAN BE IMPROVED

In every office where the Veterans' Administration is functioning there is a representative of the American Legion performing day-to-day services for the veteran and his dependents.

No day passes without some suggestion going from the American Legion for the administrative improvement of the operations of the Veterans' Administration. While we approve the retention of the Veterans' Administration as the single Federal agency to handle veterans' affairs, we are at no time completely satisfied with the manner in which that agency functions.

We have studied the reports of the various groups which have reported adversely on the Veterans' Administration. We have seen the defects in the recommendations which would have dismembered the Veterans' Administration. We have presented to the Congress the result of our thinking in such matters. We know there are bills already presented to the 83d Congress which would renew such proposals of dismemberment. We doubt that your committee would be a party to the reintroduction of such proposals. At the proper time and place we shall place before Congress our objections to such proposals.

As a part of our program to secure a positive approach in the matter of dealing with veterans' affairs, we should like to call your attention to a series of recommendations proposing a reorganization of the Veterans' Administration included in a monograph presented to the public by the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs.

It is the thinking of the American Legion that this positive set of recommendations has been too long delayed. Nevertheless, the proposed reorganization is in line with our idea that now is the time for positive action.

Most of you have seen this monograph, which was announced by the Adminis trator of Veterans' Affairs last November 26. These recommendations of the Administrator have these positive values:

1. They can be placed in operation administratively. This would mean making use of the authority previously granted by the Congress to the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs.

2. The recommendations have the advantage of being a comprehensive acceptance of the things which can be done for the good of veterans' affairs within the framework of the existing Veterans' Administration.

3. The Congress, the public, and other groups of citizens would thus have the opportunity to see a reorganization tried in practice and without the disruptive experience of tearing down old agencies and creating new ones at greater cost to the American taxpayer. If definite improvement is not achieved through placing such recommendations in effect, then it would be possible to correct the existing defects by other action.

4. The proposed reorganization has the advantage of selecting from the investigatory reports made since 1947 these recommendations which seem to portend the greatest group of administrative improvements.

5. We hope that your committee will find it possible to give the greatest consideration to these administrative recommendations of the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs. For too long such an official has considered it unethical to

make recommendations regarding veterans' affairs. We are glad to see this tardy correction of such an attitude.

Our own staff has studied the Administrator's reorganization plan. Along with our study of this plan we have given some consideration to the changes that are already being placed in effect in the operation of the Veterans' Administration. We disagree with the Administrator regarding some of the details of the plans. We want to give further study to others. But in broad general principle we can see that they will build a framework on which the agency itself can go forward in a positive manner.

The Administrator already has the value of our thinking with regard to this proposed reorganization of the Veterans' Administration. If, as we hope, the plan is given whatever final authority is necessary so that it can be placed in operation, then we hope there will be a holiday from consideration of other legislative and administrative proposals which would have the effect of lessening the chance for success of the current Gray proposals for an administrative reorganization. This is not to say that we oppose further changes in the plan, nor to suggest that it is ever improper to question the operation of any public trust. We do reiterate our suggestion that it is time for positive action, for an abandonment of suspicion and distrust, and for restoration of confidence in those public officials who are sincerely working for the best interests of all concerned.

FEDERAL BOARD OF HOSPITALIZATION

Experience has taught that errors have been made in the location and in the number of certain types of hospitals constructed for the Federal medical and surgical care of the disabled veteran.

It is our considered opinion that there should be created a Federal Board of Hospitalization with sufficient authority to prevent the repetition of such errors in the future.

There is no secret in the knowledge that greater emphasis must be given the medical and surgical needs of the mentally disturbed, of the tuberculous, of those suffering from the catastrophic diseases such as cancer and arthritis, and of the chronic illnesses among the aging veterans.

Attention can be given these factors insofar as the authorization of further Federal veterans' hospitals is concerned through a strong Federal Board of Hospitalization.

We shall continue to oppose the efforts of those who submit proposals for a Federal Board of Hospitalization which have as their purpose the desire to create a superagency controlling the administration of the Veterans' Administration Department of Medicine and Surgery.

STABILIZATION SHOULD BE PROVIDED FOR VETERANS' PROGRAMS

In the past the Veterans' Administration has been critically assailed for policies not under its control. The Veterans' Administration has been given no credit for the fact that, while almost every other public agency has operated at increased cost, the cost of veterans' benefits and services has declined by 38 percent since 1947, while the veteran population has continued to climb.

That is no mean accomplishment. Those who view the future costs of veterans' benefits and services with such dark pessimism might well give consideration to this officially recorded fact.

To the extent that your committee's jurisdiction covers the questions involved, we would ask and urge that you do what you can to see that a stabilized plan of operation is granted the Veterans' Administration by the Congress.

These factors we consider important; and the pertinent changes are, in our opinion, desirable:

1. If the Veterans' Administration is to be harshly criticized in public for its shortcomings, then such roadblocks as the nonprofessional control of medicine and surgery as practiced in the slide-rule consideration of medical and hospital programs by protected employees in the Bureau of the Budget should be removed.

2. It is imperative that the Veterans' Administration, now practicing medicine and surgery second to none, be given adequate funds to operate the beds that have been provided by the Congress.

Every American family which has had to pay for hospital and surgical treatment within the past 2 years knows the high cost of such care and treatment. How inconsistent it is to maintain, day after day, month after month, year after

29707-53--2

year, approximately 10,000 empty beds in a chain of fine hospitals simply be cause the Bureau of the Budget has been intent on reducing the quality of such medical care and of returning to the type of institutional medicine that was practiced prior to World War II.

3. No agency can secure the fullest measure of service from its employees when that agency is constantly beset by threats of, and the execution of, reductions in force. The Veterans' Administration has been bedeviled by such reductions; and it is sad to relate that the loss is in the most desirable types of professional employees who will not further serve under such a protracted spell of insecurity, unstable conditions, and lack of confidence in the future of the work they are employed to do.

There was a period following World War II when the regular procedures were not followed in selecting new employees in the Federal Government. Then these temporary employees created a problem when it became necessary to readjust personnel ceilings in the light of reductions in force.

Although this situation has been corrected by the fact that, in general, Federal employees take an examination before being placed on the job at this time, there still is a great difficulty in keeping highly technical and desirable employees on the force in any mass reductions. In such situations it is all too often the case that the professional personnel who have been secured on the basis of assignment to the jobs which are in line with their training lose interest in the job when it is apparent that the teams cannot be maintained to permit full use of their talents.

In the Veterans' Administration Department of Medicine and Surgery we have seen highly scarce doctors, nurses, dentists, and technicians leaving when reductions in force have made it necessary to cut off other grades of employees. The loss of the other types of employees does not permit the professional talent to function in the positions for which they were employed. Such reductions in force also create great fear of the instability of the VA program.

An example of what can be a demoralizing factor is found in the current effort of the Veterans' Administration to interpret the meaning of the recently issued letter by Budget Director Dodge putting a tight limit on the number of new employees who shall be selected and in the completion of construction jobs which make for the greater efficiency and use of the physical plant of the Veterans' Administration already in existence.

The current Dodge letter comes at an unfortunate time when the Veterans' Administration has already suffered one reduction in force after another as contrasted with other agencies where, in general, the number of employees has been increased rather than decreased. We think Congress should give special attention to the needs of the Veterans' Administration in such a situation. A general reduction in employment in the Federal Government should not be applied to the Veterans' Administration without close examination of the further demoralization that can come to employees with professional status who can see no prospect of a stabilized employment or program in the Veterans' Administration in the near or distant future.

OUR PROGRAM FOR BENEFITS LEGISLATION

The majority of the pertinent national convention and national executive committee rehabilitation resolutions calling for new legislative action have been covered in bills already presented. Some are being prepared for early presentation to the 83d Congress.

The purport of such legislation is discussed in the resolutions of our governing bodies which are attached to and made a part of this statement.

We believe this is a modest program which the American Legion is presenting to cover the authorization of Federal benefits. There is really nothing new being presented for the consideration of the 83d Congress.

Principally these bills ask that Congress liberalize the basis for service connection of certain chronic diseases; that Congress adjust certain disability compensation and pension rates; and that Congress establish parity for the award of death pensions to widows and orphans of deceased veterans of World War I, World War II, and the Korean conflict.

SUMMARY OF OUR SUGGESTIONS FOR A POSITIVE PROGRAM FOR THE VA

1. We believe the plan for administrative reorganization of the Veterans' Administration, as devised by the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs from the rec

ommendations of various investigating bodies and groups made during recent years, deserves the attention of all concerned and that, until this plan has been given an opportunity to prove its worth, contrary legislative reorganization plans should be given a holiday.

2. We believe a stabilized program for the operation of the VA Department of Medicine and Surgery is long overdue. It is inconsistent to have the Bureau of the Budget as the nonprofessional dominating control of the highly professional program of medicine and surgery. In this day there is no such thing as highquality cheap medicine.

3. There should be created a Federal Board of Hospitalization given enough authority to inform Congress and the executive branch of government when and where further hospitals should be built and the number and types of such hospitals. Such a Board should not be a superagency administering the medical and surgical programs of the Veterans' Administration or of any other Federal agency.

4. Keeping in mind that the cost of veterans' affairs has been reduced by 38 percent since 1947, while most other public and private costs have been increasing, realistic appraisals of the needs for stabilized employment programs in the Veterans' Administration should be made.

5. If specific phases of programs and specific employees of the VA do not live up to the promise of performance, then those programs and those employees should be specifically reexamined. The overall aura of distrust and suspicion should be replaced with one of confidence and security so that the disabled veteran and the dependents of those who have died in or following service for the Nation in the Armed Forces shall continue to get the compensatory awards Congress has provided for them.

6. The veterans of our wars of the 20th century have preserved our freedoms. They were set aside as a class when they were called for service. It is basic to us that such veterans are a special class and that they earned the special distinction of veteran during armed conflict in the military services.

7. We ask for a modest program of legislation to remove inequities in the present program of benefits to veterans and their dependents.

8. We ask for the funds that are necessary to operate the programs of benefits and services provided by Congress. It is inconsistent to construct hospital plants and then to deny operating funds for such hospitals so that there shall be approximately 10,000 unavailable beds while an average of 22,000 veterans is denied the use of beds in such hospitals. Such lack of funds to use hospitals already in being smacks of false economy.

Madam Chairman and members of the committee, that concludes my formal presentation of our views at this time. If there are questions that can be answered here, we shall be happy to have you present them.

You know already that our entire staff is ready and willing to work with you now and in the future.

SUMMARY OF AMERICAN LEGION (1952) RESOLUTIONS ON LEGISLATION TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE HOUSE VETERANS' AFFAIRS COMMITTEE IN THE 1ST SESSION OF THE 83D CONGRESS

REHABILITATION

POLICY

Veterans' Administration, funds; Resolution 578, New York, 1952

Resolved, That the American Legion recommend to the Congress, the Bureau of the Budget, and the Veterans' Administration that there should be a stabilized program of requirements both as to funds and personnel in the VA upon which an understanding could be reached and action taken in ample time before the beginning of each fiscal year to assure continuity and development of the highest quality and quantity of service commensurate with workloads.

Veterans' Administration, protest curtailment of contact service funds; Resolution 88, New York 1952

Resolved, That we protest inost vigorously any elimination or curtailment of Veterans' Administration contact services or offices.

Veterans' Administration, protest cuts in funds; Resolution 404, New York, 1952 Resolved, That the American Legion protest the severe cut in appropriations for the Veterans' Administration and that such protest be forwarded to our elected officials on the national level.

MEDICAL AND HOSPITAL

High-standard Veterans' Administration medical service be continued, funds; Resolution 193, New York, 1952

Resolved, That the American Legion disapprove any legislation, pending or contemplated, which would curtail or eliminate the high standard of medical service now accorded to veterans, and that we recommend in the interest of economy and efficient administration that all appropriations limiting or curtailing the fine medical service accorded to veterans be reinstated, and we further recommend that all rights previously accorded to veterans be continued in full force and effect and be made available to the veterans of the Korean conflict. Federal Board of Hospitalization; Resolution 7, NEC, October 1952

Resolved, That the 83d Congress enact legislation to establish a Federal Board of Hospitalization cloaked with full authority to coordinate and assure efficient and complete utilization of Federal hospitals within and between the three agencies; viz, United States Veterans' Administration, United States Department of Defense, and United States Public Health Service.

Veterans' Administration Department of Medicine and Surgery, funds for; Resolution 25, NEC, October 1952

Resolved, That we urge the President immediately to authorize, through the Bureau of the Budget, the accelerated spending of appropriated funds to restore the temporary loss of services in the operation of the VA Department of Medicine and Surgery until the Congress can get a realistic picture of existing shortages and take corrective action to relieve the distressing plight faced by the sick veterans of our Nation.

Seeking appropriation of sufficient funds; Resolution 272, NEC, October 25, 1952

Seeking appropriation of sufficient funds to guarantee to disabled veterans those benefits previously provided by law and to assure that VA Department of Medicine and Surgery may continue present high standard of medical service. Hospitalization of veterans; Resolution 576, New York, 1952

Resolved, That the American Legion reaffirm its stand for the provision of medical and hospital care for those with service disablement, hospital care for veterans with disablements not adjudicated as due to service where such veterans cannot reasonably afford to pay for such care and treatment, and that such medical care and hospital treatment shall be provided by the VA; that the Congress should determine the number of beds to be provided in the VA; and that the national legislative commission be authorized to act to the end that there shall be no impairment of the care of the disabled veteran nor loss of his identity as a veteran in other groups of Federal beneficiaries.

Hospital beds, additional construction and funds; Resolution 518, New York, 1952 Resolved, That the Congress of the United States is hereby petitioned to enact legislation which will direct the Veterans' Administration to construct or provide a sufficient number of additional hospital beds for treatment and medical care to medically indigent veterans, including those veterans suffering the ravages of chronic diseases or disabilities regardless of service connection, including the aging veterans in the geriatric category.

Hospital beds for mental and TB cases, additional beds and funds; Resolution 274, New York, 1952

Resolved, That the American Legion present to the proper committees of Congress the urgent need for additional beds in order to properly care for our mentally ill, active TB cases, as well as proper care for the chronically ill veterans, so that veterans now being denied hospitalization because of lack of beds may be cared for by the VA in the future rather than being placed in charitable institutions in the local communities.

« PreviousContinue »