COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS

ROBERT R. REYNOLDS, North Carolina, Chairman

WESLEY E. McDONALD, Clerk
WALTER I. SMALLEY, Special Assistant

PHARMACY CORPS

TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1943

UNITED STATES SENATE,
COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS,

Washington, D. C.

The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a. m. in the committee room, Capitol Building, Senator Robert R. Reynolds (chairman) presiding.

Present: Senators Reynolds (chairman), E. C. Johnson, Kilgore, Bridges, Gurney, and Lodge.

The CHAIRMAN. We will now take up H. R. 997, the Pharmacy Corps bill. This measure was passed in the House by a large majority, and I will ask the reporter to embody it at this point in the proceedings.

(H. R. 997 is as follows:)

[H. R. 997, 78th Cong., 1st sess.]

AN ACT To amend certain provisions of the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916, as amended, relating to the Medical Department of the Regular Army

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) the first sentence of the first paragraph of section 10 of the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916, as amended, is amended by striking out "the Medical Administrative Corps" and inserting in lieu thereof "the Pharmacy Corps."

(b) The second sentence of the first paragraph of section 10 of such Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "The number of officers of the Medical Corps shall be one thousand four hundred and twenty-four, and of the Pharmacy Corps, seventy-two."

(c) The third sentence of the second paragraph of section 10 of such Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "An officer of the Pharmacy Corps shall be promoted to the grade of first lieutenant after three years' service, to the grade of captain after six years' service, to the grade of major after twelve years' service to the grade of lieutenant colonel after twenty years' service, and to the grade of colonel after twenty-six years' service."

(d) The last sentence of the third paragraph of section 10 of such Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "For purposes of future promotion, any person so appointed in the Medical or Dental Corps shall be considered as having had, on the date of appointment, service equal to that of the junior officer of his grade and corps now in the Regular Army; and in the Veterinary or Pharmacy Corps sufficient service to bring him to his grade under the rules established in this section."

SEC. 2. The last two sentences of section 24c of the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916, as amended, are amended to read as follows: "Existing laws providing for the examination of officers for promotion are hereby repealed, except those relating to physical examination, which shall continue to be required for promotion to all grades below that of brigadier general, and except also those governing the examination of officers of the Medical, Dental, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Corps. Officers of said four corps shall be examined in accordance with laws governing examination of officers of the Medical Corps."

SEC. 3. The fourth sentence of section 24e of the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "Appointments in the Pharmacy Corps shall be made in the grade of second lieutenant from pharmacists

between ages of twenty-one and thirty-two years who are graduates of recognized schools or colleges of pharmacy requiring four years of instruction for graduation, under such regulations and after such examinations as the Secretary of War shall prescribe."

SEC. 4. The first and second provisos of section 47c of the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916, as amended, are amended to read as follows: "Provided, That any medical, dental, pharmacy, or veterinary student may be admitted to a Medical, Dental, Pharmacy, or Veterinary Corps unit of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps for a course of training at the rate of ninety hours of instruction per annum for the four college years, and if at the end of two years of such training he has been selected by the professor of military science and tactics and the head of the institution for advanced training, and has agreed in writing to continue in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps for the remainder of his course at the institution, and has agreed in writing to pursue the course in camp training prescribed by the Secretary of War, he may be furnished, at the expense of the United States, with commutation of subsistence at such rate not exceeding the cost of the garrison ration prescribed for the Army, as may be fixed by the Secretary of War, during the remainder of his service in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, not exceeding two years: Provided further, That any Reserve officer who is also a medical, dental, pharmacy, or veterinary student may be admitted to such Medical, Dental, Pharmacy, or Veterinary Corps unit for such training, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe:". Passed the House of Representatives June 21, 1943. Attest:

SOUTH TRIMBLE,

Clerk.

The CHAIRMAN. I have some telegrams here, one from Pullman, Wash., addressed to me:

We urge your committee's support of Pharmacy Corps bill now before the Senate Military Affairs Committee.

FACULTY AND STUDENTS OF PHARMACY,
STATE COLLEGE OF WASHINGTON.

Another telegram under date of June 28, 1943, from Ann Arbor, Mich., addressed to me. This telegram is as follows:

In the interest of the health of the enlisted men of Army the faculty of the College of Pharmacy of the University of Michigan urge the immediate favorable action on the Pharmacy Corps bill in the Senate.

C. H. STOCKING, Secretary. Another telegram from Kansas City, Mo., under date of June 28, as follows:

Urge support Pharmacy Corps bill tomorrow morning. America needs it. PINAH LEE HOLMES. The CHAIRMAN. Now, Senator Bridges, I suggest that we wait just a few minutes to see if any of the others come in.

Gentlemen, the first witness who will testify this morning will be Congressman Carl T. Durham. We have here a number of other witnesses who will testify and the witnesses will be heard in the following order:

United States Congressman Carl T. Durham.

United States Congressman Harve Tibbott, of Pennsylvania.

Mr. L. S. Ray, acting executive secretary, national legislative committee of the American Legion.

Dr. H. Evert Kendig, chairman, committee on status of pharmacists in the Government service, 1808 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

Four other gentlemen are here, not for the purpose of testifying, but for the purpose of answering any and all questions that may be directed to them by members of the committee. Their names and addresses are as follows: