-27 pre erence that is unfair to other groups. What he said at the meeting of the National Economic Commission of The American Legion at our 1977 National Convention was, '...it is entirely permissible to establish priorities for preferential treatment. What is not permissible from the standpoint of merit or of affirmative action is a dilution of the competency of the work force through preferential treatment of less qualified workers." This statement was given the lead-off quote in the press release put out by the Civil Service Commission on this speech, with the implication unmistakable At this meeting of the National Economic Commission, Dr. Campbell was asked about the reference, in accounts of interviews with him, to veterans preference in promotion. Dr. Campbell acknowledged that he was aware that there is no veterans preference of any kind in promotions and that he knew this at the time of the interview. The next day, at a TV interview, he smilingly left uncorrected the interviewer's question on veterans preference in hiring, promotion and retention. Another charge of Dr. Campbell's, repeated ad infinitum, is that veterans comprise 50 percent of the Federal work force compared with 22 percent of the total work force of the country, with the implication that a half-veteran Federal work force is being supported by the 78 percent of the work force who are not hired through "preferential treatment of less qualified workers." Using the same statistics from the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, it can be determined that Federally employed veterans constitute 5 percent of the total veterans population, and that veterans make up about half of the national full-time work force. -28 Leaving aside the question of willful misrepresentation, we question the ability of the Civil Service Commission to reach logical conclusions from wvariable data and their use of unreliable sources. The Civil Service Commission has already explained to the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service the actions the Commission is taking on the authority now available to it to promote the hiring and promotion of women and minorities and to decentralize its operations. The so-called "Sugarman plan" of special emphasis employment will be put into operation without the need of any special Congressional go-ahead. We see no reason why the Commission cannot proceed with its intention to promote the hiring of women and minorities with such measures without eliminating that preference for veterans established by Congress. Dr. Campbell has alleged that the Administration is asking for a change in preference that will benefit those they believe need it most, the Vietnam era veterans and the disabled. When asked about the number of Vietnam era veterans that would lose eligibility for veterans preference at the moment the provision of a cut-off period of ten years after military discharge would go into effect, Dr. Campbell agreed that there would be only 870,000 eligible in 1982; 613,000 in 1983; and 567,000 in 1984, figures which would steadily decrease each year until none would be eligible, and then argued that this would eliminate 20 million other veterans who now compete with Vietnam era veterans. Inasmuch as this 20 million figure includes all veterans back to -29 World War I Wood Wer Hand the few remaining veterans of the Spanish American war, it is not very realistic. Another comparision would be that the Vietnam era veteraus are competing against the total number of women in the population, some 74 million. Furthermore, any veteran competing for a Federal job presumably needs that job. For a comparison with the civilian work force, in fiscal year 1977 (the latest year for which figures are available) 2,827,000 veterans applied for work at the state employment offices. Of these, 720,500 (25 percent) were placed in jobs. About 28 percent of the Vietnam era veterans applying were placed in employment, but only 21 percent of the "other than Vietnam era" veterans. This leaves around two million veterans of all wars still looking for work through the state employment offices and presumbly some of these have also applied for Federal employment. We submit that any of these who qualify for Federal employment should receive the benefit the five or ten points now available for all veterans, and this should also be available for Vietnam veterans in coming years. In testimony on Wednesday, April 5, 1978 before the Subcommittee on Education and Training of the Committee on Veterans Affairs of the House of Representatives, Dr. Campbell, in answer to questions, gave the percent of women new hires in Federal employment last year of thirty-some percent, an increase from the previous 25 percent. According to figures we obtained from the Civil Service Commission March 6, 1978, the percentage of women hired for the calendar year 1977 was 43.6 percent, or 240, 672. The percentage -30 oferans hired in fiscal year 1977 was 28 percent. It is obvious that in the normal course of hiring and attrition the percentage of veterans in Federal +mployment will soon be much lower than the present 48 percent rate of veteran participation in Federal employment. At this same hearing, the Veterans Administration testified that in that agency women are 51 percent of all those serving on a full-time basis, compared to a Government-wide rate of 30 percent. Furthermore, in the Veterans Administration, 17.5 percent of those holding jobs at grade GS-12 and above are women, compared to 7.5 percent in the Government as a whole. They ascribe the high percentage of women in Veterans Administration employment as due largely to the occupational structure of the Veterans Administration medical care system. This may be partly true, but the attitude of the agency must be part of the picture, and shows what can be accomplished under the present system. For example, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, with a multiplicity of scientific, medical and other professional jobs, has a lamentable record for employment and promotion of women and minorities. We suggest that the Civil Service Commission use its present authority to move in to survey the employment situation at HEW and other agencies and correct the deficiencies and discipline those who persist in violating present laws and regulations. The American Legion does not object to the hiring and promotion of qualified women at any level, but wants it to be done within a true merit system that provides a preference for qualified wartime veterans. Approximately two percent of the Legion's membership are women veterans. 29-894 0-78-34 -31 Ina much as the Legion keeps no record of membership by racial, ethnic, cr sex status, this percentage is extrapolated from the number enrolled in all-women posts, although most women members belong to regular posts. This percentage of Legion membership is consistent with the enrollment of women in the armed forces, which has run around 1 to 2 percent. As an example of the Legion's special concern for women veterans, at The American Legion meeting of October 5-6, 1977, Res. No. 4, "Special Emphasis in Disabled Veterans Outreach Program to Provide Employment Services to Disabled Women Veterans," was approved, citing the difficulty of disabled women veterans to find employment and urging that such disabled women veterans receive special emphasis in the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program under the Department of Labor. Women veterans from World War II and the Korean conflict should receive special help from the Civil Service Commission as they follow the increasing trend of women to enter the labor market including those who have raised a family and are having difficulty re-entering the labor market. The American Legion also opposes the emphasis on decentralization of personnel functions to the agencies. During the time, before 1965, when much examining for civil service jobs was done by civil service examiners in some one thousand locations, The American Legion received many complaints from all over the country because the examining was not being done fairly, professionally, or promptly. After the examining was centralized into sixty-five area offices of the Civil Service Commission in 1965, such |