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them, and which are conferred by such governments upon members of their own military forces. For purposes of this Act, the consent of the Congress required in accordance with clause 8 of section 9, article I, of the Constitution, is hereby granted. Any such member or former member holding any office of profit or trust under the United States is authorized to wear any decoration, order, or emblem accepted pursuant to authority contained in this Act.

Mr. DARDEN. This is a departmental bill, introduced by Chairman Saltonstall at the request of the Department of Defense.

The purpose of the bill is to grant the requisite congressional consent to the acceptance and the wearing by members of our Armed Forces of decorations tendered by countries allied with us in the fighting in Korea.

There are three safeguards in the bill. The decorations must be the same as those tendered by the granting countries to members of its own Armed Forces. The decorations can be accepted only under regulations approved by the Secretary of the Department concerned, and the countries that can grant the decorations are limited to those which are fighting alongside the United States forces in Korea.

As you know, clause 8 of section 9 of article I of the Constitution provides that no person holding office of honor or trust under the United States shall accept any emolument or present or title from a foreign state.

Senator DUFF. This is similar to like enactments after World War I and World War II?

Mr. DARDEN. It is; yes, sir.

Senator SYMINGTON. No questions.

Mr. DARDEN. The Department of Treasury has suggested an amendment, Mr. Chairman, to include the members of the Coast Guard in the authority.

Senator DUFF. There is no reason why that shouldn't be included.
Mr. DARDEN. There is no reason why that shouldn't be done.
I have here a statement of Maj. William J. Dwyer on this bill.
(The statement of Maj. William J. Dwyer is as follows:)

STATEMENT OF MAJ. WILLIAM J. DWYER, OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF,
G-1, ARMY

Mr. Chairman, I am Maj. William J. Dwyer, from the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-1, Department of the Army. I represent the Department of Defense for this legislation.

This legislation would authorize officers and enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces of the United States, during the period of hostilities in Korea, in which the United States is engaged and for 1 year thereafter, to accept from the governments of foreign nations whose personnel are participating with or under the United Nations command in Korea such decorations, orders, and emblems as may be tendered them and which are conferred by such governments upon members of their own military forces.

The Constitution of the United States provides "No person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States shall, without the consent of Congress, accept any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. This provision is contained in clause 8, section 9 of article I."

During World War II authority was granted to United States military personnel to accept foreign decorations from cobelligerent nations, other American Republics, and neutral nations, without further individual referreal to Congress by Public Laws 671 of the 77th Congress and 58 of the 80th Congress. These laws were repealed by Public Law 239 of the 80th Congress. The latter act provided that the two previous laws were repealed 1 year from the effective date of the act.

This act was approved July 25, 1947, which established the date of repeal of the authority to accept foreign awards as July 24, 1948.

Decorations are currently being tendered by a number of Allied Governments, except Great Britain, to United States military personnel for their outstanding contributions to the United States military efforts in Korea. Decoraions of the British Empire are awarded in the name of the Queen and must be assured of acceptance. In view of our laws and regulations, no awards have been tendered. However, the British Government is most desirous of making awards. The delay in the acceptance of such decorations as imposed by our constitutional limitations is not fully understood by foreign governments and is often misconstrued by them. Enactment of this legislation would eliminate that delay in connection with such foreign decorations awarded for service in the Korean area and would represent an important morale factor.

H. R. 5509

Senator DUFF. Will you proceed with the next?

Mr. DARDEN. The next bill in the committee print, Mr. Chairman, with your permission we will come back to and skip now to page 19, H. R. 5509.

Senator DUFF. All right.

(H. R. 5509 follows:)

[H. R. 5509, 83d Cong., 1st sess.]

AN ACT To amend the Army-Navy Medical Services Corps Act of 1947 relating to the per centum of colonels in the Medical Service Corps, Regular Army

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Army-Navy Medical Services Corps Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 734), as amended, is hereby amended by deleting the proviso to section 101 and substituting a period for the colon immediately preceding such proviso.

Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 1953.
Attest:

LYLE O. SNADER, Clerk.

Mr. DARDEN. The purpose of this bill is to repeal section 101 of the Army-Navy Medical Services Corps Act of 1947 which imposes a limitation of 2 percent of the authorized Regular Army strength of the Medical Service Corps on the number of colonels who can serve in that corps.

The Medical Service Corps was approved in 1947, and the bill as recommended by the Department of Defense at that time contained this limitation of 2 percent.

The 2-percent limitation contrasts with the 8-percent limitation that is applicable to all other Medical Corps of the Army, so the result of its imposition and continuance in law is that members of the Medical Services, Medical Service Corps, do not have equality of opportunity for promotion.

The limitation was recommended by the Department of Defense on the basis of the number of positions in the table of organization in existence at that time that justified officers in the permanent grade of colonel.

Since that time, the Department apparently has expanded its utilization of Medical Service Corps officers in an attempt to relieve medical and dental officers of managerial and administrative duties so that they might devote their time to their professional duties, and that has been a frequent complaint to the committee.

Senator DUFF. This is just a realistic adjustment to the number in the corps; is that it? Mr. DARDEN. I think that is true; yes, sir.

Senator DUFF. Is that your impression?

Senator SYMINGTON. I would think that it would be in order.

Mr. DARDEN. Col. R. L. Black, the Chief of the Army Medical Service Corps is here, in case the committee desires any elaboration, and he has submitted a statement which I would like to place in the record at this point.

(The prepared statement submitted by Col. R. L. Black follows:)

STATEMENT OF COL. R. L. BLACK, MSC, CHIEF, MEDICAL SERVICE CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, ON H. R. 5509

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, to refresh the memory of this committee, the Army Medical Service is operated by seven major groups of people and skills. They are identified by types of specialty, six of which are established by statute as commissioned officer corps: The Medical Corps, the Dental Corps, the Veterinary Corps, the Medical Service Corps, the Army Nurse Corps, and the Women's Medical Specialist Corps. Under the professional and administrative guidance of this family of corps are to be found the seventh group, those medical service enlisted men and women who form the bulk and mainstay of this service.

Over this entire service, the Army Surgeon General, Maj. Gen. George E. Armstrong, presides as the Chief of Technical Service and the Medical Adviser to the Chief of Staff of the Army.

The officers of the Medical Service Corps of the Army, Regular and Reserve, on duty today total 4,500. This number is equal to the total number of physicians on duty. They represent all of the sciences allied to medicine, as well as the administrative and management skills peculiar to hospital and medical administration. They perform logistic functions for the medical service, from procurement through distribution to the consuming agency. The statistical and cost accounting mission generally falls to the Medical Service Corps officer. Duties of officers include also tactical training and command of medical troop units, and the staff functions in large commands. Medical Service Corps officers constitute the bulk of instructor personnel in medical replacement training centers and Medical Field Service School, and constitute most of the unit instructors in USAR training programs. In short, they perform every male commissioned function in the medical service which does not require the services of a graduate physician, dentist, or veterinarian.

Academic procurement standards for the Medical Service Corps, at the baccalaureate level, are identical to those of the combat arms, except in some areas such as psychology, nutrition, and the laboratory sciences, where the doctor of philosophy and master's degrees are higher prerequisites.

H. R. 5509, now under consideration by this committee, deals with the Medical Service Corps of the Regular Army. The authorized strength of this component of the Regular Army is currently 945. The purpose of the bill is to repeal so much of section 101 of the Army-Navy Medical Services Corps Act of 1947 as reads, "Provided, That the number of colonels on active duty in the Medical Service Corps, Regular Army, shall at no time exceed two per centum of the authorized Regular Army officer strength of such corps."

I should like to emphasize the fact that this restrictive legislation applies only to the Regular Army Medical Service Corps, and does not extend its 2 percent limitation to the number of temporary grades which may be authorized the Corps under the provisions of Public Law 381, Officers Personnel Act, in time of emergency expansion. At such times, the number of officers authorized conforms as nearly to requirements as practical, and is determined by the Secretary of the Army,

The members of the Regular Army Medical Service Corps are thus singly penalized for selecting a military career, as far as male officers are concerned. The effect of a repeal as is proposed in H. R. 5509, when considered in conjuction with the provisions of the Officers Personnel Act of 1947, as amended, would be to authorize the same per centum (8 percent) in the grade of colonel for officers of the Medical Service Corps, Regular Army, as is now prescribed for every other male corps of the Regular Army, by section 505 of the Officers Personnel Act of 1947.

The basic content of this statement is devoted to the justification of this amendment to law on an "equality of opportunity" basis for the members of this Regu

lar Army component. The Army needs the high-caliber type officer that is utilized in the Medical Service Corps. These well-qualified officers must be encouraged to make the Medical Service their career, and with such an inequitable restriction placed on this corps, difficulty is encountered in both procuring and retaining qualified persons in the Medical Service Corps.

Of equal importance, however, is the fact that the legislative restrictions of section 101, Army-Navy Medical Services Corps Act of 1947 come into conflict with the Officers Personnel Act of 1947 when officers of this corps have attained 28 years' service. This operates to the disadvantage of the Government. Officers who are at the peak of their productive capacity, and have gained much experience and training, will be subject to elimination from the service by virtue of the restriction imposed under existing law. The Secretary of the Army can grant an exception, under the Officers Personnel Act of 1947, after a request is made in each individual case. But this is done in only the most exceptional cases.

The establishment of the Medical Service Corps, Regular Army, in 1947, as an integral part of the Army Medical Service, was due in no small measure to the efforts of this committee. More than 6 years have passed since then-6 years in which the organization and the structure of the Medical Service Corps have been carefully observed and tested in the best laboratory of all-actual operations.

I am proud to be able to report to this committee that the job done by the Medical Service Corps, from its inception, has fully justified the high hopes expressed for the corps by the then Surgeon General, Maj. Gen. Norman T. Kirk, as well as other witnesses who appeared before this committee in 1947 to testify in favor of legislation to establish the corps. From the start, officers of the Medical Service Corps, both Regular and Reserve, have contributed to the accomplishments of the Army Medical Service in full measure.

In considering the merit of this proposed legislation, it is important to note that the great majority of officers now holding appointment in the Medical Service Corps of the Regular Army were originally integrated into the Regular Army in the Pharmacy Corps. Statutes in effect at the time of their appointment provided for their promotion through the various commissioned grades upon completion of certain periods of service, and ultimately to the grade of colonel, upon completion of 26 years of service. The Army-Navy Medical Services Corps Act of 1947 abolished the Pharmacy Corps, transferred all the officers holding appointment therein to the new Medical Service Corps, and provided for promotion of Medical Service Corps officers on the same basis as officers of the promotion list Arms and Services, but imposing at the same time, a limitation of 2 percent in the grade of colonel on the Medical Service Corps.

It is apparent that the inclusion of this limitation in the Medical Services Corps Act, which was requested by the Army, not by this committee, had its basis in the number of positions for colonel, Pharmacy Corps, and Medical Administrative Corps, in the then existing or anticipated structures of the then Medical Department.

During the 6 years which have elapsed since that time, however, the concept of utilization of Medical Service Corps officers in the Army has been desirably broadened and expanded. Many additional areas and positions of responsibility exist for officers of the Medical Service Corps (over and above those which existed in 1947) in the farflung and diversified activities of the Army Medical Service.

It should be emphasized that one of the major aims of the Department of the Army repeatedly expressed by the Secretary of the Army is the achievement of maximum utilization of medical, dental, and veterinary officers, in professional duties, and their relief from administrative, managerial, scientific, and technical duties other than those which require for proper performance the particular professional training and background of a medical, dental, or veterinary officer. As I have said, the limitation of the Medical Service Corps, Regular Army, of 2 percent in the grade of colonel is in strong contrast to the maximum 8 percent in the same grade authorized for all other male corps in the Regular Army by section 505 (b) (1) and (2) of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947. Enactment of H. R. 5509 would correct this disparity and remove what is now a serious inequity.

The second undesirable result of the disparity in promotion opportunity for officers of the Medical Service Corps is the adverse effect it has had, and will continue to have, on the procurement of qualified officers for appointment in the Regular corps. That this disparity has serious effects on procurement is clearly demonstrated on the attached photochart, indicating a deficit of first and second

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