Evening star., 1952-05-22
Truman Rops House for Cutting'
Medical Program SIS Million

President Truman, World
War I artillery officer. last night
used the record Of veterans ap-
preparations as added ammuni-
ton in his continued attack on
Congress.
He made a talk to about 600
persons representing voluntary
services to Veterans Administra-
ton hospitals in the Departmental
Auditorium.
His "first-rate medical pro-
gram," he said, had been con-
sidered too expensive by the $50
called economy bloc" The House.
he said, Topped off SIS million"
"I hope the Senate will put the
money back" he declared. IF
it doesn't, it will be just too bad
for many of these veterans who
need medical care"
Guesses at Motive.
Then his voice sounded a Sar-
castle note.
"I wouldn't be surprised" he
said, "if the House Of Representa-
tives wouldn't like to see this
money restored by the Senate.
Then they can go home and say
how economy-minded they were.
but the Senate kept them from
doing it."
Maj. Gen. Carl r. Gray. Vet
erans' Administrator and former
vice president of the Chicago &
North Western Railroad, who has
been Gen. Eisenhower's host on a.
fishing trip. seemed to enjoy the
sally as much as the audience.
II didn't think" the President
said, "they would ever get them
selves out on this particular limb.
Let me tell you how absurd this
thing really is"
Tells Of Fight for More Beds.
He recalled that several years
ago Congress had wanted to in
clude $4,000 more beds in the vet
erans' hospital program than he
thought necessary.
But the current appropriations
bill passed by the House. he said,
won't even provide enough money
to operate all the hospital beds the
VA will have.
"I wonder what we would do"
he said, with the extra 10000
under those conditions. Can you
imagine anything as absurd as
that?"
1t was comparable, he said. to
the performance of Congress con-
cerning the Post Office. He had
sent a message to Congress ask
ing it to meet the immense deficit
by making those people pay who
are being subsidized-the pub
fishers of periodicals which are
not exactly what everybody
ought to read. in my opinion
the slick magazines and a lot OF
Sunday newspapers.
Congress, he said, added "a pit
tance" of about SIG million to
Post Office charges for carrying
the mails; then they gave the
department an expense account
of some $400 million which made
the deficit that much larger"
AssaiIs ANA.
Only Monday, he said, the
House had before it a bill that
would make a number of desir-
able changes in the social secur-
ity law. One of the changes
would give the veterans fighting
in Korea credit under the social
security system for the time
spent overseas.
But along came that organiza-
ton" he said, that hates the
administration worse than it
hates the devil-the American
Medical Association. It said there
is something in this bill that looks
like socialized medicine.
"I don't know what they were
talking about. Nobody else did.
And I don't think they did either.
There is nothing in that bill
that came any closer to socialized
medicine than the payments the
American Medical Association
makes to the advertising firm of
Whitaker & Baxter to misrepre-
sent my health program.
But there are a lot Of people
in Congress who Jump when the
American Medical Association
cracks the whip. And there are
lot of others who roll over and
play dead when anybody yells
socialism The upshot of all this
was that the bill was defeated on
the House floor"
Marshall Turned Him Down.
He reminded his audience that
he was a veteran.
"I tried my best to be a veteran
of this war;" he said. II went
down to see Gen. George c. Mar
SHALL had kept my Reserve
commission-and told him ]
would appreciate 1t most highly If
he would let me command a field
artillery outfit, because I was a
colonel.
The general pulled his glasses
down on his noSe-like that-and
said:
Senator, how old are you?'
IT said, I'm So
"He said, You are too damn old.