CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE

and a joint resolution of the House of

the following titles:

On June 8, 1954:

H. R. 683. An act for the relief of George P. Smyrniotis;

H. R. 2512. An act to amend the act en- titled "An act to provide for the purchase of public lands for home and other sites," approved June 1. 1938 (52 Stat. 609). as amended;

H. R. 2974. An act to extend the time for

enrollment of the Indians of California, and

for other purposes; H. R. 3704. An act to provide for the incorporation, regulation, merger, consolidation, and dissolution of certain business cor- porations in the District of Columbia;

H. R. 3876. An act for the relief of Martha

Schnauffer Shockley; H. R. 7061. An act to prescribe and regu- late the procedure for adoption in the District of Columbia; and

H. R. 7062. An act to amend the act of

April 22, 1944, which regulates the placement of children in family homes in the

District of Columbia.

On June 10. 1954:

H. R. 897. An act for the relief of Abul K.

Baik;

H. R. 1144. An act for the relief of Martha

Parah;

H. R. 1348. An act for the relief of Alwine

Reichenbauch;

H. R. 1509. An act for the relief of Sahag

Vartanian; H. R. 3145. An act for the relief of Pravomoll Vaclav Maly and Jarmila Maly; H.R. 5210. An act for the relief of Paul

D. Banning, chief disbursing officer, and

others; and

H. J. Res. 508. Joint resolution to extend

the time for the erection of a memorial to

the memory of Mohandas K. Gandhi.

On June 11, 1954:

H. R. 675. An act for the relief of Mrs.

Romola Nijinsky and Paul Bohus-Vilagosi; H. R. 689. An act for the relief of Mrs.

Keiko Inouye; H.R. 737. An act for the relief of Harold

Donaghy Bishop; H. R. 807. An act for the relief of Sister

Isabel (Purification Montemayor Maceo); H. R. 887. An act for the relief of Mr. and

Mrs. Edward Levandoski;

H. R. 1465. An act for the relief of Helga Rossmann and her child;

H. R. 1657. An act for the relief of Antonio

Messina; H. R. 1699. An act for the relief of Rev.

Roger Knutsen;

H. R. 1905. An act for the relief of Montgomery of San Francisco, Inc.;

H. R. 3006. An act for the relief of Ruth

Irene Ledermann;

H. R. 5616. An act for the relief of Leon

H. Callaway and others; H. R. 5933. An act for the relief of Herschel

D. Reagan; and

H. R. 7554. An act to provide for compen- sation of certain employees on days when

departments or establishments of the Government are closed by administrative order.

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE

A message from the Senate, by Mr.

Carrell, one of its clerks, announced that

the Senate agrees to the amendment of

the House to a bill of the Senate of the

following title:

S. 3050. An act to amend the Agricultural

Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended.

CIVIL DEFENSE NEED

Mr. EDMONDSON. Mr. Speaker, I

ask for unanimous consent to extend my

remarks at this point in the RECORD.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection

to the request of the gentleman from

Oklahoma?

There was no objection.

Mr. EDMONDSON. Mr. Speaker, I

wish that every Member of Congress had

been at my side at 10 this morning,

when the sirens sounded for the Washington area's A-raid drill in the schools.

I was in one of the fine schools of

Maryland, where two of my boys are en- rolled, when the drill began. At the

principal's request, I walked the halls of

the school to inspect the safety measures being taken.

In room after room, little' children

from 6 to 12 were on their knees, huddled under their classroom desks, their

hands clasped about their heads for

protection.

For 10 minutes, until the all-clear,

they stayed in this position.

It was a saddening and also a chilling

sight to watch.

The pitiful inadequacy of those tiny

desks as protection for our children

is symbolic to me of the deplorable and

inexcusable lag of our preparedness program on the home front.

We are not adequately prepared, and

all of us in the Government must share

the awful responsibility for our unpreparedness.

In the name of God, Mr. Speaker,

must we wait until A-bombs and Hbombs begin to fall, before providing

adequate and safe emergency shelters

for our children? It is shocking evidence of national complacency in a time

of great world peril, that construction is

not already completed in every target

city of our Nation.

The time to act on this national need

is not next week, or tomorrow, but today.

Tomorrow may be too late.

MRS. JOSETTE L. ST. MARIE-VETO

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

OF THE UNITED STATES (IL DOC.

NO. 432)

The SPEAKER pro tempore 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. 6452, 83d Congress, "An

act for the relief of Mrs. Josette L. St.

Marie."

The bill proposes that Frank P. St.

Marie's death in service on March 9,

1943, shall be held and considered to

have been in line of duty.

Private St. Marie, then on active serv- ice in the United States Army, committed

suicide on March 9, 1943, while in con- finement because of excessive use of alcoholic beverages. The military department determined that his death was in

line of duty, while mentally unsound, and

not the result of his own misconduct.

The claim of Mrs. Josette L. St.

Marie for death compensation as dependent mother was denied by the Veterans' Administration on the ground that

death was due to the soldier's own mis-'

conduct.

It appears that favorable action by

the committees which considered H. 1&

6452 was based upon disagreement with

the determination of the Veterans' Administration and a belief that the military department's determination is entitled to greater weight and should be

controlling. The basic issue in this case

involves the adjudicative function of

evaluation of evidence to determine

whether the soldier's death was in line of

duty and not due to his own misconduct

for purposes of death compensation.

The statutory duty of making such determinations is the sole responsibility of

the Veterans' Administration. I am informed that the conclusion of the Veterans' Administration in the case is fully

substantiated by the evidence of record,

and in my judgment it is unwise to adjudicate individual cases by private legislation.

To prefer this case for special treatment to the exclusion of other similar cases would be unwarranted and discriminatory. In this regard, I am advised that during the past 6 years approximately 1,000 claims for serviceconnected death compensation in World

War II cases alone have been denied on the ground that the veteran's death was due to his own willful misconduct. Further, it is understood that there are no dependents of World War II veterans on the death compensation rolls as a conse- quence of enactment of a private law.

Approval of H. R. 6452 could result in the

placing of such a dependent on the men- tioned rolls, and possibly retroactively

for almost a 9-year period. Thus, its

approval would constitute a far-reaching

precedent which I cannot justify.

I am opposed to setting aside the prin- ciple and rules of administration prescribed in the public laws governing

veterans' benefit programs. Uniformity and equality of treatment to all who are similarly situated must be the steadfast rule If the Federal programs for

veterans and their dependents are to be

operated successfully. Approval of H. R.

6452 would not be in keeping with these

principles.

DWIGHT D.. EISENHOWER.

THE WHITE HOUSE, June 14, 1954.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The objections of the President will be spread

at large upon the Journal, and without

objection the bill and message will be

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and ordered printed. . There was no objection,

MRS. ROSE KACZMARCZYK-VETO

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC.

NO. 431)

The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following veto mes- sage from the President of the United

States:

To the House o1 Representatives:

I am returning herewith, without my approval, H. R. 898, 83d Congresss, "An

act for the relief of Mrs. Rose Kaczmarczyk."

The bill would authorize and direct

the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to

Mrs. Rose Kaczmarczyk the sum of

8172 June 14