By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1 Establishment and composition of Commission. There is hereby established a Commission which shall be known as the President's Commission on Veterans' Pensions, and which shall be composed of a Chairman and six other members, all of whom shall be designated by the President. The Chairman and members shall receive such compensation as the President shall hereafter fix. SEC. 2. Functions of the Commission. The Commission is authorized and directed to make a comprehensive survey and appraisal of the structure, scope, and administration of the laws of the United States providing pension, compensation, and related nonmedical benefits to veterans and their dependents, and it shall make recommendations to the President regarding policies which, in its judgment, should guide the granting of such benefits in the future. The Commission shall give particular attention to: (a) Changes in basic military, social, fiscal, and economic factors in our society affecting the role of these benefits. (b) The conditions under which benefits should be provided to different categories of veterans. (c) The relationship of various veterans' benefits to each other, to benefits for persons still in the military service, and to the broader social security and other benefits which are provided to persons without regard to their status as veterans. SEC. 3. Procedures of the Commission. In performing its functions under this order, the Commission may prescribe such rules of procedure, and may hold such public hearings and hear such witnesses as it may deem appropriate. SEC. 4. Cooperation of Federal agencies. All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government are authorized and directed to cooperate with the Commission in its work and to furnish the Commission such information and assistance, not inconsistent with law, as it may require in the performance of its functions. SEC. 5. Staff. There shall be an Executive Director of the Commission, who shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Commission after consultation with the other members of the Commission, and such appointment may be without regard to the civil-service laws. Within the limits of such funds as may be made available, other persons may be employed by or under the authority of the Commission, and such employment may be without regard to the civil-service laws. The Executive Director and other persons employed by the Commission shall receive such compensation as the Commission shall hereafter fix. Subject to the direction of the Chairman of the Commission, the Executive Director shall direct the activities of all persons employed by the Commission, supervise the preparation of the report provided for under section 7 of this order, and perform such other duties as the Chairman of the Commission shall designate. SEC. 6. Financing of the Commission. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1955, the expenditures of the Commission shall be paid out of an allotment made by the President from the appropriation entitled "Emergency Fund for the President—National Defense" in Title I of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1955 (Public Law 428, 83rd Congress, approved June 24, 1954). Such payments shall be made without regard to the following: section 3681 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (31 U.S.C. 672); section 9 of the act of March 4, 1909, 35 Stat. 1027 (31 U.S.C. 673); and such other laws as the President may hereafter specify. SEC. 7. Report to the President. The Commission shall make a final written report, including findings and recommendations, to the President pursuant to section 2 hereof not later than November 1, 1955. The Commission may also make such earlier progress reports to the President as it may deem appropriate. The Commission shall cease to exist 30 days after making its final report to the President. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature
January 14, 1955.
