Veterans' policies and programs are examined by a task force of the Twentieth Century Fund. Part 1, the report of the task force, includes sections on the rationale for veterans benefits, recommendations for further benefits and programs, and a dissenting opinion by one task force member. Recommendations are summarized into five basic areas: (1) benefits related to service-connected death and disability, (2) readjustment assistance, (3) nonservice-connected veterans' benefits, (4) benefits for veterans of the volunteer, peacetime armed services, and (5) issues related to eligibility requirements for benefits. Recommendations include automatic upward adjustment in benefits for veterans to offset inflation, increasing the GI Bill educational benefits for disabled veterans and encouraging veterans to use the money, payment of pensions only to wartime veterans and not as a supplement to social security, granting of non-cash benefits to volunteers and peacetime military, and veteran eligibility for benefits regardless of bad conduct or dishonorable discharges. Part 2 contains a background paper on veterans' benefits by the task force author, Michael Taussig, which includes six topics: (1) the rationale for veterans' benefits, (2) the politics of veterans affairs, (3) veterans programs in the federal government budget, (4) income security benefits for veterans, (5) veterans' readjustment benefits, and (6) veterans' medical benefits. (Author/DE)