[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 20, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11309-11310]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-6494]



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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
38 CFR Part 3

RIN 2900-AH85


Lump-Sum Payment Under Public Law 93-177

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 
adjudication regulations to remove a provision for making lump-sum 
payments based on the service of veterans who were dishonorably 
discharged from the United States Army as the result of an incident 
that occurred in Brownsville, Texas, on August 13, 1906. The law 
required that applications for the lump-sum payment be filed within 5 
years after December 6, 1973. Since the time limit for filing for the 
lump-sum payment has expired, the rule is obsolete.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This amendment is effective March 20, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Trowbridge, Consultant, 
Regulations Staff, Compensation and Pension

[[Page 11310]]

Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20420, telephone (202) 273-7210.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ``Brownsville Incident'' occurred on 
August 13, 1906, when an estimated 5 to 20 persons shot up the town of 
Brownsville, Texas. One civilian was killed and one wounded. It was 
charged that soldiers from the 25th Infantry Regiment, which was 
stationed adjacent to the town at Fort Brown, were responsible for the 
shootings, but it proved impossible to establish the guilt of 
individual soldiers. On November 5, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt 
ordered that all 167 enlisted men in the three companies stationed at 
Fort Brown be dishonorably discharged.
    On April 6, 1910, 14 of the 167 soldiers were exonerated by a 
special Army Tribunal and permitted to reenlist. On September 22, 1972, 
the Secretary of the Army ordered the discharges of all the 
dishonorably discharged soldiers changed to honorable.
    On December 6, 1973, Congress enacted Public Law 93-177. Section 7 
of Public Law 93-177 provided for payment of $25,000 to surviving 
veterans who were dishonorably discharged as a result of the 
``Brownsville Incident'' and were not thereafter eligible for 
reenlistment. It also provided for payment of $10,000 to the 
unremarried surviving spouses of such veterans. The law provided that 
applications for these payments must be filed within 5 years after 
December 6, 1973.
    Section 3.811 of 38 CFR was promulgated in 1974. Since more than 15 
years have passed since anyone could file for payments under Public Law 
93-177, we are removing 38 CFR 3.811 as obsolete.
    Since this rulemaking merely removes an obsolete nonsubstantive 
provision, the Secretary finds under 5 U.S.C. Sec. 553(b) that prior 
notice and comment are unnecessary and that there is a basis for 
dispensing with a 30-day delay of the effective date.
    The Secretary hereby certifies that these regulatory amendments 
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities as they are defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act 
(RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601-612. The amendments would not directly affect any 
small entities. Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), these 
amendments are exempt from the initial and final regulatory flexibility 
analysis requirements of sections 603 and 604.
    There are no applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 
program numbers.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 3

    Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Disability benefits, 
Health care, Pensions, Veterans, Vietnam.

    Approved: March 11, 1996.
Jesse Brown,
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 38 CFR part 3 is amended 
as follows:

PART 3--ADJUDICATION

Subpart A--Pension, Compensation, and Dependency and Indemnity 
Compensation

    1. The authority citation for part 3, subpart A continues to read 
as follows:

    Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), unless otherwise noted.


Sec. 3.811  [Removed and reserved]

    2. Section 3.811 is removed and reserved.
[FR Doc. 96-6494 Filed 3-19-96; 8:45 am]
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