Evening star., 1945-05-27

which Congress has passed to date
is known as the GI Bill of Rights,
cited officially as the Servicemen's
Readjustment Act of 1914. This is
i a broad measure providing, as is
generally known, for disqualification,
education, guaranteed loans and un-
employment compensation for vet
Grams. The bill became law June
%. 1914.
i Many of the bills pending in Con-
gress are proposed amendments toI
the GI Bill of Rights. Most of them
revise and expand certain of the
benefits and add others. None OF
these has reached the floor of either
House.
The other bills run the gamut of
veterans legislation, from an out
right cash bonus to various forms
of pension and allowances applica-
BILE to certain age groups under
specified conditions.
Nearly all the bills presented at
this first session of the 10th Con-
gresS are still in committee. The
House Veterans Committee has re-
ported out bill giving the Veterans
Administration authority to hire on
a part-time basis employees of other
Federal agencies A few other bills
are on their way through the legis-
lative machinery The fate of the
others is uncertain.
i Many Slated for Pigeonhole.
Il Necessarily great many bills
will remain inferred in committee
pigeonhoies when this Congress ends.
Others undoubtedly will receive seri-
Gus consideration.
Senators and Representatives, gen.
orally speaking, have shown a COM
mendable desire to preserve on the
statute books the country's gratitude
to its armed forces. There is differ
ence Of opinion, naturally, on how
far veterans benefits should go and
what form they should take. Some
proposals will continue to be de-
bated for years, just as measures Of
a similar nature were urged and
fought for two decades after the last
war.
What will it cost?" is the most
obvious question directed at any bill
to aid veterans.
Sometimes the answer is fairly
easy Sometimes it's a hard or i'm
possible question, even for analysts
of the Veterans Administration and
others who specialize in the admin
istration Of veterans legislation to
answer. The nature of most pend
ing bills, what some of them probably
would cost and why it is virtually
impossible to compute the cost Of
others, will be considered in more
detail later in this series.
Nothing Too Good.
Many members of Congress take
the position that nothing is too good
for the men who defend their coun-
try and for the dependents of those
who gave their lives-and yet there
is limit to what the Treasury can
bear.
Virtually every bill which is taken
up by one of the several congress
sional committees which consider
veterans legislation is referred to
the Veterans Administration for
analysis and recommendation. In
reporting on each measure. the VA
estimates its cost, if possible. FIRE.
quently it is hardly possible to give
a rough estimate of what it could
cost. Often there are so many vari-
able factors involved that even a
table Of, say, insurance averages
would furnish little clue to how ex-
pensive it might prove.
Thus the Veterans Administra-
ton is unable today even to guess
what all the pending proposals
would cost, what they would add
to the formidable annual expense
for the veterans of this and other
wars which the country has as
sumed.
Costs Now ~ Billion.
1t might be interesting in this
connection to cite the administra-
tons estimate that it is costing the
Government 1883 ,135,0OO for the
current fiscal year, ending June 80,
1945, to care for all surviving vet
Grams of all wars. This includes hos
pitalization, pensions and compen-
sation of all sorts.
The World War bonus alone has
cost something over $3,825 900 900 to
date.
Legislation affecting veterans of
all wars is referred to three COM
mittees in the House and usually to
a single committee of the Senate.
Bills relating to the present and
last wars introduced in the House
go to the World War Veterans Com
mittee. This committee absorbs by
far the largest number of bills pre-
sented in either house. 1t Is headed
by Representative Rankin, Demo-
crat, of Mississippi.
House bills dealing with veterans