[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4, Chapters 15 - 17]
[Chapter 17. Committees]
[D. Jurisdiction of Committees]
[Â§ 50. Committee on Veterans' Affairs]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 3020-3025]
 
                               CHAPTER 17
 
                               Committees
 
                         C. COMMITTEE PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 50. Committee on Veterans' Affairs

    The Committee on Veterans' Affairs was created on Jan. 2, 1947, as 
part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946,(3) and 
was accorded jurisdiction formerly held by the Committee on World War 
Veterans' Legislation (created in 1924),(4) the Committee on 
Invalid Pensions (created in 1831),(5) and the Committee on 
Pensions (created in 1825).(6)
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 3. 60 Stat. 812.
 4. 7 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 2077.
 5. 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 4258.
 6. Id. at Sec. 4260.
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    In 1967,(7) jurisdiction over veterans' cemeteries 
administered by the Department of Defense was transferred to the 
committee from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.
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 7. 113 Cong. Rec. 29566, 90th Cong. 1st Sess., Oct. 20, 1967 (H. Res. 
        241).
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    In 1973, the jurisdiction of the committee under the rules read as 
follows:(8)
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 8. Rule XI clause 20, House Rules and Manual Sec. 722 (1973). See Rule 
        X clause l(u), House Rules and Manual Sec. 690 (1979).
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        (a) Veterans' measures generally.
        (b) Cemeteries of the United States in which veterans of any 
    war or conflict are or may be buried, whether in the United States 
    or abroad, except cemeteries administered by the Secretary of the 
    Interior.
        (c) Compensation, vocational rehabilitation, and education of 
    veterans.
        (d) Life insurance issued by the Government on account of 
    service in the armed forces.
        (e) Pensions of all the wars of the United States, general and 
    special.

[[Page 3021]]

        (f) Readjustment of servicemen to civil life.
        (g) Soldiers' and sailors' civil relief.
        (h) Veterans' hospitals, medical care, and treatment of 
    veterans.

    Further insight into the scope of the committee's jurisdiction is 
provided by the legislative subject categories list prepared by the 
staff of the Select Committee on Committees.(9) With respect 
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the list reads, as follows 
[enumeration added]:
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 9. Terrence T. Finn, ``Monographs on the Committees of the House of 
        Representatives'' (93d Cong. 2d Sess., Dec. 13, 1974), 
        committee print, p. 144.
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        (1) Administration of the Veterans' Administration;
        (2) Veterans' cemeteries;
        (3) Veterans' compensation;
        (4) Veterans' education;
        (5) Veterans' employment;
        (6) Veterans' health care;
        (7) Veterans' housing;
        (8) Veterans' insurance;
        (9) Veterans' pensions;
        (10) Veterans' readjustment; and
        (11) Veterans' training.

    As the precedents reveal, the jurisdiction of the committee has 
also extended to such matters as the erection of headstones to mark 
honorary burial places for deceased and missing veterans; 
(10) veterans' civil liabilities; (11) survivors' 
death benefits; (12) and veterans' cemeteries not 
administered by the Secretary of the Interior.(13)
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10. Sec. Sec. 50.3, 50.4, infra.
11. Sec. Sec. 50.1, 50.2, infra.
12. Sec. 50.6, infra.
13. Sec. 50.7, infra.
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    The committee's oversight responsibilities revolve around the 
Veterans' Administration (VA) with particular emphasis on the 
administration of VA hospitals.
    In 1973, the committee maintained five subcommittees, as follows:

        (1) Subcommittee on Compensation;
        (2) Subcommittee on Education and Training;
        (3) Subcommittee on Hospitals;
        (4) Subcommittee on Housing;
        (5) Subcommittee on 
    Insurance.                          -------------------

Soldiers' and Sailor Civil Relief Act of 1940

Sec. 50.1 The Committee on Veterans' Affairs and not the Committee on 
    Armed Services has jurisdiction of a bill to amend section 200 of 
    the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 to permit the 
    establishment of certain facts by a declaration under penalty of 
    perjury in lieu of an affidavit.

    On Feb. 4, 1959,(~14~) Carl Vinson, of Georgia, Chairman 
of the Com
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14. 105 Cong. Rec. 1812, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
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[[Page 3022]]

mittee on Armed Services, obtained unanimous consent to have his 
committee discharged from further consideration of the bill (H.R. 
3313), and to have it rereferred to the Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs.(15)
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15. H.R. 3133 was reported by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs on 
        Mar. 2, 1960 (H. Rept. No. 1309).
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    Parliamentarian's Note: The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act 
of 1940 (16) was enacted in order to suspend temporarily the 
enforcement of civil liabilities, in certain cases, of persons in the 
military service in order to enable such individuals to devote their 
entire energy to the defense needs of the United States.
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16. Pub. L. No. 76-861, 54 Stat. 1178.
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Sec. 50.2 The Committee on Veterans' Affairs and not the Committee on 
    Armed Services has jurisdiction of bills pertaining to the 
    Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 (1) to provide that 
    it shall not apply to divorce proceedings, (2) to render sections 
    200(1) and 200(2) inapplicable to future actions and proceedings 
    relating to default judgments, and (3) to amend it so as to 
    guarantee to persons after their period of military service certain 
    rights with respect to employment.

    On Apr. 2, 1948,(1) Mr. Walter G. Andrews, of New York, 
obtained unanimous consent that the four bills described above (H.R. 
3137, H.R. 4580, regarding divorce proceedings, H.R. 3808, regarding 
default judgments, H.R. 582, with respect to employment), be rereferred 
from the Committee on Armed Services to the Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs.
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 1. 94 Cong. Rec. 4070, 80th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Erection of Headstones; Payment Therefor

Sec. 50.3 The Committee on Veterans' Affairs and not the Committee on 
    Armed Services has jurisdiction of a bill providing for the 
    erection of headstones for certain members of the armed forces 
    buried outside the United States, lost at sea, or reported missing 
    in the performance of duty.

    On Feb. 13, 1947,(2) Mr. Walter G. Andrews, of New York, 
obtained unanimous consent to have the Committee on Armed Services 
discharged from further consideration of the bill (H.R. 243), and to
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 2. 93 Cong. Rec. 1001, 80th Cong. 1st Sess.
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[[Page 3023]]

have it rereferred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Sec. 50.4 The Committee on Veterans' Affairs and not the Committee on 
    Armed Services has jurisdiction of bills authorizing the Secretary 
    of War to furnish headstones to mark honorary burial places and 
    relating to the payment therefor.

    On Feb. 13, 1947,(3) Mr. Walter G. Andrews, of New York, 
asked unanimous consent to have the Committee on Armed Services 
discharged from further consideration of a bill (H.R. 1184), 
authorizing the furnishing of headstones and of a companion measure 
(H.R. 507), providing for the payment of such headstones. He 
additionally requested that both measures be referred to the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs.
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 3. 93 Cong. Rec. 1001, 80th Cong. 1st Sess.
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    Immediately thereafter, the House granted unanimous consent.

Interest on Government Life Insurance Loans

Sec. 50.5 The Committee on World War Veterans' Legislation (now the 
    Committee on Veterans' Affairs), and not the Committee on Ways and 
    Means had jurisdiction of a bill to reduce the interest on loans on 
    U.S. Government (converted) life insurance.

    On Nov. 28, 1941,(4) Mr. Victor Wickersham, of Oklahoma, 
asked unanimous consent to have the bill (H.R. 6114), rereferred from 
the Committee on Ways and Means to the Committee on World War Veterans' 
Legislation (5) (now the Committee on Veterans' Affairs). In 
so doing, he stated that he had talked to the Chairman of the Committee 
on Ways and Means, and there was no objection.
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 4. 87 Cong. Rec. 9248, 77th Cong. 1st Sess.
 5. At the time, the jurisdiction of the committee consisted of 
        subjects relating ``to war-risk insurance of soldiers, sailors, 
        and marines, and other persons in the military and naval 
        service of the United States during or growing out of the World 
        War, the United States Veterans' Bureau, the compensations, 
        allowances, and pensions of such persons and their 
        beneficiaries, and all legislation affecting them other than 
        civil service, public lands, adjusted compensations, and 
        private claims.'' Rule XI clause 40, H. Jour. 825, 77th Cong. 
        1st Sess. (1941)
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    Immediately thereafter, the House granted unanimous consent.

[[Page 3024]]

Survivors' Death Benefits for Military Retirees

Sec. 50.6 The Committee on Veterans' Affairs and not the Committee on 
    Armed Services has jurisdiction of a bill ``To amend Sec. 102 of 
    the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act to provide 
    that all retired members of the uniformed services who served not 
    less than 25 years on active duty and who thereafter die shall be 
    considered to have died service-connected deaths.''

    On May 18, 1959,(6) Carl Vinson, of Georgia, Chairman of 
the Committee on Armed Services, obtained unanimous consent to have his 
committee discharged from further consideration of the bill (H. R. 
1129), and to have it rereferred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
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 6. 105 Cong. Rec. 8273, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
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Veterans' Cemeteries Not Administered by Secretary of the Interior

Sec. 50.7 The rules of the House were amended to transfer jurisdiction 
    over all veterans' cemeteries not administered by the Secretary of 
    the Interior from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs to 
    the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

    On Oct. 20, 1967,(7) by direction of the Committee on 
Rules, Mr. Richard Bolling, of Missouri, called up a resolution (H. 
Res. 241), and asked for its immediate consideration. The Clerk read 
the resolution; a quorum call followed, after which the House 
considered and agreed to the committee amendments.
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 7. 113 Cong. Rec. 29560, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
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    The resolution, with committee amendments, read as follows:

        Resolved, That clause 10 of rule XI (8) of the Rules 
    of the House of Representatives is amended by striking out 
    paragraph (h) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
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 8. At the time, Rule XI clause 10, prescribed the jurisdiction of the 
        Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. Clause 10 (h) stated 
        [H. Jour. 1482, 89th Cong. 2d Sess. (1966)] specifically: ``(h) 
        Military parks and battlefields; national cemeteries 
        administered by the Secretary of the Interior.''
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        ``(h) Military parks and battlefields.''
        Sec. 2. Clause 19 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
    Representatives (9) is amended by inserting a new 
    subsection (b), as follows:
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 9. At the time, this clause [H. Jour. 1483, 89th Cong. 2d Sess. 
        (1966)] set forth the jurisdiction of the Committee on 
        Veterans' Affairs.

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[[Page 3025]]

        ``(b) Cemeteries of the United States in which veterans of any 
    war or conflict are or may be buried, whether in the United States 
    or abroad, except cemeteries administered by the Secretary of the 
    Interior''.

    In the course of the ensuing discussion, Mr. James H. Quillen, of 
Tennessee, pointed out (10) that under the then-prevailing 
rules, no less than three committees (Veterans' Affairs, Interior and 
Insular Affairs, and Armed Services) possessed jurisdictional interests 
(11) in matters relating to national cemeteries. He noted 
that such cemeteries were distinguishable insofar as they belonged to 
one of two main categories; to wit, those which were in active use as 
burial grounds for military veterans, and those which were inactive for 
all practical purposes.
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10. 113 Cong. Rec. 29562, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
11. See Sec. 40.16, supra.
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    With respect to the active cemeteries, he stated:

        . . . Those cemeteries still open and available for the burial 
    of our service men ought uniformly to be under the jurisdiction of 
    the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. This committee is charged with 
    the overall direction and formulation of our national policy with 
    regard to our service veterans. The committee also deals on a 
    regular and day to day basis with the Veterans' Administration, the 
    agency which handles the matter of veteran burials.

    As the debate proceeded, Mr. E. Ross Adair, of Indiana, further 
explained the distinction between the types of cemeteries and the 
rationale behind the resolution: (12)
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12. 113 Cong. Rec. 29563, 90th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Under this resolution the Committee on Veterans' Affairs will 
    assume legislative jurisdiction over all national cemeteries except 
    13 which are now administered by the Secretary of the Interior as a 
    part of the national park system. Seven of these cemeteries are 
    closed to further burials. These cemeteries are located in national 
    historical parks and battlefields. They are administered by the 
    National Park Service because their significance as national 
    monuments overshadows their importance as places of current burial. 
    Therefore, it seems appropriate that legislative jurisdiction over 
    this small group of national cemeteries should remain with the 
    Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.

    After additional discussion, the resolution as amended was agreed 
to, unanimously, by roll call vote.(~13)
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13. Id. at p. 29566.
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