Report of special boards of review, as of December 19, 1933—Continued 'Board no. 2 detailed to Muskogee, Okla., Sept. 26, 1933, to Nov. 6, 1933. 34329-34--16 General HINES. The disallowed cases, and with these I think we are primarily concerned, of the total, 27,645 were unanimous decisions of the members of the board, all members of the board agreeing on those decisions. Of the disallowed cases the Administration member appealed in 120, and the outside members appealed in 1,316. The administrative and outside members combined appealed in 177 cases. Senator BYRNES. You say the Administration members appealed in 120 cases? General HINES. Yes, the straight Administration members. Senator BYRNES. And the outside members appealed in how many cases? General HINES. In 1,316. Senator BYRNES. Then you say your Administration and outside members appealed in a certain number of cases? General HINES. Yes; in other words, one Administration member and one outside member would appeal. That happened in 177 cases. The procedure that will be followed in those dissenting opinions is this. They go to the final board of appeals and are reviewed there. If the board agrees with the side or viewpoint taken by the dissenting opinion, they say so and the case is settled that way. If it is against the veteran, the veteran then has a final appeal within 6 months from that decision. Senator BYRNES. If it was not asked before I came into the room, there is one thing I want to ask you about now. It has been stated that in the consideration of these appeals you give preference to the cases where the Administration officials on the board have decided with you, as against a preference to the cases in which the veteran is interested in the appeal. If that be true I should like to know why you give preference to a case of that character instead of giving preference to the appeal by the veteran. General HINES. Let me give you just what the chairman of that appeal board says about that matter, Mr. Chairman. Senator BYRNES. Who is that chairman? General HINES. Governor Pollard is the chairman of the board. Senator BYRNES. All right; let us hear it. (Mr. Moore read the following statement:) At the hearings before the Senate Appropriations Committee on veterans' affairs certain questions were asked concerning the operation of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, the number of cases handled and the result of the decisions. 1. When the Board started operating December 1, 1933, only the administrative appeals which were entered from split decisions by Special Review Boards, which appeals were based on the evidence then of record, were ready for consideration. These administrative appeals by the members of the President's Special Review Boards were without prejudice to the veterans' subsequent right of review on appeal, at which time he would be privileged to present additional evidence and appear personally if he so desired. Veterans' appeals are sidered only after certification by the veteran that all evidence obtainable by him has been presented and an additional certification by the Veterans' Administration Facility having jurisdiction that the evidence has been fully and completely developed. con As of January 27, 1934, there were 3,217 veterans' appeals which had been certified and docketed as ready for appeals action by the Board of Veterans' Appeals. There were also 1,215 administrative appeals from Special Review Board actions. The 1,215 claims files in which there was involved Special Review Board Administrative Appeals were received prior to December 1, 1933 and before certifications of veterans' appeals. The delay in certification of veterans appeals was occasioned by the review of the folders to determine the extent to which additional development of evidence was in order. As of January 27, 1934, 639 administrative appeals had been reviewed, of which number 309 were denied, 300 allowed, 30 remanded and 4 withdrawn for lack of jurisdiction. Other than those remanded or withdrawn the denials constituted 50.7 percent and the allowances 49.3 percent of those disposed of. Other than administrative appeals the Board has made original decisions in 43 Special Review Board cases. Of this number 22 or 51.17 percent were allowed and 21 or 48.83 percent were denied. Decisions have been rendered in 24 emergency officers' retirement cases on the veterans' appeal, of which 9 were allowed and 15 denied. The Board has handled to date 782 appealed cases and 48 original decisions; has remanded 44 cases for further development; 16 appeals have been withdrawn; 399 actions complained of affirmed; 336 actions complained of reversed and 3 actions complained of reversed in part. The administrative appeals as such are not given priority over veterans' appeals, since the records indicate that many veterans have taken advantage of the procedure permitting them to, on motion, have the case advanced on the docket and placed in line for immediate consideration. 2. Concerning the suggestion to the committee that the Congress direct the Veterans' Administration to have the Board of Veterans' Appeals consider first disallowed cases on which appeals are pending, the answer is that such cases are receiving consideration by the Board of Veterans' Appeals when certified and ready for final consideration up to the Board's capacity. Cases are not called for until the Board is ready to proceed with their consideration. In this connection an increase in the auxiliary personnel of the Board has been authorized and the assignment of the additional personnel is being accomplished at the present time. This personnel will be taken largely from those field stations where the activities have been curtailed, thus making competent personnel available for reassignment. A portion of the Board has been working overtime since January 8, 1934 pending the assignment of the added personnel. The statement was made before the committee that the Board of Veterans' Appeals is not sitting as a Board on cases for appellate consideration. The witness evidently confused the procedure obtaining in personal appearances before a representative of the Board with the procedure controlling in the Board deliberations on appeal cases. The Board is divided into five sections of three members each. The respective sections have authority to make a decision for the Board where the three members are in agreement. Board deliberation is had on every case disposed of. Due to the volume of business before the Board of Veterans' Appeals, tentative decisions are prepared by medical and legal consultants. These decisions are accepted as written in approximately 20 percent of the cases and modified or changed materially in 80 percent of the cases. Personal appearances are arranged routinely before a member of the Board rather than a section in order to expedite business, and since a verbatio report is made of the proceedings at the hearing, such report is available for the other Board members to study. If witnesses appear, hearings are invariably arranged before the full section of the Board. Of the 17 members of the Board, including the chairman and vice chairman, the record indicates that 13 are ex-service and 4 nonservice. Senator BYRNES. I do not quite get the answer. I was following the statistics. General HINES. The answer is simply that they are taking the cases as they are certified; and, as I understood, the charges made were that we are picking out the cases that were against the veteran. Senator BYRNES. I suppose that was the impression, but still I want to know why this could not be done: Where the case was disallowed, and the veteran appeals, why can you not give him preference? General HINES. We do give him preference, provided his case is ready. Senator BYRNES. Of course if it is not ready it would not be fair to him. General HINES. We require that all the evidence be developed and certified so that there will be no question when this board acts on his On these administrative appeals there is no reason in the world case. |