cause it is completely unacceptable to the South Vietnamese, just as we would not expect any other nation to advise or consent with us by putting the military in the FBI or Secret Service or anything in this country. This must remain a civilian organization if we are to pacify and Vietnamize their control of their own country. I think it is a very dangerous thing. I think it will come up before the full committee in the posture hearings. Since this committee has sounded this warning and has done such a good job, I strongly recommend that we take note of it and commend the committee for the remark. I think it is the understatement of the year. The CHAIRMAN. I think you would rather have it this way, with our military, instead of the State Department, in the structure. Mr. HALL. I am afraid-if I understood the chairman, I am afraid I couldn't agree with that. The military will always have its function in pacification and will always have its function in advising their military, but there must eventually, if we are to pull our military out, be a strong civilian security force for police protection. And we can't simply replace the 35-percent cut the Department of State has visited on this advisory group by the military and expect to come out even. That is my whole point, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. I agree with you. I am talking about the training. Mr. HALL. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. Then walk out and let them run it. What is the pleasure of the committee? As many as favor the approval of the report will say "Aye." [Chorus of Ayes.] The CHAIRMAN. Now Mr. Ford, you tell Mr. Byrne-and Mr. Wilson is here. Who is the other one, Mr. Bray? Mr. FORD. Mr. Bray. The CHAIRMAN. You handle the release of it. Mr. FORD. The full report will be available The CHAIRMAN. And make it available to the committee. Mr. FORD. It will be available next week, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Yes; that has some good information. Mr. CHARLES WILSON. There are still things that are very disturbing over there, Mr. Chairman. We found out about landing fees we are paying for military planes. It is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard in my life. The CHAIRMAN. That is the State Department. Where is Mr. Blandford? Mr. HALL. (Aside to the chairman.) The CHAIRMAN. The MAC doesn't negotiate the agreements. That comes from the State Department. I don't think they should pay anything. Mr. HALL. You are right. The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, Mr. Price is here. Do you have any report? Mr. PRICE. We don't have any report at this time, Mr. Chairman. The Subcommittee on Military Airlift has been busy for the last couple of weeks. The CHAIRMAN. I want to say Mr. Price is conducting hearings on airlift. Now, as chairman of this committee, I have been trying to see that our GI's get as reasonable a rate as possible to Europe. There is an organization that has given them a $69 one-way trip and they have been using the supplementals. Now the CAB has lowered the boom on the supplementals and no doubt some of the big certificated, regular carriers are coming in and saying the supplementals are ruining them. This is the way the CAB is going to hurt the GI's. They are going to give the supplementals the devil. And Mr. Price is going into the whole aspect of it. Now this committee can't, and as long as I am chairman will not, see the commercial implementation of our military airlift affected as the CAB did a few years ago by putting these supplementals into receivership, as a result of cutting down their operations. For some time an organization-what is the name of it, that has been helping these GI's obtain low cost air transportation? Mr. BLANDFORD. There are several of them. The CHAIRMAN. The U.S. servicemen formed a club and they joined--what did they pay for membership? Mr. NICHOLS. $7, I believe. The CHAIRMAN. Whatever it is. They give these boys a $69 rate and the other crowd would charge them $175 one-way, and $250 and all such things, and overnight the other crowd came down to meet them. So they had a terrific impulse. The $69 is still holding up. And I understand there are about 25,000 of them being carried yearly. Mr. NICHOLS. There are a world of them. The CHAIRMAN. If we let the CAB get by with this the GI's won't be able to come home. I understand the CAB has had a jillion letters from GI's. The way the CAB is handling this is going to kill the supplementals. Mr. Price is going into that fully. But I notice my Senator put something in the Record yesterday, apparently taking the side of the big scheduled carriers. Mr. PRICE. We are going to have the CAB before the committee tomorrow morning. The CHAIRMAN. I am glad to hear that. (Further statement off the record.) The CHAIRMAN. I want all you to be on alert and work to help these supplementals that are trying to help our GI's. They get about 50 percent of that MAC traffic, Mr. Price? Mr. PRICE. I don't think they are getting that much right now. Mr. BLANDFORD. Nowhere near that amount. Mr. PRICE. Percentagewise, they are going down and down. Mr. BLANDFORD. The supplementals carry about 2 percent of the total air passengers. The CHAIRMAN. He will have the record of all these people. And you have to have the two of them, scheduled and non-scheduled. We recognize that. We have to be assured that it is done. The only way the supplementals can exist is for MAC to give them contracts as well as the scheduled carriers. They want to get at it the other way and bring the supplementals down, in an area where the GI's are adversely affected. The low cost charters help keep up morale. I hope they do the same thing in the Pacific. Now, Mr. Byrne. I know because of sickness and everything your time is not your own. We did pass your report and Mr. Ford will advise you. I want to congratulate you on your report. Mr. BYRNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to apologize to the committee for being late today. The CHAIRMAN. I know you have trouble. You did a fine job and we thank you very much. Mr. BYRNE. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, something I don't normally do is to call to the attention of the committee the promotion of anybody in the service, but one of my favorites is a Negro pilot by the name of Chappy James. I think he is everybody's favorite, of my acquaintance. He is a colonel who has been decorated like a Christmas tree in Vietnam and in his career. He was Robin Olds' wingman and he got a terrific record and he is a great spokesman for the American way of life. Some accused the DOD of sending him to Wheelus to get him out of the country. Well, he went to Wheelus and did a fine job there. Now I noticed by the morning paper that he was just selected for general. He was before this committee sometime in the past and I introduced him. He is now to be assistant-what is Henkins' title? Mr. BLANDFORD. He is Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. The CHAIRMAN. Colonel James will be Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. Of all the people I know, I know of no person that can get out and do a better job for his service in the public affairs area than Chappy James. I am as happy as I can be and I am going to have him up before the committee one day, in his new job. I think he is a native of Pensacola, Fla. I believe that is where he comes from. Mr. NICHOLS. Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. I want to tell you one thing, he is a great American. If there is any promotion I agree with, and I think the committee will agree with me he is a great fellow and he is now a general officer like he should be. Mr. ICHORD. Mr. Chairman, I just want to make one statement. I think the Public Information Affairs at the Pentagon can use some good people over there in view of the many mistakes they made in the past. That has been the weak spot in the whole operation in the Pentagon. The CHAIRMAN. That is right. Mr. ICHORD. I hope the colonel will help solve some of the problems. (Further statement off the record.) The CHAIRMAN, It is a fine thing to see a good officer handling something that needs to be handled. Mr. DANIEL. Mr. Chairman, would you indulge me for just a moment? The CHAIRMAN. I certainly will. Mr. DANIEL. I believe when the subcommittee was over there 3 weeks ago and we had lunch with the new general-and we knew at the time that this was forthcoming and of course we extended our congratulations, but I think the committee would be interested in knowing and this is off the record. (Further statement off the record.) The CHAIRMAN. He is terrific. Mr. DANIEL. He is a fine American. The CHAIRMAN. He is about 6 feet, 6 inches. Mr. DANIEL. And incidentally, he is from Alabama. The CHAIRMAN. I don't know where he is from. I thought Florida. But whatever it is, he is a great American. Mr. ARENDS. Mr. Chairman, do you suppose the gentleman from Pennsylvania-off the record. (Further statement off the record.) The CHAIRMAN. So, Mr. Byrne, you did a fine job and the committee is proud of you. Now, gentlemen, I think this holds us until the call of the Chair. Mr. ARENDS. Right. The CHAIRMAN. Now, under the rules of the committee, gentlemen, which every one of you voted for, there are always ways of bringing things to the attention of the Chair. And we will have a little slack time now. I am trying to get the subcommittees moving. Mr. Price is doing a terrific job on this airlift, and it needs it. Mr. Philbin I think-I saw a report Mr. Philbin had, which Mr. Marshall helped get up, upon the stockpiles, which is quite interesting. Mr. Hébert is coming back I think Mr. SLATINSHEK. The 13th. The CHAIRMAN. The 13th, and he is coming along well. And his My Lai committee is right on schedule with the information that they are adducing every day from people who are appearing before it. Now on the 2d-is it the 2d or 3d? Mr. BLANDFORD. The 2d. The CHAIRMAN. The 2d we start with our posture and 412, the formal hearing. We will move as fast as we can. Let's get that bill out. And we can have afternoon hearings. (Further statement off the record.) The CHAIRMAN. This will be all, gentlemen, until the call of the Chair. (Whereupon, at 11:08 a.m. the committee adjourned, subject to call of the Chair.) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:12 a.m. in room 2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. L. Mendel Rivers, (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. Let the committee come to order. Today we begin hearings, gentlemen, on H.R. 14322, a bill of vital importance to all uniformed military personnel. (H.R. 14322 is as follows:) [H.R. 14322, 91st Cong., first sess.] A BILL To amend section 405 of title 37, United States Code, relating to cost-of-living allowances for members of the uniformed services on duty outside the United States or in Hawaii or Alaska Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the text of section 405 of title 37, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: "Without regard to the monetary limitations of this title, the Secretaries concerned may authorize the payment to a member of a uniformed service who is on duty outside the United States or in Hawaii or Alaska, whether or not he is in a travel status, of "(1) a per diem based upon the cost of quarters to the member when compared to the member's basic allowance for quarters under section 403 of this title; and "(2) a per diem considering all elements of the cost of living (other than quarters) to the member and his dependents, including the cost of subsistence and other necessary incidental expenses. However, dependents may not be considered in determining a per diem allowance under this section for a member in a travel status." The CHAIRMAN. This bill is a legislative vehicle designed to resolve a controversy between the Comptroller General and the Department of Defense concerning the matter in which cost-of-living allowances are computed and made payable to uniformed services personnel assigned to overseas duty stations. Very briefly, if we decide to support the objectives of this legislative proposal, we will prevent reduction in the dollar amount of this benefit payable to our military personnel stationed overseas. If we do not act favorably, these allowances will be reduced substantially. There has been placed before each of you a comprehensive statement outlining this problem in some detail, together with the chronology of events that resulted in the hearing today. I have in the interest of time refrained from reading that statement. However, I think it highly desirable that each one of you have access to the information contained in this comprehensive statement so that it may enable you to better understand the issues which confront us. (The statement referred to is as follows:) The fundamental purpose in bringing this bill before the Committee today is to attempt to resolve a controversy which has arisen between the Comptroller General of the United States and the military departments in regard to the implementation of the present statutory authority contained in section 405 of title 37, U.S. Code, which authorizes the payment of a cost of living allowance to Uniformed Services personnel stationed overseas. STATUTE The section of title 37 which is at issue is set out below: "SEC. 405. Travel and transportation allowances: per diem while on duty outside United States or in Hawaii or Alaska. "Without regard to the monetary limitations of this title, the Secretaries concerned may authorize the payment of a per diem, considering all elements of the cost of living to members of the uniformed services under their jurisdiction and their dependents including the cost of quarters, subsistence, and other necessary incidental expenses, to such a member who is on duty outside of the United States or in Hawaii or Alaska, whether or not he is in a travel status. However, dependents may not be considered in determining the per diem allowance for a member in a travel status." DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEM The present system of providing a supplemental allowance to overseas personnel was adopted in 1958. At that time, the Services, utilizing the authority in the statute, agreed to provide two allowances to defray the extra costs associated with overseas assignments, that is a housing allowance (HA) and a cost of living allowance (COLA) for all other items. The COLA is based on data gathered by the State Department. The HA is based on data furnished by overseas commands based on actual rental costs. These costs, minus the applicable basic allowance for quarters (BAQ), determines the amount of housing allowance for a given area. |