Executive Order 8099—Administration of Benefits Provided by Act of Congress

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Executive Order 8099—Administration of Benefits Provided by Act of Congress

Government Record

Date: April 3, 1939

Source:

About the Author: Executive orders are directives with the force of law, usually written by the president of the United States. On some occasions they are mandated by an act of Congress. This form of governing has been used since 1789 and the first American presidency.

INTRODUCTION

Throughout much of its history, the United States military has been providing for its soldiers' welfare even after they retire from service. The Veterans Affairs Administration administers pensions, medical benefits, and other entitlements for military veterans.

There are more than twenty-five million veterans living in the United States. While special provisions are offered to soldiers injured in battle or to relatives of those killed in action, all veterans, whether or not they have entered into combat can benefit from entitlements offered by the Veterans Affairs Administration—including a national network of hospitals, commonly referred to as VA hospitals, that cater to veterans and their families. Veterans are also entitled to burial in military cemeteries. The military code of ethics is committed to the ideal that even after servicemen or -women return home after fulfilling their military service, they will not be forgotten.

Military veterans can also socialize in communities and organizations that are open exclusively to them. Most common is the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), a prominent civic presence in many American cities known for its social activism and memorial efforts on behalf of fallen soldiers.

Veterans' programs have been criticized by those who believe that other, poorer segments of society should be funded instead and supported by those who believe that soldiers' sacrifice entitles them to these benefits. Congress has traditionally granted heavy financial support to veterans, and annual government spending on the various veteran-related programs has come to exceed $60 billion.

PRIMARY SOURCE

Executive Order 8099—Administration of benefits provided by act of Congress approved April 3, 1939

WHEREAS section 1 of the act of August 30, 1935, c. 830, 49 Stat. 1028, as amended by section 5 of the act entitled "An Act to provide more effectively for the national defense by carrying out the recommendations of the President in his message of January 12, 1939, to the Congress," approved April 3, 1939 (Pub., No. 18, 76th Congress), provides, in part, as follows:

"^{* * *} That all officers, warrant officers, and enlisted men of the Army of the United States, other than the officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army, if called or ordered into the active military service by the Federal Government for extended military service in excess of thirty days, and who suffer disability or death in line of duty from disease or injury while so employed shall be deemed to have been in the active military service during such period and shall be in all respects entitled to receive the same pensions, compensation, retirement pay, and hospital benefits as are now or may hereafter be provided by law or regulation for officers and enlisted men of corresponding grades and length of service of the Regular Army."

WHEREAS the said act is silent as to what agency shall administer the benefits provided thereby; and

WHEREAS it is deemed appropriate and desirable that such administration be placed in the Veterans' Administration:

NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and by the act of July 3, 1930, c. 863, 46 Stat. 1016, the duties, powers, and functions incident to the administration and payment of the benefits provided by the statute as above set out are hereby vested in the Veterans' Administration:

Provided, That in the administration of the retirement-pay provisions of the said statute, the determination of all questions of eligibility for the benefits thereof, including all questions of law and fact relating to such eligibility, shall be made by the Secretary of War, or by someone designated by him in the War Department, in the manner, and in accordance with the standards, provided by law, or regulations for Regular Army personnel:

Provided further, That the administration of the provisions of the act of December 17, 1919 (40 Stat. 367, as amended) as to persons to whom such provisions are extended by the act of December 10, 1941, entitled 'An act to extend the six months' death gratuity benefits, now paid only to dependents of officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army, to dependents of all officers, warrant officers, and enlisted men of the Army of the United States who die in line of duty while in active military service of the United States' (Public Law 329, 77th Congress), shall be vested in the Secretary of War or in such person or persons as may be designated by him in the War Department.

SIGNIFICANCE

This executive order was passed during one of the longest peacetime periods in United States history, yet it was enacted only months before the outbreak of World War II. While American military involvement would not occur for nearly two years, this document, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt, seems to fore-shadow the massive callup of soldiers required after December 1941.

Prior to this order, the law limited the availability of many veterans' benefits to officers and enlisted men of the regular army—the military force that exists in peace time—and excluded those drafted into wartime service. By expanding the provision of benefits to all soldiers, the reach and significance of the Veterans Administrations was expanded greatly.

In subsequent decades, as a result of other congressional allocations to increase benefits, many veterans have come to depend on the VA and its many services. Large numbers of soldiers went home after military services to new challenges and economic hardship. The emotional and physical traumas they experienced during wartime often lingered after their discharge from the service. The Veterans Administration helped reacclimatize them into society.

This order reflects the federal governments' recognition of the need to assist military veterans more heavily than other citizens by supporting those who served in the armed forces—whether by choice or through the draft—even after their service is completed. Today the federal government invests billions of dollars in veterans benefits.