CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -- SENATE
March 4, 1968
Page 5018
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE ON VETERANS
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I am pleased with the President's message setting forth his recommendations on the benefits for servicemen and veterans. He has outlined a good program for the accomplishment of legislation carrying out the consent of the people toward our fighting men.
I was pleased to see a new policy with respect to our national cemetery system. I feel sure that the hearings on this matter will demonstrate that this Nation wishes to assure every veteran the right to burial in a national cemetery reasonably near his home.
The President is right to remind us of two basic benefits left on our unfinished agenda. The logical reasons he presented last year in recommending an increase in the servicemen's group life insurance program bear repeating:
We should now raise the limits of coverage. This will provide a further career incentive for the men and women of the Armed Forces as well as added protection for their loved ones. The need is still there.
President Johnson has also requested legislation to protect veterans against disproportionate pension losses that could result from increases in other income such as social security. Veterans deserve these safeguards.
The President's new proposals, coupled with his administrative directives enlarging the scope of the counseling of our servicemen on their rights and benefits, reflect his determination to close the gap in a veteran's life caused by his time in the service of our country.
Certainly, when a man completes his military obligations, he wants, and is entitled to, a decent home. In considering the price of real estate today, there can be no doubt that we must increase the maximum guarantee on GI home loans.
Like all of us, veterans must rely on the fruits of their labor to provide the good life for which they fought. The President has mustered the facilities of the Departments of Defense and Labor, and the Civil Service Commission, to help new veterans receive training and employment.
Furthermore, he has urged us to express the sense of Congress urging private employers to give job priority to our returning servicemen.
To strengthen further the jobs and training program, the President has asked us to implement the Veterans in the Public Service Act. This legislation would encourage veterans to lend their talents in answering the urgent needs of our Nation. I see benefits in this program for the State of Maine and for the rest of the Nation.
Mr. President, it is time to act so that opportunities afforded our veterans will exceed mere words of commendation and provide a way for self-betterment while aiding the Nation in service rendered. I urge speedy consideration of the President's program.