CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE

MRS. JOHN WILLIAM BRENNANVETO MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H.

DOC. NO. 154)

The SPEAKER laid before the House

the following veto message from the

President of the United States:

To the House of Representatives:

I am returning herewith, without my

approval, H. R. 1863, for the relief of

M.rs. John William Brennan.

The bill proposes to consider that John

William Brennan, Sr., had $4,000 United

States Government life insurance in effect at the time of his death on September 15, 1952, and to require the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to pay such

insurance to the veteran's widow.

The insurance protection under the

veteran's United States Government life

insurance policies lapsed on December

1, 1933, because of the nonpayment of

premiums. On April 25, 1951, Mr. Brennan visited the Veterans' Administration regional office. Jackson, Miss., to apply for $4,000 insurance. An employee

executed a portion of the insurance application but, because of the rush of

business, Mr. Brennan was apparently

advised to return home, have his private

physician give him the necessary physical examination, and return the completed application to the Veterans' Administration. Mr. Brennan secured the

examination the following morning and

mailed the application.

Section 10 of the Insurance Act of 1751

provided, in part, that on and after the

date of enactment (April 25, 1951) no

United States Government life insurance

could be granted unless an acceptable

application accompanied by proper and

valid premium remittance had been received by, or mailed to, the Veterans'

Administration on or before that date.

Since Mr. Brennan's application and

premium remittance were not mailed on

or before April 25, 1951, the Veterans'

Administration advised him that the

statutory requirements were not met and

that that agency was precluded from issuing the insurance to him. Mr. Brennan died on September 15, 1952.

It appears from the committee reports

on the bill that the correctness of the

denial of Mr. Brennan's insurance application is conceded. Favorable action by

the committee apparently was based on the belief that, as a matter of equity, the

delay in filing the application should be

waived since, if it had been filed 1 day

earlier, it would have been accepted and

the insurance issued.

It is clear that the Congress intended

to terminate the granting of national

service life insurance and United States

Government life insurance on the date

of enactment of the Servicemen's Indemnity Act. No provision was made for

a processing period for additional applications or for advance notice to policyholders or former policyholders. The

date of enactment depended entirely

upon when the enrolled measure was

actually signed by the President. This

date could not have been precisely anticipated by the Congress, the interested

public, or by Veterans' Administration

employees processing insurance applications. Accordingly, whatever the

medical facts of the case might have

been, Mr. Brennan did not file his application in time to meet a deadline which

the Congress intended to become effective without advance notice.

The committees' assumption that the

insurance would have been issued if the

application therefor had been timely

filed is not supported by the record. To

the contrary, the medical records indicate that Mr. Brennan suffered from increased blood pressure and pulse rate of

long standing, to a degree, in several

instances, greater than can be considered

consistent with good health and beyond

the acceptable limits for insurance purposes. In this connection, it is also pertinent to note that the Veterans' Administration on two previous occasions

rejected applications by Mr. Brennan for

United States Government life insurance

because of high blood pressure and rapid

pulse rate.

Under the circumstances, it is my opinion that this case does not warrant equitable relief or present a basis for exceptional or preferred treatment. Approval

of the bill would be discriminatory and

constitute a precedent which cannot be

dismissed. In a Federal program as

large as the United States Government

life-insurance program, it is most important that the laws be administered

uniformly and with special favor for none. Payment of a gratuity in the

guie of insurance, as proposed by H. R.

1863, would not be in keeping with these

principles.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER.

THE WHITE HOUSE, April 17, 1957.

The SPEAKER. The objections of the

President will be spread at large upon

the Journal, and, without objection, the

bill and the message will be referred to

the Committee on the Judiciary and

ordered printed.

There was no objection.

TUNGSTEN, A STRATEGIC METAL

Mr. DAWSON of Utah. Mr. Speaker,

I ask unanimous consent to extend my

remarks at this point in the RECORD.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to

the request of the gentleman from

Utah?

There was no objection.

Mr. DAWSON of Utah. Mr. Speaker,

it is very easy in time of peace-however

unstable-to forget what happens to this

Nation and its needs for strategic metals

in times of emergency. Tungsten is a

good example and the recent history of

our Nation's need of this vital metal

points up the value of having a dependable domestic source available.

Surely, Members remember how this

domestic tungsten program got started.

It came with the Korean crisis when we

found ourselves without tungsten and

without any substantial domestic production upon which to draw.

This Nation went out onto the world

market in a desperate effort to obtain

tungsten and in so doing bid the price

up to $69 per unit-$14 per unit more

than the purchase program here under

discussion proposes to pay our domestic

mines. We paid the high price for tungsten because we had no alternative. But

the Nation at that time determined it

would not be put in that spot again. As

a result, the purchase-stockpiling program was adopted to encourage domestic

exploration and development of tungsten.

The program-from a production

standpoint-was an overwhelming success. This Nation is now self-sufficient

in tungsten. But an uneasy peace has

returned to the world and as a result the

metal can again be obtained from foreign

sources at a price cheaper than the

domestic industry-which this Government called into being-can meet. Let

,us remember, however, that it is this

very domestic production that has served

to lower the world price of tungsten and

let us remember that without this production we would again be dependent

upon foreign sources whose slogan is

"All the market will bear."

I think we all realize that stockpiling

is a stopgap measure to be relied upon

only until the administration's longrange minerals program can find a more

stable and orderly solution. Unfortunately, the long-range program has yet

to be submitted to Congress. As a result

there is still a gap to be stopped and this

program is designed to do that.

It is shortsighted economy, Mr.

Speaker, to again make ourselves dependent upon foreign sources of a metal we must have for our defense. We

should keep our domestic mines in operation as insurance-the best availableagainst price gouging in the world market place.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

By unanimous consent, leave of absence was granted as follows:

To Mr. COFFIN, for April 18 and April

29, on account of official business.

To Mrs. ST. GEORGE (at the request of

Mr. ARENDS), for today, on account of

illness in family.

SPECIAL ORDERS GRANTED

By unanimous consent, permission to

address the House, following the legislative program and any special orders

heretofore entered, was granted to:

Mr. BURNS of Hawaii, for 15 minutes,

today.

Mr. COFFIN, for 5 minutes, today.

Mr. HENDERSON, for 30 minutes, tomorrow.

Mr. BAILEY, for 20 minutes, today.

Mr. THOMPSON of New Jersey, for 10

minutes, on today, and to include extraneous matter.

Mr. LONG, for 30 minutes, on today.

Mr. POWELL, for 20 minutes, on tomorrow.

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

By unanimous consent, permission to

extend remarks in the CONGRESSIONAL

RECORD, or to revise and extend remarks,

was granted to:

Mrs. SULLIVAN (at the request of Mr.

ZABLOcKI) and to include extraneous

matter.

5944 April 17