RETIREMENT PAY BASIC FORMULA FOR VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT: 2-1/2% x BASIC PAY x YEARS OF SERVICE BASIC FORMULA FOR PHYSICAL DISABILITY RETIREMENT: % OF DISABILITY x BASIC PAY EXAMPLE: CAPTAIN (0-3) WITH 6 YEARS OF SERVICE AND 40% DISABILITY OTHER MILITARY ALLOWANCES AND BENEFITS RESERVE READJUSTMENT PAY Reservists who are involuntarily released from active duty after completion of at least five years of continuous active duty receive one half month's basic pay for each year of active service through the eighteenth year. MEDICAL AND DENTAL CARE - Complete medical and dental care for active service personnelalso for retired members, subject to capability of medical facilities to provide it. "CONTINGENCY OPTION" BENEFIT Serviceman can elect to receive a reduced amount of retirement pay, and thus have a part of the retirement pay continued to the widow and/or children if death occurs after retirement. "'DISLOCATION" ALLOWANCE - One month's quarters allowance for each move when dependents are moved pursuant to serviceman's official transfer orders. TRAILER MOVEMENT ALLOWANCE - Up to 20 cents per mile for movement of house trailers (in lieu of "dislocation allowance"). STATION ALLOWANCE - Military personnel in overseas areas are provided an allowance where necessary to defray the average excess costs, as compared with average U. S. costs, for housing and for other costs-of-living. Allowances vary according to the grade of the member, the number of dependents, local housing costs experienced, and the local cost-of-living index. OFF DUTY EDUCATION duty education. DEPENDENT SCHOOLING Government pays up to 75% of tuition cost for certain types of off Services operate schools in isolated areas or pay for dependents primary or secondary schooling up to specified limits where public schools are not available or are inadequate. COMMISSARIES AND POST EXCHANGES Services operate commissary sales stores and Post Exchanges as a convenience to military personnel. Profits from Post Exchange operation go into Services' non-appropriated funds for support of recreational activities. RECREATION Libraries, clubs, athletic facilities, swimming pools, hobby shops, etc., HOME LOANS - Active service personnel may purchase homes under loans insured by the LEAVE AND LIBERTY 30 calendar days of leave authorized for all military personnel. Liberty up to 3 days in duration also authorized (on a limited basis, generally over weekends). No more than 60 days leave may be accrued; however, an individual who has not taken all of his authorized leave at the time of separation from the service receives a cash settlement for the number of days of unused leave. This is a recurring "benefit" with each enlistment cycle for enlisted men who do not take all leave authorized. TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION - Per Diem allowance up to $12 or specified mileage allowance authorized for temporary duty travel in the United States. Mileage allowance of 6 cents for serviceman but not more than 24 cents per mile per military family authorized for permanent travel. Household effects moved at Government expense up to specified weight limitations for each pay grade. NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER, PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA, INC., Hon. OLIN TEAGUE, Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, DEAR MR. TEAGUE: The members of the New England Chapter, PVA, are pleased at the introduction of H.R. 3350 which would extend a 60-day grace period for service-connected disabled veterans before any reduction in their aid and attendance award was made as a result of their hospitalization. There is sometimes a delay of weeks or even months of a compensation check after a veteran is in for a checkup, that can cause a few bad moments even though we know the check will come sooner or later. I am sure that the passing of H.R. 3350 would save in time and work as well as money for the Veterans' Administration. The NEPVA members would appreciate any help that you might be able to give on this recommendation. Once again, thank you for introducing H.R. 3350. The NEPVA members would also appreciate your support of H.R. 2517. This bill would exclude social security benefits in the computation of VA pension. This would be a financial help to the non-service-connected veterans. H.R. 696, introduced by Representative Thomas Lane, of Massachusetts, would, if passed, help out many veterans that are not able to receive medical care, pensions, educational and vocational training, housing, and loans, etc. Even though the Presidential proclamation of January 1, 1955, ended Korean hostilities, the veterans that were serving in the Armed Forces from February 1, 1955, on should be able to receive the above benefits. Sincerely yours, FRED RIVERS, Jr., Editor, Cord Word, NEPVA's Monthly Bulletin. Mr. DORN. Following the usual committee procedure, we have set aside the first period of time to hear Members of Congress who have sponsored legislation before us. When that testimony has been completed, we will then proceed to hear representatives of the various veterans organizations, and this morning, because he is here from out of town, we will hear Mr. William O. Cooper, the National Commander of the Disabled American Veterans. Our first witness this morning will be the gentlewoman from West Virginia, Hon. Elizabeth Kee, a distinguished member of the full committee and chairman of the Hospital Subcommittee. STATEMENT OF HON. ELIZABETH KEE, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA Mrs. KEE. Mr. Chairman, it is a pleasure to come before you this morning and I appreciate the courtesy of being heard on my two bills; namely, H.R. 109 and H.R. 4908. The first bill seeks to provide a conclusive presumption of soundness under certain carefully defined conditions for veterans who served in wartime. To me the bill is simple equity; namely, that unless a disability is found at the time of a man's induction and, of course, if a serious disability exists the individual would not be taken into service, the Government would not be precluded from saying in the future that he had the condition at the time he was inducted into service and it was not worsened during service. It is hard for me to believe that any disability would not be affected by wartime service but the Veterans' Administration makes allegations of this sort regularly in connection with denying large numbers of cases. I think my bill would be a real step forward in correcting this condition. May I invite in this connection the attention of my colleagues to the English system, which is quite liberal by comparison. An individual who serves in the British forces and who thereafter applies for service-connected compensation-this is called pension in England-within a period of 7 years is granted service connection unless the Government can prove that it was not incurred in service. In other words, the onus of proof is on the Government. After the 7year period the burden shifts to the petitioner or the veteran. The second bill on which I wish to speak this morning is H.R. 4908, which seeks to provide a modest 7-percent increase on the rates of service-connected disability compensation and to liberalize the effective dates of certain awards. Since the last compensation increase in the 83d Congress, there have been many and drastic increases in the cost of living. Of course, this increase has occurred in greater degree in some commodities than others but overall there has been a 5-percent increase in the cost of living. In the last Congress we enacted a 71⁄2-percent increase for Federal workers, which I thoroughly approved, and thus I feel that asking for a 71⁄2-percent increase for our service-connected disabled veterans is being entirely realistic and reasonable. The bill is very similar to the one sponsored by our distinguished chairman, Mr. Teague, and I want to make known my support for this general field and urge its prompt enactment. Mr. DORN. Thank you, Mrs. Kee. Our next witness will be the gentleman from Mississippi, the Honorable Frank E. Smith. STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK E. SMITH, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Mr. SMITH. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate very much the opportunity to appear in behalf of my bill, H.R. 2304. This bill would make it unlawful for the Veterans' Administration to discontinue a rating of service connection where a disability of a veteran has been adjudicated as service connected when the veteran has been so rated and receiving compensation for 10 years or more. This bill was introduced because the practice of continuous review of service-connected disability cases by the Veterans' Administration has resulted in great many cases of obvious and serious injustice. These cases resulted from the review the Veterans' Administration has been making for the past several years of all approved serviceconnected claims of veterans under 55 years of age. The VA maintains that these actions are taken only where a clear and unmistakable error was made in the original rating of the claim, 68709 0-61-6 |