The CHAIRMAN. If you have over 2,000 applicants and if you are using the available males and if you have not changed fully your regulations about marriage, and there are available some of another color or race that can qualify in every way and satisfy the regulations, not having invited them, you cannot blame any need for elevating your ceiling to lack of available nurses?

Admiral AGNEW. No, sir; we have no regulation which discriminates against race or creed, Mr. Chairman. We require citizenship. The CHAIRMAN. All Negroes would be citizens, I take it.

Admiral AGNEW. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And any Japanese or Chinese girls that go through a nursing school in the United States would undoubtedly be citizens? Admiral AGNEW. If they applied and if they are citizens, they would have the same consideration as anyone else, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. They have not applied?

Admiral AGNEW. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you know of any reason why they have not applied; do you think it is a hopeless situation with them?"

Admiral AGNEW. No, sir; I do not know of any reason.

The CHAIRMAN. So far as the Navy is concerned, then, it is the girls themselves who have not applied and not by reason of any regulation? Admiral AGNEW. That is right. There is no regulation against their doing so.

The CHAIRMAN. You can see I am trying to get information, although not very successfully. Will you proceed, then?

Senator O'MAHONEY. May I ask the Admiral a question, Mr. Chairman, about these corpsmen who are doing administrative work? How many of them are there?

Admiral AGNEW. We have a total of 2,969 now.

Senator O'MAHONEY. Who are doing administrative work?

Admiral AGNEW. That is right, sir.

Senator O'MAHONEY. And they are all trained nurses?

Admiral AGNEW. No, sir; they are trained hospital corpsmen. We have not any nurses in the Hospital Corps. They are all males-I take that back. We have some WAVES who are in the Hospital Corps.

Senator O'MAHONEY. The condition in the Navy is not so severe as to prevent you from assigning to administrative work personnel capable of performing hospital work?

Admiral AGNEW. That is right, sir.

Senator O'MAHONEY. I see.

The CHAIRMAN. Proceed.

Admiral AGNEW. It will be necessary, therefore, to commission only 500 nurses in each of the remaining months of the current fiscal year to attain the estimated maximum Nurse Corps strength. From that point onward, according to present plans and experience, we will need to appoint not more than 100 to 125 replacements a month to maintain the corps at 11,500. Losses to the Nurse Corps would be by reason of pysical disability or other factors which might make it impossible for the nurse to continue on active duty.

Until recently, the American Red Cross has been the principal recruiting agency for the Navy Nurse Corps and the Red Cross Recruiting Committee has done exceptionally fine work in this respect Since January, however, we have also had the assistance of the Naval

Officer Procurement Service of the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Beginning with the first of January, when the daily average of applications for the Nurse Corps was about 15, the applications increased to around 100 by the end of January, and this average has been maintained to date. As previously noted, we now have on hand and in process of evaluation and action some 3,000 applications.

As I testified before the House committee, it is the desire of this Bureau that the Navy be permitted to continue the voluntary recruitment of nurses, as this policy has been successful not only in obtaining required numbers, but in maintaining high professional standards, and in this connection it is emphasized that the Navy has not recruited any nurse who has not been declared available for military service by the Procurement and Assignment Service of the War Manpower Commission. Then, too, our recruitment has been entirely from the group of registered nurses who are unmarried and between the ages of 21 and 40. Although we do not appoint married nurses, those who marry while in the naval service are not now permitted to resign solely because of marriage, but are expected to carry on with their full duties and responsibilities. Also, we are accepting for appointment nurses who resigned from the Navy because of marriage during the year of 1944.

The CHAIRMAN. May I ask a question there, Admiral? What about your regulations in regard to height and weight?

Admiral AGNEW. They are practically the same as the Army. The maximum height is 70 inches and the weight-I will ask Captain Dauser.

Captain DAUSER. It is according to height. The average weight is 147 or 150 and the minimum is not less than 100.

Admiral AGNEW. Not less than 100 and not more than 150. We allow a variation of about 15 pounds above or below the standards according to height, age and other physical characteristics.

The CHAIRMAN. That is so that a person who is well qualified in a dozen points and yet has a couple of pounds against her, you can waive that?

Admiral AGNEW. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. How far can you go?

Admiral AGNEW. We can go down to 100 or up to about 157, I think it is.

The CHAIRMAN. 157?

Captain AGNEW. The Surgeon General can then waive beyond that if the nurse is particularly well qualified in other respects.

The CHAIRMAN. How long does this weightage weigh over these people; if they get fat, do you fire them?

Admiral AGNEW. No, sir.

Captain DAUSER. That is just on admission. We do not follow that after they are in.

The CHAIRMAN. In other words, the regulation is one that probably could be modified. For instance, if after a girl served for a while, let us say a year, if she goes overweight, you do not fire her?

Admiral AGNEW. These are only on admission. We do not have any requirements after they have been accepted and appointed.

The CHAIRMAN. You are just running true to form; if you once get

in, there is no doubt about your graduation?

Admiral AGNEW. That is right. However, all nurses are subject to an annual physical examination.

The CHAIRMAN. All right.

Admiral AGNEW. It is my understanding that it is the purpose of the bill to provide for the registration, selection, and induction of qualified nurses for the land and naval forces of the United States, and that this would be accomplished under the Selective Service and Training Act of 1940, subject to certain exceptions as specified in the bill. I have not attempted to evaluate the bill in relation to the technical requirements of the Selective Service Act, but only with respect to the special provisions relating to nurses.

I assume, for instance, that section 22 (a), requiring that all females residing in the United States, who are between certain ages and who are graduate registered nurses or eligible to apply for examination for registration, shall be made subject to registration and selection for induction, and section 26, stating that it is the intent of the bill that all nurses shall be registered, would not apply to nurses who already are in the military services. Such a provision would seem to be unnecessary and also one extremely difficult to accomplish because of the wide distribution of the nurses of the Army and Navy in areas both within and far beyond the continental limits of the United States.

It would be my understanding also, that the provisions of section 22 (a), that

there shall be inducted into the land and naval forces under this title only such persons as have prior thereto been tendered a commission in the Army of the United States, the United States Navy or the United States Naval Reserve, and of section 25 would enable the armed services to continue to commission registered nurses who volunteer for service, and that only those who have been tendered a commission and who have declined to accept will be inducted, and that such induction then will be in an enlisted rather than in a commissioned status.

I have pointed out that the Navy has had little or no difficulty in recruiting its Nurse Corps to the required numbers, but that, nevertheless, we are prepared to support such legislation as may be required to obtain sufficient nurses for the Army. It is hoped, however, that this can be accomplished without disrupting the present organization of the Navy Nurse Corps, or bringing about a lowering of professional standards which would react to the detriment of the sick and wounded. The Navy Nurse Corps, as at present constituted, has a definite place in the Navy organization, its mission is fully understood, and the services of its members are utilized to the fullest and greatest advantage. It is our hope, therefore, that no factors may be interjected which will reduce the efficiency of the corps or lessen the scope of its usefulness.

That concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman. I will be very pleased to answer, or try to answer, any questions the committee may have in mind.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any factors in the bill which you think would reduce the efficiency of your Corps now, Admiral? Admiral AGNEW. No, sir.

70840- 45

The CHAIRMAN. I have just been handed a letter which bears out, probably, what we have been talking about, weight and the rest of it. I will read a part of it. The thesis of the letter is that the draft is not necessary. The letter reads:

My statement is based on facts concerning friends of mine and myself. For example, one Phi Beta Kappa student having a B. S. in nursing was extremely anxious to join one of the services but was rejected both by the Army and the Navy because of defective vision which was corrected by glasses.

What are you doing in regard to eyes now, Admiral?

Admiral AGNEW. Our vision requirements have been lowered; they are down to 6/20. They used to be 14/20.

The CHAIRMAN. The mere fact she wears glasses would not prejudice her?

Admiral AGNEW. If her vision is corrected to 20/20 and she can see 6/20 without glasses, we accept her, if she is otherwise qualified.

The CHAIRMAN. But still the examination is without glasses? Admiral AGNEW. Yes. They are first examined without glasses, and if they wear glasses we give them another examination with the glasses to see that their vision is corrected to normal.

The CHAIRMAN. The Navy, like every other institution, has changed its ideas about eyes?

Admiral AGNEW. Yes, sir; we have lowered standards in our branch of the Navy as far as vision is concerned.

The CHAIRMAN. Another point in the letter is that another nurse was rejected because her teeth did not meet.

Admiral AGNEW. We have certain dental requirements. That is apparently a case of malocclusion. Some applicants have very poor teeth and we advise them they do not meet the physical standards and that if they will have their teeth corrected they may reapply. Malocclusion may be a deformity. If the jaw is underslung or overshot, she may be turned down for that reason, but if she can masticate her food properly and is not disfigured because of the formation of her jaw, we accept her.

The CHAIRMAN. In other words, both looks and efficiency are your criteria upon which you make your judgment?

Admiral AGNEW. Not looks. A malocclusion frequently deforms the face of an individual, and it would not be to the best interest of the service to have someone like that, provided we have plenty of others who meet requirements.

The CHAIRMAN. That would hold for a male nurse, too?

Admiral AGNEW. Yes, sir; both male and female.

The CHAIRMAN. Any questions, Senator Austin?

Senator AUSTIN. Malocclusion is a defect which extends into the armed services generally, is it not?

Admiral AGNEW. Yes, sir.

Senator AUSTIN. It is a real defect affecting health?

Admiral AGNEW. Yes, sir.

Senator AUSTIN. I think that is all.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Admiral.
Dr. Parran, please.

STATEMENT OF DR. THOMAS PARRAN, SURGEON GENERAL, UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE

The CHAIRMAN. Doctor, will you state for the record what you want to appear about you?

Dr. PARRAN. Dr. Thomas Parran, Surgeon General, United States Public Health Service.

Mr. Chairman, I appear in support of H. R. 2277.

All of us agree, I am sure, that the needs of our armed forces for nurses must be met at once. Our wounded must have all required nursing care. The record as presented by Surgeon General Kirk indicates that these needs are not being met quickly enough through voluntary methods of recruitment. In the face of this record, it does not appear that enough volunteers can be secured within the next 2 months to reach the Army quota of 60,000 nurses by June 1.

Moreover, the needs of the military are bound to continue beyond the close of the war. The number of wounded needing care is cumulative. It will not reach its peak until the fighting stops.

We must take into consideration, also, the fact that as the war progresses toward victory, the public will assume that peace is closer at hand than it actually may prove to be. We had such an experience last autumn, and on Christmas Day, the tragedy of overoptimism hung heavily over the Nation. Indeed, in my opinion, this false peace psychology is largely responsible for the accumulated military nurse shortage. We cannot afford to risk the repetition of a similar disaster. It is for these reasons that I favor applying the selectiveservice principle to graduate nurses up to the age of 45. I am convinced this is the only way to meet the military needs as quickly as they must be met.

The CHAIRMAN. Doctor, all nurses are commissioned at the present time in the Army, are they not?

Dr. PARRAN. They are, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Is there any other service in the Army or Navy for commissioned officers that is on a selective-service basis?

Dr. PARRAN. There is not, so far as I am aware, except for physicians and dentists and, I believe, veterinarians; that is, all doctors, dentists, and veterinarians were registered under Selective Service, but so far as I know, all of them in the Army have commissions.

The CHAIRMAN. I see.

Dr. PARRAN. It has been said, Mr. Chairman, that this bill is discriminatory in singling out this one profession for selective service. On the contrary, I think it gives merited recognition to the essentiality of the profession of nursing.

We should recall that for a many years no woman was entitled to a commission in the armed forces of the United States except that she be a nurse. A draft of nurses is further evidence of the vital part nursing plays in the national health picture.

I realize, Mr. Chairman, that in a democracy we are loath to place any additional compulsions upon any group of citizens unless the actual requirements of war clearly demonstrate the need for such ac