For the record, Mr. Chairman, I am Thaddeus J. Dulski, Representative from the 41st District of New York and a member of the full Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

I appreciate very much this opportunity to present briefly my views on pending legislation, in particular on three bills which I introduced last January:

H.R. 5515-To provide additional dependency and indemnity compensation payments to widows with one or more children.

H.R. 5516-To increase the base on which dependency and indemnity compensation for widows is computed.

H.R. 5518-To provide increased dependency and indemnity compensation to widows in need of the regular aid and attendance of another person.

As is quickly apparent, Mr. Chairman, these bills are interrelated. Each is intended to provide more equitable compensation to widows of our servicemen.

All of us are well aware of the heavy responsibilities and financial burdens which fall upon these widows in today's economy.

The cost of bringing up children is rising every year as all of us are keenly aware. I am convinced that cost-of-living increases now justify another increase in the monthly compensation to widows with children of a deceased veteran. I am proposing an increase of $30 monthly for each child below the age of 18.

At the same time I believe there should be an increase in the base on which dependency and indemnity compensation is computed for widows. I propose that the present base of $120 be increased to $135.

Both of these increases are fully justified and in many cases are urgently needed in order for the widows to continue to subsist without having to call upon other agencies of Government for assistance. These widows and their children have made a great sacrifice to our Nation and we have a responsibility to see that they have the means to subsist in a reasonable manner.

Additionally, one of today's great problems is the care of those who cannot care for themselves. This is particularly true in the case of widows of deceased veterans. Several sad cases have been brought to my attention of widows who need the regular aid and attendance of another person.

I am proposing that a widow, otherwise entitled to dependency and indemnity compensation, who requires the regular aid and attendance of another person, be provided an increase of $85 in her monthly compensation. This increase will not nearly cover the cost of such aid in many cases, but I feel it is a reasonable special assistance to these widows.

Mr. Chairman, I am certain that you and your colleagues will give these matters your most serious consideration.

Thank you.

Mr. DORN. Thank you, Mr. Dulski. We will now hear from our friend, Congressman Hosmer. Mr. Hosmer, go right ahead.

STATEMENT OF HON. CRAIG HOSMER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 2087

Mr. HOSMER. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I appreciate the opportunity of submitting a statement to this committee to urge favorable consideration of my bill, H.R. 2087, which would amend title 38, section 410 (a), of the United States Code in such a way as to provide survivor benefits to veterans entitled to retired or retainer pay based upon either 20 or more years of active military service or a service-connected disability rated at 50 per centum or more.

Enactment of this legislation would fill a need which now exists to provide some reasonable compensation to the widows of those uniformed service personnel included in the proposal. As matters now stand, unless these individuals have some form of private income or their wives have some private income, their pay and other allowances while in active service are insufficient, in the vast majority of cases, to make even reasonably adequate provision for their widows who may survive them. Active service in the uniformed services entails many changes of duty and additional expenses beyond that which is experienced by usual civilian pursuits. Consequently, dedicated career personnel who devote the major portion of their productive years to the service usually find themselves without the ownership of homes and without other means with which to provide for their widows.

There is a further consideration. Many who have acquired physical disability while in active service have not had that fact established while they performed such service. In many cases, such physical disability manifests itself only after retirement or separation from active service. It is not possible, in many cases, to establish that the disability was service connected. The proposal contained in this bill would take care of these cases of physical deterioration while on active service under circumstances which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to establish service-connected death in proceedings before the Veterans' Administration for that purpose.

The wives of personnel in our uniformed services who serve on a career basis, in a large sense, serve with their husbands. They are subjected to the same financial limitations and to the living conditions which are experienced by those upon whom they are dependent. It is unthinkable that they should, after long service or after their husbands have become physically disabled, be placed in a situation of privation or even penury. There are many examples of widows of officers and men of the services who have given their whole lives to their country, who are subjected to the most menial of employment after the deaths of their husbands, if indeed they are employable at all, due to age and physical condition. If they are unable to provide for themselves, they must either become a burden upon their children or, even worse, a charge upon the community. We in this country should be able to provide something better than that for them.

As a matter of good governmental practice, we should have the career personnel of our uniformed services, who are the hard core of

the success of those services and the national defense of our country, serve throughout their careers with a feeling that they will not leave their wives destitute. This policy is one which governs, or should govern, in business and industry, where, at least, there is not a limitation upon the opportunity for those who are so engaged to make adequate provision for their widows. It should not be less so with our career uniformed service personnel. Without the maintenance of a realistic policy in this respect, it can confidently be said that large numbers of the best of our officers and men leave the service to enter fields of occupation in which they have a much more reasonable opportunity to provide for those who are dependent upon them.

Mr. Chairman, the requirement for some adequate legislation to remedy the current injustice is apparent. Enactment of H.R. 2087 would correct the present inequity. I urge the subcommittee to study this measure carefully and, as I stated earlier, I hope that the bill will receive your favorable consideration.

Thank you very much for permitting me to submit this statement. Mr. DORN. Thank you so much, Mr. Hosmer. We will be glad to hear a statement by our colleague, Mr. Quillen. Mr. Quillen.

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES H. QUILLEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 6263

Mr. QUILLEN. Mr. Chairman, I am extremely pleased and privileged to have this opportunity to submit a statement in behalf of my bill, H.R. 6263.

My bill prohibits the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs from requiring an annual income statement from certain pensioners who are 72 years of age or older. As would be expected, this provision or the abolishment of this requirement to report annual income to continue to receive a VA pension particularly affects veterans of World War I, whose average age is now 74.

After a veteran reaches the age of 72, it is almost impossible for that veteran to increase his income. In fact, except for social security and other increases in public retirement programs, a veteran's income from age 72 on does not increase. The harsh truth of the matter is that a veteran's income decreases, along with the added expenditures for medicines and drugs for himself and his wife, caused by advancing age. Mr. Chairman, in my particular area, the question of distance is involved with respect to the filing of an income questionnaire. In the small towns and rural areas of America, many veterans take it upon themselves to personally fill out the questionnaire rather than make the long trip to a Veterans' Administration office or medical facility, where assistance can be obtained from a VA official. Likewise, in order to seek the assistance of a veterans organization service officer, it often requires a long trip. What happens is that the veteran fills out the questionnaire himself, which results in incorrect or incomplete forms.

Even worse, many of these older veterans reach the stage where helplessness seems to set in. Some are confused, bewildered, and frightened. In the end they do not fill out the questionnaire. Failure to return the completed questionnaire results in the termination or suspension of their pension payment.

Representatives of veterans organizations tell me that many veterans are suspended from the pension rolls each year because of the failure of older veterans to comprehend what the income questionnaire really means and their failure to complete it. The hardship that this works on many of these older veterans is obvious. The suspension of a VA pension payment to an older veteran causes much more than a hardship—it is a personal catastrophe to him.

My bill will eliminate this requirement, and I am glad to say that it will not cause any additional cost or appropriation of money. Information reaching me indicates that the Government would actually save money by the approval of my bill. The cost of assembling, mailing, and computing these income questionnaires for the number of veterans who have reached 72 or older would save an estimated several million dollars a year.

In summary, Mr. Chairman, H.R. 6263 is a most meritorious bill. which will provide much needed assistance to the remaining 1.6 million veterans of World War I, almost all of whom have now attained age 72 or older. The elimination of the requirement to file the annual income questionnaire will help not only these veterans but further reduce expenditures in the administration of this vital program for older and disabled veterans.

It is urgently recommended that this subcommittee take favorable action on H.R. 6263 and that it be reported and passed by the House as soon as practicable.

Thank you for the privilege and opportunity to present this statement in behalf of my bill.

Mr. DORN. Thank you, Mr. Quillen. We will hear now from our colleague, Mr. Corman. Mr. Corman, you may proceed.

STATEMENT BY HON. JAMES C. CORMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 7461 AND H.R. 7462

Mr. CORMAN. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee in support of two bills which I introduced earlier this year that would help to ease the financial hardship for many widows of the Nation's veterans.

I speak first to H.R. 7462, which would increase the dependency and indemnity compensation payments to widows with one or more children by paying to the widow of a veteran who died from service-connected causes an additional $25 a month for each child over and above what is paid under the present formula.

During the difficult years when such widows are raising their orphaned children many financial hardships are encountered. The hardship increases for widows with more than two children. At present, a widow with no children receives the same DIC payment each month as a widow with several children. While a widow with several children does have her DIC payment supplemented by social security payments, these DIC payments do not increase when there are more than two children in the family. For example, a widow with four children could receive the same combined total of DIC and social security as she would receive if she had only two children. The addional payment of $25 per month for each child, under the provisions of my bill,

will give added protection to the widow against the hardship of raising her fatherless children.

My second proposal before the committee today is H.R. 7461, which would increase the base on which dependency and indemnity compensation for widows is computed.

Under present formula, a widow whose husband died from serviceconnected causes receives $120 per month, plus 12 percent of the current basic pay of a serviceman with the same rank and service. Under the provisions of the 1957 legislation which established DIC, a widow received $112 a month, plus the 12 percent. In 1963, the basic rate was increased to $120 per month. My bill would increase this to $130 per month, and retaining the 12 percent.

No change in the basic rate has been made since 1963, despite a continuous, substantial increase in the cost of living. It is true that as military pay has increased, these payments have also been increased, but widows of servicemen who were in the lowest pay grades and with short periods of service have not benefited significantly from such pay raises.

The U.S. Veterans Advisory Commission, in its 1968 report, recommended the enactment of these two proposals. The need for this legislation is central to one of the most basic responsibilities this Nation has to its veterans the responsibility to care for a surviving widow and orphaned children. I fully support the members of the Commission in their introductory statement to their report—that :

The security of this nation is based on the commitment of those citizens who have served in the uniformed forces of our country. This contribution on their part has nearly always involved the loss of economic opportunity; often it has required the sacrifice of the veteran's health, and in many instances it has cost the supreme sacrifice, life itself. The strength and prestige of this nation depend upon this continued contribution. The future status of this country depend on the mutual obligation and commitment between the government and its citizens. Mr. Chairman, nowhere is our commitment greater than to adequately care for the widow and orphaned children of a veteran whose life was given in the service of his country. Certainly, the least we can do is to see that their compensation is somewhat more adequate than they now have.

I hope that the committee will take favorable action on these bills and that they will be enacted during this session of the Congress. Thank you.

Mr. DORN. Thank you, Mr. Corman. And without objection, any of our colleagues who introduced bills or who are interested in this subject will be permitted to submit statements for the record. Their statements and others received will be included at this point in the record.

(The following statements were subsequently received and made a part of the record.)

STATEMENT BY THE HONORABLE CHARLES S. GUBSER A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 1140

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, As the sponsor of H.R. 1140, I appreciate this opportunity to present the reasons for the introduction of this Bill. It is unfortunate that I will be in Europe on official business and therefore will not be available to answer your questions.

For a number of years retired service personnel or their widows in my district have sought my assistance in obtaining Dependency and Indemnity Compensa