Rates of pension based upon age, non-service-connected disability, or death under laws reenacted by the act of Aug. 13, 1935, as amended or supplemented

VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION,

OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS,

Hon. OLIN E. TEAGUE,

Washington 25, D. C., March 4, 1955.

Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs,

House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C.

DEAR MR. TEAGUE: This has reference to your requests for reports by the Veterans' Administration on the identical House Joint Resolutions 65, 94, 110, 115, and 124, 84th Congress, entitled "Joint resolution placing certain individuals who served in the Armed Forces of the United States in the Moro Province, including Mindanao, and in the islands of Leyte and Samar after July 4, 1902, and their survivors, in the same status as those who served in the Armed Forces during the Philippine Insurrection and their survivors." This will also serve as a reply to your request for a report on a similar resolution, House Joint Resolution 183, 84th Congress.

The purpose of these resolutions is to provide service pension under the conditions and at the rates prescribed by the laws reenacted by Public, No. 269, 74th Congress, August 13, 1935, as now or hereafter amended, for any person who served in the Armed Forces of the United States or in the armed forces of the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands, in the Moro Province, including Mindanao, or in the islands of Leyte and Samar, after July 4, 1902, and prior to the first day following the last armed engagement between such armed forces and inhabitants of the Philippine Islands in the province or island in which he served, and who was honorably discharged from the enlistment in which such service occurred, and to the surviving unremarried widow, child, or children of such person. No pension would be paid for service after December 31, 1913. For the ready reference of the committee there is furnished herewith a table showing the pension rates currently payable to veterans and their dependents under the mentioned laws.

Section 3 of each resolution provides that the proposed legislation shall be effective the first day of the calendar month in which it is approved. This, of course, could result in a retroactive effective date, the desirability of, or need for which is not apparent. Presumably it is not intended to require the payment of pension for any period prior to application therefor filed subsequent to enactment of the legislation.

Except for the proposal to grant pension based on service in the insular forces, these resolutions are similar in purpose to bills which have been introduced in the Congress over a number of years. The most recent examples are H. R. 55 and others in the 83d Congress, as well as H. R. 707 and 754, 84th Congress, on which the Veterans' Administration submitted reports under dates of March 11, 1953, and February 1, 1955, respectively, to your committee (Committee Print No. 14, 83d Cong., and Committee Print No. 13, 84th Cong.). As you are aware, after hearings on H. R. 55 and other 83d Congress bills, your committee favorably reported a bill, H. R. 5380, to the House on June 10, 1953 (H. Rept. No. 534, 83d Cong.) where it was pending at the close of that Congress.

Persons comprehended by the resolutions, except members of the insular forces referred to in section 2 of each resolution, are presently entitled to all benefits prescribed by law for former members of the Regular Establishment, or as they are sometimes called, peacetime veterans. It is felt that a brief reference to benefits now available to such veterans and their dependents would be helpful to the committee in its consideration of these resolutions.

Present benefits include compensation at peacetime rates for disabilities resulting from personal injury or disease contracted in line of duty or for an aggravation of a preexisting injury or disease contracted or suffered in line of duty and not the result of the person's own misconduct. Compensation at peacetime rates is also payable to dependents on account of the death of such veterans from serviceconnected causes. Compensation is payable at wartime rates for disabilities incurred in line of duty as a result of armed conflict or extrahazardous service, including such service under conditions simulating war, and for death from such disabilities, pursuant to paragraph 1 (c), part II, Veterans Regulation No. 1 (a), as amended. Veterans entitled to compensation at wartime or peacetime rates are entitled to additional compensation for dependents if their service-connected disability is rated at not less than 50 percent.

Persons comprehended by these resolutions, except those referred to in the mentioned section 2, who were discharged for disability incurred in line of duty or who are in receipt of compensation for service-connected disability are also entitled on the basis of such disability to other benefits, such as hospital treatment or domiciliary care, including medical treatment by the Veterans' Administration, such prosthetic appliances or aids to the blind as the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs may determine to be necessary, burial allowances, and a burial flag. Financial assistance is afforded certain veterans in acquiring specially adapted housing which they require on account of permanent and total service-connected disability due to certain conditions. Preference in Federal civilian employment is also granted under the Veterans' Preference Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 387), as amended (5 U. S. C. 851-869), to veterans who served during a war or a cam

paign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized, or who have established the existence of a service-connected disability, or who are receiving compensation, disability retirement benefits, or pension by reason of public laws administered by the Veterans' Administration or service departments. Preference is also extended under certain circumstances to otherwise eligible dependents of such veterans. In connection with such preference in employment, it should be noted that the Departments of the Army and Navy have authorized issuance of a Philippine Campaign Medal to personnel of the respective services who meet the necessary service requirements. In accordance with laws administered by the Department of the Army, these veterans and certain of their dependents are also eligible to be buried in a national cemetery and to be furnished headstones or grave markers.

With reference to the delimiting date July 4, 1902, made applicable in the subject resolutions to service in the Moro Province, the attention of the committee is invited to the fact that under the laws reenacted by the act of August 13, 1935 (49 Stat. 614), as amended or supplemented (38 U. S. C. 368), service in the Moro Province to July 15, 1903, is recognized as wartime service.

While the resolutions propose to extend pension benefits under the conditions, and at the rates prescribed by the laws reenacted by Public Law 269, 74th Congress, August 13, 1935, as now or hereafter amended, they contain certain provisions which appear to be at variance with the provisions of such laws. Specifically, they would require the person to be "honorably discharged"; would extend benefits to "unremarried widows"; and would include no service requirement as to engagement in hostilities in the Moro Province. It should be noted that under the laws reenacted by the act of August 13, 1935, as amended or supplemented, only a discharge or release from active service under conditions other than dishonorable is required; service in the Moro Province after July 4, 1902, to July 15, 1903, is required to be with the United States military forces engaged in hostilities; and pension is authorized in the case of a remarried widow whose marriage to a veteran occurred prior to January 1, 1938, if her subsequent marriage or marriages has or had been dissolved either by death of her husband or husbands, or by divorce on any ground except adultery on the part of the wife. Finally, existing law provides that in computing pensionable service there shall be counted continuous active service which commenced within the applicable period; whereas the proviso to section 1 of the resolutions would preclude the computation of any continuous active service extending beyond the delimiting date of December 31, 1913.

From time to time bills have been introduced in the Congress which have had as their purpose the conferring of wartime benefits on members of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in the Philippines for periods subsequent to the termination of the Philippine Insurrection on July 4, 1902 (July 15, 1903, as regards service in the Moro Province). During the 78th Congress, one such bill, H. R. 4099, was introduced, designed to confer a wartime status on those who served with the United States military or naval forces engaged in hostilities in the Moro Province, including Mindanao, or in the islands of Samar and Leyte, between July 5, 1902, and December 31, 1913, by extending the official ending date of the Philippine Insurrection to December 31, 1913, in such cases. The bill passed the House

of Representatives on March 27, 1944, and the Senate on November 27, 1944, but was returned by the President to the House of Representatives without his approval on December 8, 1944. In his veto message (H. Doc. 804, 78th Cong.), the President stated:

This measure would grant special benefits to a particular group and exclude other members of the Regular Military and Naval Establishments who similarly have been called upon, on numerous occasions, to engage in similar military operations in times of peace. I believe that it is sound in principle to abide by the official beginning and ending dates of wars in providing benefits, heretofore described, and feel that extension of the period of the Philippine Insurrection, beyond that established in conformity with recognized legal precedents, would constitute sufficient deviation from that principle to invite further exceptions for additional groups with service in military occupations, expeditions, or campaigns other than during a period of war.

With respect to the mentioned precedents, it is deemed pertinent to note that July 4, 1902, is the date of the President's proclamation (32 Stat. 2014), that the Philippine Insurrection was at an end and peace established in all parts of the Philippine Archipelago except the country occupied by the Moro tribes. July 15, 1903, the date regarded by the then War Department as the termination of the Philippine Insurrection in the Moro Province, is the effective date of the Act No. 787 of the Philippine Commission providing for the organization and government of the Moro Province under civil authority. It is further noted that these delimiting dates have received legislative sanction most recently under the act of August 4, 1951 (65 Stat. 174; 38 U. S. C. 370g, et seq.).

While the subject resolutions remove one of the objections made to H. R. 4099, 78th Congress, in that they do not extend the official ending date of the Philippine Insurrection or confer a wartime status, they would confer a special benefit, heretofore generally limited to war service veterans and their dependents, upon a particular group of peacetime veterans and their dependents, to the exclusion of other peacetime veterans and their dependents, including those who served in other campaigns, expeditions, and occupations. For your information, list of such campaigns, expeditions, and occupations is set forth on pages 974-1013 of the hearings of April 28, 1953, on H. R. 55, 83d Congress and other bills, before the Subcommittee on Spanish War of your committee. Further, the subject resolutions introduce the additional consideration not present in the mentioned H. R. 4099, and similar bills subsequently considered by the Congress, of proposing benefits based upon service in the armed forces of the insular government of the Philippine Islands.

As previously mentioned, the resolutions propose to extend pension benefits to members of the "armed forces of the insular Government of the Philippine Islands," and their dependents. The resolutions do not define the quoted term. It is noted, however, that there appears on page A-132 of the Congressional Record for January 13, 1955, an article submitted by the sponsor of House Joint Resolution 65, wherein it was indicated that the term specifically included the Philippine Constabulary and the Philippine Scouts. Philippine Scouts who served during the period covered by the resolutions were members of the Armed Forces of the United States and accordingly they and their dependents are presently eligible for benefits under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration as veterans of our Armed Forces. Further, insofar as the Veterans' Administration is informed, the

Philippine Constabulary was the only "armed force" under the insular government of the Philippine Islands during the period covered by the resolutions. It is assumed, therefore, that the term is intended to apply exclusively to the Philippine Constabulary.

Act No. 175 of the Philippine Commission, July 18, 1901, under which the Philippine Constabulary was organized, indicates its purpose was to serve as an instrument of civil authority of the insular government of the Philippine Islands in the maintenance of peace, law, and order. They were not a part of the Armed Forces of the United States and are not entitled to benefits under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration. Insofar as the Veterans' Administration is informed, there are no United States Government records from which the requisite service in the Philippine Constabulary in the locations and during the time indicated in the resolutions could be established; but that such records as may exist pertinent to such service would be in the custody of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. Furthermore, there is no present information concerning the adequacy of any such records as may have been made at that comparatively remote time, or of their present state of preservation or completeness. Thus, in this respect, it is possible serious difficulty of administration of that phase of the resolutions, if enacted. would be encountered.

In keeping with the policy of Congress to recognize the primary responsibility to United States veterans having service-connected disabilities, and their dependents, the veterans of our Armed Forces encompassed by the resolutions and their dependents are presently entitled to compensation for service-connected disability or death, and at wartime rates under conditions mentioned earlier in this report. It has been the long established general policy of the Congress, however, to restrict pension to veterans of war service in the Armed Forces of the United States and dependents of such war veterans. An exception to this policy was made by the act of May 11, 1951 (65 Stat. 40; 38 U. S. C. 745) under which pension benefits, among others, were extended to United States veterans of the Korean conflict period, and to their dependents. Enactment of the subject resolutions would establish a further exception to the general policy since the service in question was not performed during a period of war. Moreover, since the Philippine Constabulary did not serve as a part of the Armed Forces of the United States, enactment would constitute a major departure from the traditional policy of restricting pension benefits to veterans of service in the Armed Forces of the United States. Enactment of the proposed legislation might also serve as a precedent for requests for similar legislation on behalf of veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in other campaigns, expeditions, or occupations, including members of the occupation forces after World War I, World War II, and the Korean conflict period, whose only service was rendered in other than a war period, as well as on behalf of other groups who did not serve in our Armed Forces, There is also for consideration what precedential effect the enactment of these resolutions might have with respect to requests for additional wartime benefits, such as hospital and domiciliary care for persons residing in the United States, and burial benefits, for the groups within the purview of the resolutions, and other comparable groups.