This, Mr. Speaker, is the background to the resolution, and I know of no objection to it. I hope in a matter of weeks a special subcommittee of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs will commence hearings during which time the sponsors of the 70-odd measures pending before the committee will be given an opportunity to testify, together with representatives of the veterans organizations, the Veterans' Administration, the American Battle Monuments Commission, the Department of the Army, and other interested groups in this field. I include at this point the following letter: Hon. OLIN E. TEAGUE, Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, MARCH 1, 1968. DEAR MR. TEAGUE: Since the Veterans Affairs Committee now has cognizance of our cemeteries, we respectfully submit herewith some information of a general nature concerning our operations which may be of interest or value to the Committee. The American Battle Monuments Commission was established in 1923 to commemorate the achievements of our Armed Forces during World War I. Its responsibilities were later extended to all areas in which our Armed Forces have conducted operations since April 6, 1917. Commissioners are appointed by the President and serve without compensation. A list of the current membership is appended as Incl. 1. General John J. Pershing was the Commission's first Chairman. He was succeeded on his death by General George C. Marshall who in turn was succeeded by the present Chairman, General Jacob L. Devers. The Commission currently administers and maintains on foreign soil twentythree military cemeteries, eleven separate monuments and memorials, and two bronze tablets. It also maintains three World War II memorials on United States soil. A listing of all of the cemeteries and memorials administered by the Commission is appended as Incl. 2. Our World War I commemorative program provided for the erection on foreign soil of 11 monuments, two bronze tablets, and a memorial chapel in each of the eight permanent WW I military cemeteries overseas built by the Quartermaster General. In 1934, the administration and maintenance of these eight cemeteries were turned over to this Commission, as they were closed by treaty to further burials, except for war dead still to be found on the battlefield, and therefore were more truly memorials than cemeteries. Congress appropriated $4,503,359 to the Commission for the WW I commemorative program of which $4,413,033 was expended and $90,326 was returned to the Treasury. In 1946, the Commission embarked on its program to commemorate the achievements of our Armed Forces in World War II. This program consisted of the construction of fourteen permanent military cemeteries on foreign soil and three memorials on United States soil. Each cemetery was designed as a separate and distinctive memorial to our war dead. All fourteen are sited at or near the scene of a major military action and contain an immaculate and carefully landscaped graves area, a memorial chapel conceived and executed by Americn artists and architects, walls or tablets of the Missing listing in stone those servicemen and women missing in the general area, and large battle maps depicting the military action which occurred in the general region as well as other battle areas and theatres of the war. Additionally, each cemetary contains a comfortable and attractive visitors room where next of kin, relatives, friends and other visitors may pause to refresh themselves. The World War II memorial at Honolulu also commemorates the achievements of our Armed Forces during the Korean War and the Missing of that war. Congress appropriated $35,793,029 for the WW II commemorative program of which $34,415,255 was expended and $1,377,774 was returned to the Treasury. In Mexico City we maintain a small cemetery which contains 750 war dead of the Mexican War. Altogether, 124,880 war dead of the Mexican War, World War I and World War II are interred in our cemeteries on foreign soil. In addition, the 91,591 Missing of World War I, II and Korea are commemorated by name in stone either at these cemeteries or our three separate memorials on U.S. soil. More than a million persons visit these cemeteries and memorials each year. Many are Americans, but the greater number are foreign nationals. The beauty and immaculate appearance of these shrines demonstrate to all the nation's reverence for those who gave the supreme sacrifice. Each cemetery superintendent and his assistant has been carefully selected both for his ability to administer the cemetery and his ability to meet the public and conduct himself with tact and sympathetic attention. Each is conversant with what the artists and sculptors wish to portray at the memorials, the military actions which took place in the vicinity, and other places of interest nearby. Also, all are at least bilingual, speaking the language native to the country as well as English. When relatives and friends of those interred or memorialized there make their presence known, the superintendent or his assistant personally locates the memorial or grave site and escorts them to it. Each week we receive letters from relatives and others expressing their admiration of the cemeteries and for kindnesses extended to them. The Commission assists friends and relatives of those interred in its overseas cemeteries with arrangements for floral decoration of the graves. Donors are furnished with a polaroid color photograph of the flowers on the grave site. This not only lets them see the offering, but confirms its delivery. Arrangements for over 1,000 grave site decorations are made through the Commission each year. The Commission, also on request, furnishes close relatives of those interred or memorialized overseas with a photograph of the appropriate headstone or inscription of the name of a tablet of the missing. About 1,400 requests for such photographs are filled each year. Our appropriation for FY 1968 is $2,370,000 of which $86,000 is being withheld by the Bureau of the Budget to reduce the FY 1968 budget deficit. A budget of $2,329,000 has been approved by The President for FY 1969. Congressional hearings on the FY 1969 budget have not yet been held. During the peak construction period of our World War II commemorative program, Commission personnel exceeded 900. For the past several years, however, the number of personnel has been stabilized at 440. During the next five years, we plan to complete several major commemorative projects. Congress has charged us with construction of a memorial to General of the Armies John J. Pershing in Washington, D.C. The memorial's preliminary concept and design as well as the architects have been approved by us and the Fine Arts Commission. Preparation of detail design and working drawings will commence as soon as funds become available. The concept and architects for a Utah Beach Memorial and a Guam Memorial have also been approved by us and the Fine Arts Commission. Preliminary working drawings and specifications are in the process of being made and should be completed soon. Another commemorative project in the planning stage is our small monuments project. As you know, there are a number of relatively isolated places where Americans made heavy sacrifices during WW II and Korea, such as Guadalcanal, Seoul, Bataan and Leyte. We hope to commemorate these and others with a simple inscribed stone marker requiring little maintenance. Approximately forty such sites are under consideration. As yet, a design for the marker has not been submitted to the Fine Arts Commission for consideration. Enclosed are copies of our descriptive pamphlet and copies of The National Sculpture Review which features many of the works at our cemeteries and memorials. We hope they will be of interest to you. Please do not hesitate to ask for any additional information that you may wish concerning the Commission. Sincerely, JACOB L. DEVERS, 'General, U.S. Army (Retired), Chairman. Mr. BOLAND. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support House Resolution 1031 which would amend House Resolution 101, adopted a year ago, so as to add a provision for investigation and study of veterans' cemeteries. Through House Resolution 101 we authorized the Committee on Veterans' Affairs to conduct examinations of programs of veterans' assistance. Among these programs were: compensation and pension, hospitalization and medical care, insurance and indemnity, education and training, and burial allowance. By this proposed resolution we would add to the list, establishment and operation of veterans' cemeteries. The purpose of the investigation, as originally stated by House Resolution 1031, is to "determine whether such programs are being conducted economically, efficiently, in the best interests of the Government and the beneficiaries of such programs, and in such a manner as to avoid the misuse of Government funds. whether such programs adequately serve the needs and protect the welfare of the beneficiaries of such programs; and whether changes in the law or in the administration and operation of the programs either will lead to greater effi92-497-68- -2 ciency and economy or will make such programs more adequately serve the needs of the beneficiaries." The 90th Congress has instituted ambitious and far-reaching innovations concerning many of these programs since the committee began the study last year. First to come to mind is the increase and expansion of veterans education assistance, and the disability pension increase. Especially, therefore, when I contemplate the success of the study, I believe that we are wrong in excluding a program which, according to increasing concern for it, is among the most prominent areas of veterans benefits. Letters from constituents, to mention only one source of information, indicate growing public dissatisfaction over scarcity of space in national cemeteries. National cemeteries, as you know, are those in which a veteran is entitled to burial at no expense to his estate. The burial right is one of the most traditional and deeply engrained rewards for the veteran's sacrifice to his Nation. In spite of the growing lack of space, our Government still grants all requests for veterans' burial ground. However, many national cemeteries have been closed. An increasing number of families, therefore, may have no choice but to have their beloved one buried at an inconvenient locality far from home. I fear then, that the burial right is coming to lose its true value and significance. The problem calls for study by the Veterans' Affairs Committee, here proposed, for acquisition of new land. Another problem for study is that presented by restricting of burial in Arlington to all but high Government officials. Judging from response of my constituents, the veteran has always cherished the tradition of an Arlington Cemetery open to all Americans who gave or risked their lives, regardless of whether they subsequently obtained Cabinet rank. This is to mention only a few aspects of the public concern over the present tradition of veterans burial benefits. The problems of national cemeteries are steadily growing more acute. There is no reason, therefore, to exclude from the Veterans' Affairs Committee study and investigation of this important subject area of veterans benefits. I strongly urge the passage of House Resolution 1031. RECOMMENDATION NO. 26 OF U.S. VETERANS' ADVISORY COMMISSION The Commission recommends several improvements in cemetery administration and burial allowance. BACKGROUND TO RECOMMENDATION Four cemetery systems are managed by Federal agencies. The National Cemetery system operated by the Army is the largest. Overseas cemeteries are operated by the American Battle Monuments Commission. The Veterans Administration controls a number of cemeteries adjacent to its installations. The Department of Interior manages, as part of the National Park Service, cemeteries transferred from Army jurisdiction in 1933. Because the national system began as Civil War burial grounds, most of the cemeteries are in the East. Their expansion has been sporadic, and since 1950, no new cemeteries have been added. The 85 cemeteries which constitute the national system occupy more than 3,700 acres of land and have potential for 1,200,000 gravesites, 58 percent of which have already been developed. Eighty percent of the developed gravesites are occupied or reserved, with the remaining 20 percent available for burials. Approximately one million gravesites can be made available. for future use within the current acreage. The Battle Monuments Commission controls 23 overseas cemeteries, which are closed to burial except for bodies found on battlefields. The Veterans Administration has 24 cemeteries, six of which are closed; 131,000 of the total VA gravesites available are filled and 315,000 are open for future burials. The National Park Service controls, as national monuments, 13 cemeteries, which encompass 175 acres. Six of these cemeteries are still open, but availability for future burials is limited. Eligibility for burials in Federally-operated cemeteries varies with the operating agencies. Eligibility for burial in the national cemeteries and the Park Service cemeteries embraces active duty personnel, as well as honorably discharged veterans of U.S. service or citizens who served honorably in allied Armed Forces, including their spouses and minor children. Eligibility for burial in the Battle Monuments cemeteries is closed except for cases previously mentioned. The Veterans Administration usually restricts eligibility to veterans who die in VA facilities or in the vicinity thereof and whose bodies are unclaimed. Veterans' widows and children may be included under certain circumstances. Although eligibility for burial in Federally-operated cemeteries legally extends to approximately 26 million living ex-servicemen, in practice, eligibility is limited by the restricted availability of space and by the geographical distribution of the cemeteries. In fiscal years 1963-65, approximately fifteen percent of all veterans who died were buried in Federal cemeteries. However, of those who died within 100 miles of a national cemetery in 1963, approximately 50 percent were buried in a Federal cemetery. Thus, opportunity to exercise the benefit is unequal and will become more so as cemeteries are filled. If the rate of burial in national cemeteries should continue as in fiscal years 1963-65, all developed gravesites will be filled by 1974 and the now undeveloped acreage would be exhausted before the year 2000. But the 1963-65 rate cannot be maintained because of the imminent closing of some cemeteries, while others will continue in operation many years beyond the year 2000. The present jurisdictional arrangements involve four agencies of the government only one of which, the Battle Monuments Commission, has a primary mission dealing with cemetery management. Proposals have been and continue to be made that the four systems be merged under a single management. To the Commission, the Veterans Administration, which is organized to administer the affairs of veterans, is the most logical choice for administering cemeterial activities related to the interment of veterans. The Commission is pleased to note that on October 20, 1967, the House of Representatives transferred oversight of all Federal cemeteries where veterans are, or may be, buried, in this country and abroad, from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs to the Veterans' Affairs Committee, with the exception of those few national cemeteries administered by the Secretary of the Interior as part of the National Park System. The Commission believes that the oversight of veterans cemeteries by the same Congressional body which deals with all other veterans legislative matters is distinctly a forward step. The Commission fully endorses the President's message of January 30, 1968, and believes that the recommendations contained herein fulfill the President's request for positive proposals to assure that veterans have an opportunity to be buried in a national cemetery near their home. The Commission also realizes that the question of entitlement for a cemetery plot cannot be isolated completely from the question of the current burial allowance. The Commission firmly believes that the existence of veterans burial allowances should not be compromised by the existence of any other burial or death benefit, public or private. While recognizing the progress that has been made, the Commission makes the following recommendations: (1) that the entire Federal cemetery function, with exception of the Department of Interior cemeteries, be reassigned to the Veterans Administration; (2) that, without delay, the Administrator of Veterans Affairs conduct a study on methods of providing burial grounds for all veterans convenient to their homes; (3) that the Administrator establish uniform criteria for eligibility for burial in the Federal cemetery system; (4) that Arlington National Cemetery be reopened to all eligible veterans until it is completely filled; (5) that the burial allowance for veterans be increased to $400, $100 of which shall be reserved for payment toward a gravesite for those not buried in national cemeteries; (6) that the burial allowance not be denied to any veteran because of the existence of any other burial or death benefit, public or private. Mr. TEAGUE of Texas. The first witness this morning will be Mr. Charles Mattingly, assistant director, National Legislative Commission. Chuck are you going to introduce somebody else? Mr. MATTINGLY. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Teague, members of this distinguished special subcommittee, before introducing our witness I would like to introduce Mr. Pete Toloczko, assistant director for claims of our Rehabilitation Commission and Bernard A. Nolan, assistant director for program management. Mr. Chairman, I thank you on behalf of the American Legion for holding these hearings on a problem of many years standing-our national cemeteries system. The American Legion was much encouraged during the first session of the 90th Congress when you sponsored and obtained approval of House Resolution 241 changing the rules of the House to vest legislative oversight of all national cemeteries with the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. We believe this was the first logical step to permit a thorough study of this problem. These hearings today are the next logical step toward solving the problem. The American Legion is grateful to you and the members of your distinguished subcommittee for this opportunity to make the views of our organization known on this subject. Our witness this morning, Mr. Chairman, is no stranger to you nor to the members of your subcommittee. However, this is the first time that he has appeared before you in his new capacity as director of our National Rehabilitation Commission. Mr. Chairman, Edward H. Golembieski. STATEMENT BY EDWARD H. GOLEMBIESKI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL REHABILITATION COMMISSION, THE AMERICAN LEGION, BEFORE THE SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON CEMETERIES, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS Mr. GOLEMBIESKI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman and members of the special subcommittee, we appreciate this opportunity to appear before you to speak on a matter of continued and increasing concern to the American Legion-the inadequacy of our national cemetery system to provide a sufficient number of burial sites for those who have earned the privilege of interment therein. The present situation is the result of a policy of the Executive Office of the President that existed prior to January 30, 1968, whereby expansion and development of the cemetery system was discouraged and opposed. Our unique and impressive system-inadequate though it may be to meet current and future needs-is an outgrowth of the Civil War. As casualties occurred in its early months, military and local cemeteries were used, whenever practicable, for the burial of the war dead. In addition, a general order published in 1862 required commanders of troops to lay off plots of suitable ground near every battlefield for the burial of the battlefield dead. That same year, the national cemetery system was established, when Congress authorized the President of the United States to purchase cemetery grounds for the burial of soldiers who died in the service of their country. By the end of 1862, 13 cemeteries had been established. In the next 2 years, the number was increased to 22. Since, from the beginning, they were established for the burial of battlefield casualties, these early cemeteries varied in size, and their distribution, geographically, was unequal. Subsequent to the Civil War, newly created cemeteries followed, to a great extent, the westward movement of the Nation's frontiers. |