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Show I As chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee he has a def- inite responsibility -for developing a legislative program to take' care of veterans' needs. He should either acknowledge that responsibility or give up the Chairmanship he now hoids. We do not insist that he agree with us. We do insist that as Chairman of the Committee he should provide some positive, constructive leadership in behalf ofi the disabled veterans he is supposed to represent. I have a feeling that The American Legion will survive Mr. Teague's criticism. We shall continue to advocate legislation legis-lation which we believe is right and necessary for both the veteran and the country whether Mr. Teague likes it or not. Committee Okehs H.R. 7886 In spite of this opposition, our War Veterans Security Bill was voted favorably out of Committee on June 8 and is now awaiting action by the House of Representatives. Wc owe much thanks to our many good friends on the Veterans Affairs Committee, who voted their convictions, based on their deep interest in the welfare of the Nation's veterans. We shall certainly not forget their friendly action. Now it appears that our bill, will reach the fioor of the House for final action within the next week or so. We have done evervthing that we can to make the members of the House aware that the majority of the Nation's veterans want this legislation adopted. We hope and pray and continue to work for favorable action. Of course, our task will not be completed when the House passes H.R. 7,886. The Senate will have to act on it also. And time is getting short. I am confident that we will win this fight, provided we continue to give it our personal and -ifrnrniK qimnorf. we have worked hard" to re-confirm The American Legion's I position as the leader among those groups in the nation that are willing to do open battle with America's enemies who live among us. This is not always easy. Because of our forthright forth-right stand on the issues of Communist subversion in the I United States, we have come under heavy fire from the Communists Com-munists themselves, and from those who. through ignorance or stupidity, do Communism's work. Legionnaires work for America in many ways. Because we are war veterans who have seen and remember the cot- of war in terms of human sacrifice, we have traditionally wortccd for a preparedness program which would be adequate to the needs of the times. During this year we have done our best to encourage America's young men to enlist in the training program established by the Reserve . Forces Act which was enacted last year. The American Legion promised to support this measure when it became law, and we have done so. To date, the program has not produced satisfactory results : Too few youngsters are going into it. 1 think it is quite possible that the Los Angeles Convention in September mav find it wise to recommend a change in the present law to make this training program compulsory. In the field of Foreign Relations we have likewise pursued a policy of advocating what is best for the United ' States. Where our Government has been positive, firm and dynamic in its relations with other countries, we have commended it. Where it has, in our view, allowed itself to be confused to the point of indecisiveness with both our friends and our enemies, we have criticized. We shall continue to do this. If the forceful and vigorous type of policy that The American Legion has recommended had been followed consistently by the State Department since the close of World War II,- our position in the world today would be much stronger than it ;s. Our treasury would be richer by several billion dollars, and. there might be fewer Cold Stars hanging in the windows of American homes. This is a positive policy of seeking firm action for the best interests of our country. The Rehabilitation Program I come now to the first program of The American Legion. Our Rehabilitation Program is also our most positive program, pro-gram, to the extent that through it, The American Legion has, in 36 years, done more for more individuals than we have through any of our other programs. This is only proper because be-cause The American Legion is dedicated first to the Rehabilitation Rehabili-tation of sick and disabled veterans, and to care for the widows and the orphans of our honored dead. This year, as you know, The American Legion was mandated man-dated by the Miami National Convention to seek certain changes in the present pension law in order to provide a reasonable reas-onable degree of comfort and security for the increasing numbers num-bers of aging and disabled veterans who look to us for help. This mandate, resulted in the introduction into Congress, iast January, of our War Veterans Security Bill, H.R. 7886. Our activity on behalf of H.R. 7886 aroused stiff opposition. opposi-tion. The anti-veteran elements of the press let go 'with an outraged howl.- and dollar signs began appearing on editorial pages all over the country. Within the past two weeks, the campaign to bury the legislation beneath dollar signs has reached ridiculous proportions. pro-portions. Just consider what has happened. Last February the Administrator of Veterans Affairs permitted his staff in Washington to furnish Mr. Teague with an estimate that H.R. 7886 would cost 77 billion dollars by the year 2000. The people who did the estimating warned the Administrator that the 77 billion dollar figure was- only a wild guess and that it couldn't be supported by facts. In spite of this, the Administrator Adminis-trator gave Teague the figure, and Teague promptly made it public without bothering to explain that those who made the estimate didn't believe in it themselves. But Mr. Teague apparently wasn't sure that the 77 billion bil-lion price tag would serve his purpose. Recently he has had the VA furnish him with new estimates, each considerably higher than the one before. His current figure, I believe and I havn't checked the morning paper is in the neighborhood neighbor-hood of 148 billion dollars. Mow these wild guesses are circulated for one reason only: to scare supporters of our War Veterans Security Bill. They are phony figures, but because they come from the U. S. Government they are accepted and published by the press as if they were fact. We of The American Legion feel that if our government govern-ment can spend billions for "foreign aid" we can afford a few millions to adequately care for the men and boys who left their health and parts of their bodies in foreign lands while fighting to preserve our homes, our farms and our factories here in America. "The Bradley Report" Further opposition developed following the release of the report of- the Bradley Commission on Veterans Tensions. Fortunately For-tunately we were prepared for this. What is now known as the Wilson Report, because its chairman was Past National Commander Don Wilson, accurately portrays the Bradley Commission's Report as an ill-advised and unjustified attack upon the Veterans Benefits Program created by Congress over a period of 150 years. General Bradley and his fellow officers who dominated the Commission saw fit to state that the great majority oi America's War Veterans did not want pensions lor their aging and disabled comrades. General Bradley served his country well during a long military career. But General Bradley, has never known an insecure day in his life and it is a sad thing for him to permit per-mit his name and influence to be used to destroy the last chance fbr security of men who also served their country well and who don't have a General's pay and a General's prestige to "support them. The most vigorous source of opposition which we have encountered in seeking to help the aging veterans of America's Amer-ica's wars is none other than the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Among other things Congressman Teague has predicted that the bill will be defeated and The American Legion will be taught a lesson. Mr. Teague is playing a strange and destructive game. THE AMERICAN LEGION TODAY (National American Legion Commander J. Addington Wagner was the speaker at the American Legion Auxiliary Auxil-iary banquet at lirigham City last Friday, during the state American Legion convention. Few Southern Utah Legionnaires Le-gionnaires were able to attend. We feel that Commander W'agner's talk is of interest to all Americans, and print his address in full.) By J. ADDINGTON WAGNER National Commander, The American Legion i I am confident in saying to you that in the months since October, when The American Legion held its national convention conven-tion in Miami, The American Legion has continued to be a vital force on the American scene. We have displayed the courage to meet serious challenges. We have stood up for what we believe to be right, and we have been influenced by neither fear nor favor. But always, even in the midst of controversy, the condu'et of our programs has been our first and major concern because be-cause through them we have sought to do good for our country. coun-try. Let's consider first the all-important program of membership. member-ship. I only wish that every Department was over our quota or as near to reaching quota as the Department of Utah. L can only express my sincere thanks for what you have done, and a firm conviction that you are going to go well over the top on membership this year. We have heard long-time, dedicated Legionnaires say that membership and programs are interdependent. These men speak from experience and they are right. To have members mem-bers it is necessary to carry out the programs and to carry out the programs members are essential. In carrying on our programs we have attempted to place the accent on the positive approach. This has been the keynote key-note of all our activities in each instance to do something for America. $125 Million Spent for Child Welfare In our Child Welfare Program, for example, we have this year spent more than seven million dollars to provide direct aid for thousands of American children. The sum will be added to the more than 125 millions of dollars which have been sH?nt during the past 30 years in a positive program designed by The American Legion to do something practical for America's: Amer-ica's: children. In addition to this great program we now have an American Amer-ican Legion Child Welfare Foundation which is geared to the future. The Foundation, financed entirely by voluntary gifts, is making it possible for us to expand our fields of service. In its first two years, the Foundation has received gifts of over $100,000 including a most generous gift from The American Legion Auxiliary, our staunch ally in doing good. Already, grants have been made which we are confident will bring immeasurable future benefits to the children or" America. The particular groups which have received the first grants include: Mentally retarded children, delinquents, partially par-tially blind children, and orphans of American soldiers killed in Burma in World War II. And that, in a capsule, is our Child Welfare Program a positive program to improve America by improving the health and security of its children. One Million Junior Baseballers The same personal desire to contribute to our country's human resources has enabled us to make important gains in Americanism activities. Nearly one million boys are playing this summer in American Amer-ican Legion Junior Baseball Leagues. And this year for the first time, our Junior Baseball Program will be coupled with international relations to help make friends for the United States in Latin-America. With the enthusiastic approval and cooperation of the State Department, 16 outstanding Junior Baseball players will tour eight countries of South America in! September and October. It is anticipated that these young ball players will create much good will for the United States. What better language to speak to our neighbors than the language lan-guage f.f sportsmanship? And of course we are also carrying on with other -positive youth programs. Once more this year, 350,000 young men and women participated in American Legion sponsored oratorical contests. American Legion Posts all over the nation are con-' con-' tinuing to sponsor more than 4,000 Boy Scout Troops helping help-ing to advance the principles of scouting and all that it does lor our country. I Fighting America's Enemies Another, and a vital phase of .our Americanism Program is our work in the field of anti-subversive activities. This year . . & ... r , I have given you a very broad picture of the condition of The American Legion today. We have worked hard this year, for the things we believe in. We will continue to do so. One of the most encouraging things about this organization is that its work goes on year after year. I know as well as, you that the great strength of The American Legion rests in -the rank and file Legionnaire, who is content to spend his years in the Legion doing good for others through the Legion's programs. In each of them he is performing service to community, state .and nation For God and Country. , I know that all of you here in Utah will continue to perform per-form the noble tasks to which all of us, as Legionnaires and Auxiliary members, are dedicated. I wish you God-speed ir the vear to come. |