VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION OF DISABLED SOLDIERS AND

SAILORS.

TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 1918.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR,

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION,

Washington, D. C. The Committee on Education and Labor, United States Senate, and the Committee on Education, House of Representatives, met in joint session in room 226, Senate Office Building, at 10 o'clock a. m., Senator Hoke Smith presiding.

Present: Senator Smith, chairman of the Senate Committee on Education and Labor; Hon. William J. Sears, chairman of the House Committee on Education; Senator Page; Representatives Blanton, Towner, Fess, Dallinger, and Donovan; and members of both committees.

The committee proceeded, in joint session, to the consideration of S. 4284 and H. R. 11367, which are identical and printed in full, as follows:

[S. 4284.]

A BILL To provide for vocational rehabilitation and return to civil employment of disabled persons discharged from the military or naval forces of the United States, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this act shall be known as the vocational rehabilitation act.

SEC. 2. That every person who is disabled under circumstances entitling him, after discharge from the military or naval forces of the United States, to compensation under Article III of the act entitled "An act to authorize the establishment of a Bureau of War Risk Insurance in the Treasury Department," approved September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, as amended, and who, in the opinion of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, is unable to resume the former occupation or to enter upon some other suitable or gainful occupation, or, having resumed or entered upon such occupation, is unable to continue the same successfully, and may be vocationally rehabilitated, shall be ordered by the Bureau of War Risk Insurance to follow such course of vocational rehabilitation as the Federal Board for Vocational Education shall prescribe and provide, or, when deemed advisable by said board, shall be retained in the military or naval forces of the United States and be detailed to the control and direction of said board until the course of training prescribed has been satisfactorily completed.

The Bureau of War Risk Insurance shall have power, and it shall be its duty, to order the persons included in this section to follow suitable courses of vocational rehabilitation to be prescribed and provided by the Federal Board for Vocational Education, and every person so ordered to follow a course of vocational rehabilitation shall, while following the same, receive monthly compensation in a sum equal to the amount of his monthly pay for the last month of his active service, or to the amount to which he would be

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entitled under Article III of the sa'd act approved September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, as amended, whichever amount is the greater, and if such person was an enlisted man at the time of his discharge he shall, for the period during which he is so ordered to follow a course of vocational rehabilitation, be subject to all the requirements and entitled to all the benefits of Article II of the said act approved September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, as amended, in the same manner as if he were an enlisted man, and for the purposes of the said Article II his monthly compensation shall be deemed to be his monthly pay: Provided, That if and while a person willfully fails to follow the prescribed course of vocational rehabilitation in a manner satisfactory to the Federal Board for Vocational Education the said board shall certify to that effect to the Bureau of War Risk Insurance and the said bureau may, in its discretion, withhold any part or all of the monthly compensation due such person and not subject to compulsory allotment.

The military and naval family allowance appropriation provided for in section eighteen of the said act approved September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, as amended, shall be available for the payment of the family allowances provided by this section; and the military and naval compensation appropriation provided for in section nineteen of the said act approved September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, as amended, shall be available for the payment of the monthly compensation herein provided. No compensation under Article III of the said act approved September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, as amended, shall be paid for the period during which any such person is ordered by the Bureau of War Risk Insurance to follow a course of vocational rehabilitation.

SEC. 3. That the courses of vocational rehabilitation provided under the provisions of this act shall, as far as practicable and under such conditions as the Federal Board for Vocational Education may prescribe, be made available without cost for instruction for the benefit of any person who is disabled under circumstances entitling him, after discharge from the miltary or naval forces of the United States, to compensation under Article III of the said act approved September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, as amended, and who is not included in section two hereof: Provided, That no monthly compensation, family allowances, or expenses as provided by this act, shall be paid on account of any such person availing himself of the courses under this section.

SEC. 4. That the Federal Board for Vocational Education shall have the power, and it shall be its duty, to provide, or procure to be provided, such facilities, instructors, and courses of vocational rehabilitation as may be necessary to insure proper training for such persons as are required to follow courses of vocational rehabilitation as herein provided; to prescribe the courses to be followed by such persons; to pay, when in the discretion of the board such payment is necessary, the expense of travel, lodging, subsistence, and other necessary expenses of such persons while following the prescribed courses; to provide for the placement of rehabilitated persons in suitable or gainful occupations; and to do all other things appropriate or necessary to insure the vocational rehabilitation and placement in suitable or gainful occupations of persons following the courses of vocational rehabilitation. The board shall have the power to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the proper performance of its duties as prescribed by this act and is hereby authorized and directed to utilize, with the approval of the Secretary of Labor, the facili ties of the Department of Labor, in so far as may be practicable, in the placement of rehabilitated persons in suitable or gainful occupations.

It shall also be the duty of the board to make or cause to have made studies, investigations, and reports regarding the vocational rehabilitation of disabled persons and their placement in suitable or gainful occupations. When the board deems it advisable, such studies, investigations, and reports may be made in cooperation with or through other departments and bureaus of the Government, and the board in its discretion may cooperate with such public or private agencies as it may deem advisable in performing the duties imposed upon it by this act. The Federal Board for Vocational Education shall make an annual report to the Congress on or before December first on the administration of this act.

SEC. 5. That all medical and surgical work or other treatment necessary to give functional and mental restoration to disabled persons prior to their discharge from the military or naval forces of the United States shall be under