U.S. Congress. HEARINGS - MAY 19 BEFORE THE Copy 1970 JOINT CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS, CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES SEVENTY-SECOND CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JANUARY 11, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 23, 25, 26, 27, AND 30, 1933 JOHN MCDUFFIE, Chairman, Representative from Alabama ARTHUR R. ROBINSON, Senator from Indiana SMITH W. BROOKHART, Senator from Iowa HENRY D. HATFIELD, Senator from West Virginia WALTER F. GEORGE, Senator from Georgia JACOB L. MILLIGAN, Representative from Missouri JOHN W. BOEHNE, JR., Representative from Indiana BURNETT M. CHIPERFIELD, Representative from Illinois UB373 ·A43 1933 copy 3 VETERANS' AFFAIRS JOINT CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS, Wednesday, January 11, 1933. Pursuant to adjournment Monday, January 9, 1933, the committee met in room 335, Senate Office Building. Walter F. George, Senator from Georgia, presided. The ACTING CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. Colonel Taylor, you are appearing first for the Legion? Colonel TAYLOR. Yes, sir. The ACTING CHAIRMAN. You may proceed, Colonel. STATEMENT OF COL. JOHN THOMAS TAYLOR, WASHINGTON, D. C., VICE CHAIRMAN NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN LEGION Colonel TAYLOR. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I believe I express the sentiment of all the veterans' organizations when I say to you that we appreciate this opportunity to come here before this joint committee in response to the legislation which brought it into being. That act, Public Law 212, set out the two purposes of your committee; first, to examine generally and thoroughly into all laws affecting veterans with the idea of establishing some national policy; and second, to investigate so as to recommend economies in the Veterans' Administration. The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs was before your committee and went at great length into a study looking to a national policy, and we had at that time contemplated that that would be the first purpose of this committee, but at the conclusion of his remarks he directed the attention of the committee toward the idea of a program which would effect immediate economy. (At this point Representative John McDuffie, of Alabama, chairman of the committee, entered the room and assumed the chair.) Colonel TAYLOR (continuing). Good morning, Mr. McDuffie. The general's statement, his general statement followed by his first program here to effect immediate economy, was a series of conclusions recommending the cutting down of certain items by certain sums of money and affecting certain numbers of veterans. He was followed by those various organizations interested in this problem, and the chairman, of course, very rightly informed all of them that every citizen and every organization has the right to petition Congress and has the right to appear before this committee. I will address my observations-since there was practically nothing in the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs' remarks for us to break downI will direct my observations to the testimony that was submitted by these various organizations. In doing so I am following two |