That part F, title III, section 355 of Public Law 85-56 (71 Stat. 103), be amended to read as follows: "The Administrator is authorized and directed to apply a schedule of ratings of reductions in earning capacity from specific injuries or combination of injuries. The ratings shall be based, as far as practicable, upon the average impairments of earning capacity resulting from such injuries in civil occupations. The Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, including all extensions thereto, which schedule is so constructed as to provide ten grades of disability upon which payments of compensation shall be based, is hereby frozen as to its instructions, expressed policies, terms, evaluations and all other data contained therein, effective as of January 1, 1958, and no additions, either express or implied; deletions; changes; modifications or other alterations in the aforesaid schedule, by whatever source proposed, will be effective subsequent to January 1, 1958, until and unless approved by the Congress and enacted into law."

Nothing contained herein repeals or modifies in any way the authority now vested in the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs or his designee to authorize administratively ratings in excess of the schedular evaluations when it is determined by him or his designee that the Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, and/or its extensions, are inadequate in their application to the facts in an individual case.

[H. R. 9896, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To revise the basis for establishing wartime service connection for multiple sclerosis and the chronic functional psychoses

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 313 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 313. For the purposes of section 310, and subject to the provisions of section 314, in the case of any veteran who served for ninety days or more during a period of war

"(1) a chronic disease becoming manifest to a degree of 10 per centum or more within one year from the date of separation from such service; "(2) a tropical disease, and the resultant disorders or disease originating because of therapy, administered in connection with such diseases, or as a preventive thereof, becoming manifest to a degree of 10 per centum or more within one year from the date of separation from such service, or at a time when standard or accepted treatises indicate that the incubation period thereof commenced during such service;

"(3) active tuberculous disease, multiple sclerosis, or any of the chronic functional psychoses developing a 10 per centum degree of disability or more within three years from the date of separation from such service; shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of service."

SEC. 2. This Act shall be effective from the date of its approval.

[H. R. 10029, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To provide a two year presumptive period of service connection for organic heart disease which develops within two years from the date of separation from active service

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 313, Public Law 85-56 is hereby amended by adding a subparagraph numbered 5 to read as follows: “(5) organic heart disease developing a 10 per centum degree of disability or more within two years from the date of separation from such service:" immediately preceding the words "shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of service."

[H. R. 10134, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to provide that the Veterans' Administration shall not sever service connection of any veteran's disability when he has been in receipt of compensation for ten or more years, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title XXI of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

"PRESERVATION OF SERVICE CONNECTION IN CERTAIN CASES

"SEC. 2109. (a) Where a disability of a veteran has been adjudicated as service connected, and he has been in receipt of compensation on account of such disability for ten or more years (including periods in which he has been in receipt of pension solely because of section 423 (b) or the prior corresponding provisions of law), the Administrator shall not thereafter deny that such disability is service connected.

"(b) Where the Administrator has determined before the date of enactment of this subsection that a disability of a veteran is not service connected, and such veteran had received compensation on account of such disability for ten or more years before the date of such determination (including periods in which he was in receipt of pension solely because of section 423 (b) or the prior corresponding provisions of law), upon application by the veteran or any dependent of the veteran claiming benefits under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration, such disability of the veteran shall be considered thereafter as a service-connected disability."

SEC. 2. The table of contents contained in the first section of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended by inserting immediately below

"Sec. 2108. Preservation of certain disability ratings."

the following:

"Sec. 2109. Preservation of service connection in certain cases."

[H. R. 10462, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend section 201 of the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act to provide for paying dependency and indemnity compensation to the survivors of certain deceased veterans having serious service-connected disabilities

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 201 of the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act is amended (1) by striking out "or" at the end of subparagraph (2); (2) by inserting "or" at the end of subparagraph (3); and (3) by inserting immediately below such subparagraph (3) the following: "(4) while in receipt of compensation for a disability described in subsection (1), (m), (n), (o), or (p) of section 315 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 ;".

SEC. 2. The amendment made by this Act shall take effect on the first day of the first calendar month which begins after the date of its enactment.

[H. R. 10748, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To prohibit the severance of a service-connected disability which has been in effect for ten or more years

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a service connection which has been made for compensation, pension, or insurance purposes under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration, and which has been in force for ten or more years, shall not be severed thereafter unless on a showing that the original rating was based on fraud or gross misrepresentation.

[H. R. 10797, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 so as to afford a conclusive presumption of soundness under certain canditions in wartime cases

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 312 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 (Public Law 85-56; 71 Stat. 96), is amended by substituting a colon for the period at the end thereof and adding the following: "Provided, That any disability acquired, appearing, or recurring in the active military, naval, or air service during a period of war or the Korean conflict after the veteran has continuously served for ninety days therein shall be conclusively presumed to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service except as to obvious patent defects."

[H. R. 10798, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act to authorize the granting of death compensation to certain widows and parents notwithstanding a prior election to receive dependency and indemnity compensation

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subsection 206 (b) of the Servicemen's Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act (Public Law 881, Eighty-fourth Congress) is amended by adding the following new paragraph:

"(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing limitations of this subsection, on and after the effective date of this amendatory Act, any widow or parent who has elected to receive and has been granted dependency and indemnity compensation by reason of this section may upon application, and if found to be otherwise eligible, be granted death compensation under the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 in lieu of dependency and indemnity compensation."

[H. R. 11343, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To stabilize and "freeze" as of January 1, 1958, the Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, and the extensions thereto, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That part B, title II, section 210 (c) of Public Law 85-56 (71 Stat. 92), be amended to read as follows: "Except to the extent inconsistent with the provisions hereof, the Administrator has authority to make all rules and regulations which are necessary or appropriate to carry out the laws administered by the Veterans' Administration and are consistent therewith, including regulations with respect to the nature and extent of proofs and evidence and the method of taking and furnishing them in order to establish the right to benefits under such laws, the forms of application by claimants under such laws, the methods of making investigations and medical examinations, and the manner and form of adjudications and awards."

That part F, title III, section 355 of Public Law 85-56 (71 Stat. 103), be amended to read as follows: "The Administrator is authorized and directed to apply a schedule of ratings of reductions in earning capacity from specific injuries or combination of injuries. The ratings shall be based, as far as practicable, upon the average impairments of earning capacity resulting from such injuries in civil occupations. The Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, including all extensons thereto, which schedule is so constructed as to provide ten grades of disability upon which payments of compensation shall be based, is hereby frozen as to its instructions, expressed policies, terms, evaluations and all other data contained therein, effective as of January 1, 1958, and no additions, either express or implied; deletions; changes; modifications or other alterations in the aforesaid schedule, by whatever source proposed, will be effective subsequent to January 1, 1958, until and unless approved by the Congress and enacted into law."

Nothing contained herein repeals or modifies in any way the authority now vested in the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs or his designee to authorize administratively ratings in excess of the schedular evaluations when it is determined by him or his designee that the Veterans' Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 1945 edition, and/or its extensions, are inadequate in their application to the facts in an indivdual case.

[H. R. 11528, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To provide benefits to certain veterans of World War I who were in the active service on November 11, 1918, and their dependents

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 313 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 (38 U. S. C. 2313) is amended by inserting immediately after “period of war" the following: "or for any period of time if he was in the active service on November 11, 1918".

SEC. 2. Section 421 (b) of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 (38 U. S. C. 2421 (b)) is amended (1) by striking out “or” at the end of subparagraph (2); (2) by striking out the period at the end of subparagraph (3) and inserting "; or"; and (3) by inserting immediately below such subparagraph (3) the following:

"(4) for any period of time if such veteran was in the active military, naval, or air service on November 11, 1918."

[H. R. 11801, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend sections 802 and 803 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to increase the burial allowance for deceased veterans from $150 to $250

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That sections 802 and 803 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 are each amended by striking out "$150" and inserting "$250".

SEC. 2. The amendments made by this Act shall apply only with respect to deaths occuring after the date of enactment of this Act.

[H. R. 11837, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To prohibit the severance of a service-connected disability which has been in effect for ten or more years

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a service connection which has been made for compensation, pension, or insurance purposes under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration, and which has been in force for ten or more years, shall not be severed thereafter unless on a showing that the original rating was based on fraud or gross misrepresentation.

[H. R. 12056, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend section 2108 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to prohibit the reduction of disability ratings which have been in effect for ten or more years, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 2108 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 (38 U. S. C. 2128) is amended (1) by inserting "(a)" immediately after "SEC. 2108."; (2) by striking out "compensation, pension, or insurance" and inserting "pension or insurance"; and (3) by adding at the end thereof the following new subsections:

"(b) A rating of any degree of service-connected disability which has been made for compensation purposes under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration, and which has been continuously in force for ten or more years, shall not be reduced thereafter, except upon a showing that such rating was based on fraud. Where a rating of service-connected disability has been made for such purposes under such laws, and has been continuously in force for ten or more years, but the preceding sentence does not apply because the rating of degree of such disability was modified during such period, such rating of serviceconnected disability shall not be reduced below the lowest degree of disability assigned to it during such ten years, except upon a showing that such rating was based on fraud.

"(c) Any rating of disability which has heretofore been reduced which would not have been reduced, or which would not have been reduced to the extent that it was reduced, if subsection (b) had been in effect at the time such reduction occurred, shall, upon application made to the Administrator, be restored as of the date of application to the degree which would have been applicable if subsection (b) had been so in effect."

[H. R. 12096, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to provide a three-year presumption of service connection for active tuberculous disease in peacetime cases

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subsection (a) of section 334 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended to read as follows:

"(a) For the purposes of section 331, and subject to the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section, any veteran who served for six months or more and contracts

"(1) a tropical disease or a resultant disorder or disease originating because of therapy administered in connection with a tropical disease, or as a preventative thereof, when it is shown to exist within one year after separation from active service, or at a time when standard and accepted treatises indicate that the incubation period thereof commenced during active service; or

"(2) an active tuberculosis disease developing a 10 per centum degree of disability or more within three years from the date of separation from such service;

shall be deemed to have incurred such disability in the active military, naval, or air service."

[H. R. 10461, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend section 315 (m) of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to provide a special rate of compensation for certain blind veterans

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 315 (m) of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 (38 U. S. C. 2315 (m)) is amended by inserting immediately before ", or has suffered blindness in both eyes" the following: ", or has suffered blindness in both eyes having only light perception".

SEC. 2. The amendment made by this Act shall apply only with respect to compensation payable for months after the month in which this Act is enacted.

[H. R. 12383, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend section 313 of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to extend the presumptive period with respect to service connection of multiple sclerosis for an additional five years

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 313 (4) of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 (38 U. S. C. 2313 (4)) is amended by striking out "two" and inserting "seven".

[H. R. 12636, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 to provide a conclusive presumption of service connection in the case of the death of certain World War I veterans Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title I of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section:

"PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE CONNECTION IN CASE OF CERTAIN DEATHS

"SEC. 107. The death of any veteran of World War I shall be conclusively presumed to be service connected for the purposes of this Act and title II of the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act if

"(1) such veteran has been rated as totally disabled from a serviceconnected disability for a continuous period of twelve or more years;

"(2) such veteran has been rated as totally disabled from a serviceconnected disability for a continuous period of ten or more years, and such ten-year period has occurred after his fiftieth birthday; or

"(3) such veteran has been rated after his sixty-second birthday as totally disabled from a service-connected disability."

SEC. 2. The table of contents in the first section of the Veterans' Benefits Act of 1957 is amended by inserting immediately below:

"Sec. 106. Discharge or release includes retirement."

the following:

"Sec. 107. Presumption of service-connection in case of certain deaths."

27111-58--2