VETERANS ADMINISTRATION

VETERANS ADMINISTRATION General operating expenses: For necessary operating expenses of the Veterans Administration, not otherwise provided for, including expenses incidental to securing employment for war veterans; purchase of fifteen passenger motor vehicles for replacement only; not to exceed $6,000 for newspapers and periodicals; not to exceed $2,800,000 for expenses of travel of employees; and not to exceed $43,700 for preparation, shipment, installation, and display of exhibits, photographic displays, moving pictures, and other visual educational information and descriptive material, including purchase or rental of equipment; $167,672,300: Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be used to pay in excess of twenty persons engaged in public relations work: Provided further, That no part of any appropriation shall be used to pay educational institutions for reports and certifications of attendance at such institutions an allowance at a rate in excess of $1 per month for each eligible veteran enrolled in and attending such institution. Medical administration and miscellaneous operating expenses: For expenses necessary for administration of the medical, hospital, domiciliary, special service, construction and supply, research, and employee education and training activities; expenses necessary for carrying out programs of medical research and of education and training of employees, as authorized by law; and not to exceed $834,388 for expenses of travel of employees paid from this appropriation; $14,654,000. Inpatient care: For expenses necessary for the maintenance and operation of hospitals and domiciliary facilities and for the care and treatment of beneficiaries of the Veterans Administration in facilities not under the jurisdiction of the Veterans Administration as authorized by law, including the furnishing of recreational articles and facilities; maintenance and operation of farms; repairing, altering, improving or providing facilities in the several hospitals and homes under the jurisdiction of the Veterans Administration, not otherwise provided for, either by contract, or by the hire of temporary employees and purchase of materials; purchase of sixty passenger motor vehicles for replacement only; not to exceed $315,000 for expenses of travel of employees; and aid to State or Territorial homes in conformity with the Act approved August 27, 1888, as amended (24 U. S. C. 134) for the support of veterans eligible for admission to Veterans Administration facilities for hospital or domiciliary care; $598,127,000, including the sum of $7,134,500 for reimbursable services performed for other Government agencies and individuals: Provided, That allotments and transfers may be made from this appropriation to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (Public Health Service), the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Interior Departments, for disbursement by them under the various headings of their applicable appropriations, of such amounts as are necessary for the care and treatment of beneficiaries of the Veterans Administration: Provided further, That the foregoing appropriation is predicated on furnishing inpatient care and treatment to an average of 127,000 beneficiaries during the fiscal year 1955, excluding members in State or Territorial homes, and if a lesser number is experienced such appropriation shall be expended only in proportion to the average number of beneficiaries furnished such care and treatment. Outpatient care: For expenses necessary for furnishing outpatient care to beneficiaries of the Veterans Administration, as authorized by law, including not to exceed $178,000 for expenses of travel of employees; $82,134,000, of which not exceeding $11,200,000 shall be68 Stat. 291 available for outpatient fee basis dental care: Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be available for outpatient dental services and treatment, or related dental appliances with respect to a service-connected dental disability which is not compensable in degree unless such condition or disability is shown to have been in existence at time of discharge and application for treatment is made within one year after discharge or by December 31, 1954, whichever is later: Provided further, That this limitation shall not apply to adjunct outpatient dental services or appliances for any dental condition associated with and held to be aggravating disability from such other service-incurred or service-aggravated injury or disease. Maintenance and operation of supply depots: For expenses necessary for maintenance and operation of supply depots, including not to exceed $4,400 for expenses of travel of employees, and purchase of two passenger motor vehicles for replacement only, $1,654,000. Compensation and pensions: For the payment of compensation, pensions, gratuities, and allowances (including burial awards authorized by Veterans Administration Regulation Numbered 9 (a), as amended, and subsistence allowances authorized by part VII of veterans Regulation la, as amended), authorized under any Act of Congress, or regulation of the President based thereon, including emergency officers’ retirement pay and annuities, the administration of which is now or may hereafter be placed in the Veterans administration, and for the payment of adjusted-service credits as provided in sections 401 and 601 of the Act of May 19, 1924, as amended (38 U. S. C. 631 and 661), $2,435,000,000, to be immediately available and to remain available until expended. Readjustment benefits: For the payment of benefits to or on behalf of veterans as authorized by titles II, III, and V, of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, as amended, and title II of the Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1952, and for supplies, equipment, and tuition authorized by part VII and payments authorized by part IX of Veterans Administration Regulation Numbered 1 (a), as amended, $387,000,000, together with the unexpended balance as of June 30, 1954, remaining in the appropriation for “Veterans miscellaneous benefits” to be immediately available and to remain available until expended: Provided, That no part of any appropriation to the Veterans Administration shall be available, in connection with any loan authorized by title III of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, as amended (38 U. S. C. 694–694n), for payment to the lender by the Administrator of Veterans Affairs, or for credit on the loan, of an amount equivalent to 4 per centum of the amount originally loaned, guaranteed or insured by the Veterans Administration: Provided further, That no right to any such payment shall accrue after September 1, 1953, but the foregoing proviso shall not apply with respect to payments based on guarantees made, or certificates of commitments issued, prior to said date or commitments for loans made by the Veterans Administration. Military and naval insurance: For military and naval insurance, $4,932,000, to remain available until expended. Hospital and domiciliary facilities: For hospital and domiciliary facilities, for planning and for extending, with the approval of the President, any of the facilities under the jurisdiction of the Veterans Administration or for any of the purposes set forth in sections 1 and 2 of the Act approved March 4, 1931 (38 U. S. C. 438j–k) or in section 101 of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (38 U. S. C. 693a), to remain available until expended, $47,000,000: Provided, That notwithstanding any other provisions of existing law the Veterans Administration is authorized to advance not to exceed $2,000,000 from68 Stat. 292 construction funds previously appropriated, to the city of Cleveland, Ohio, for the construction or extension of necessary water facilities to the site of the proposed Veterans Administration hospital, this amount to be repaid by the city of Cleveland in cash or water over a period of years as determined by the Veterans Administration and the city of Cleveland. National service life insurance: For the payment of benefits and for transfer to the national service life insurance fund, in accordance with the National Service Life Insurance Act of 1940, as amended, $30,570,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That certain premiums shall be credited to this appropriation as provided by the Act. Servicemen’s indemnities: For payment of liabilities under the Servicemen’s Indemnity Act of 1951, $30,000,000, to remain available until expended. Grants to the Republic of the Philippines: For payment to the Republic of the Philippines of grants in accordance with the Act of July 1, 1948 (50 U. S. C. App. 1991–1996), for expenses incident to medical care and treatment of veterans, $1,564,000. Major alterations, improvements, and repairs: For all necessary expenses of major alterations, improvements, and repairs to regional offices, supply depots, and hospital and domiciliary facilities, $3,480,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That no part of the foregoing appropriation shall be used to commence any major alteration, improvement, or repair unless funds are available for the completion of such work; and no funds shall be used for such work at any facility if the Veterans Administration is reasonably certain that the installation will be abandoned in the near future. Not to exceed 5 per centum of any appropriation for the current fiscal year for “Compensation and pensions”, “Readjustment benefits”, “Military and naval insurance”, “National service life insurance”, and “Servicemen’s indemnities”, may be transferred, to any other of the mentioned appropriations, but not to exceed 10 per centum of the appropriation so augmented. Appropriations available to the Veterans Administration for the current fiscal year for salaries and expenses shall be available for services as authorized by section 15 of the Act of August 2, 1946 (5 U.S. C. 55a). Appropriations available to the Veterans Administration for the current fiscal year for “Inpatient care” and “Outpatient care” shall be available for funeral, burial, and other expenses incidental thereto (except burial awards authorized by Veterans Administration Regulation Numbered 9 (a), as amended), for beneficiaries of the Veterans Administration receiving care under such appropriations. No part of the appropriations in this Act for the Veterans Administration (except the appropriation for “Hospital and domiciliary facilities”) shall be available for the purchase of any site for or toward the construction of any new hospital or home. No part of the foregoing appropriations shall be available for hospitalization or examination of any persons except beneficiaries entitled under the laws bestowing such benefits to veterans, unless reimbursement of cost is made to the appropriation at such rates as may be fixed by the Administrator of Veterans Affairs. reductions in appropriations The appropriation heretofore granted for “Soldiers’ and sailors’ civil relief” is hereby reduced by the sum of $500,000, and said amount shall be carried to the surplus of the Treasury. 68 Stat. 293 The appropriations heretofore granted for “Vocational rehabilitation revolving fund (Act of Mar. 24, 1943)”, are hereby reduced by the sum of $400,000, and said amount shall be carried to the surplus of the Treasury.