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President Obama expected to sign historic bill days before 63rdanniversary of Rescission Act that first revoked U.S. veteran status for Filipino WWII veterans Washington, DC- The U.S. Congress today approved HR 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the economic stimulus bill, which includes legislation regarding Filipino World War II veterans. With this vote, the bill is expected to be signed by President Obama on February 16, Presidents’ Day. This is an historic advance for these veterans, who have been fighting for recognition of their service during WWII for over 60 years.
During WWII President Roosevelt called over 200,000 Filipino soldiers into service under the U.S. Armed Forces of the Far East . On February 18, 1946, Congress passed a Rescission Act that revoked these soldiers’ status as U.S. veterans. Of the Filipino soldiers originally called to serve, only 18,000 are alive today. This bill recognizes these veterans’ military service as U.S. veterans, and additionally provides one-time payments of $15,000 to Filipino American veterans residing in the U.S. or in the Philippines , and $9,000 to veterans who are Philippine citizens. It also contains a provision for spouses and protects eligibility for benefits currently received by veterans. The inclusion of the authorizing language in effect allows the Department of Veterans Affairs to disburse funds that have been appropriated for this purpose through the Filipino WWII Veterans Compensation Fund. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Daniel Inouye included the Filipino WWII Veterans legislation in the stimulus package. NAFVE members and Filipino American community leaders from around the country weighed in on this historic vote: “Since NAFVE’s inception as a coalition of the major groups working on this issue, we’ve always been fighting for full equity as a matter of honor and principle, but this legislation is an important victory and helps correct the grievous mistake committed by the Congress,” says Ben de Guzman, NAFVE National Coordinator. “This historical bill will be signed by the President two days after the 63rd anniversary of the 1946 Rescission Act that originally deprived our veterans their rightful benefits and stripped them of their status as U.S. veterans,” added Lillian Galedo, NAFVE Co-Chair and Executive Director of Filipinos for Affirmative Action. Lou Tancinco, NAFVE Steering Committee member and Chair of the San Francisco Veterans Equity Center says, “We remain committed to supporting our Filipino veterans’ struggle for justice and full equity, and will work to make sure that these veterans will be able to get the much needed support in their twilight years.” “We are heartened that this measure will provide these veterans with the recognition of their military service by the U.S. government,” says Rozita Lee, NAFVE Steering Committee member and Vice Chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations. “We are especially grateful to Sen. Inouye for his steadfast leadership in seeing this bill through. He, along with Majority Leader Harry Reid, really helped shepherd this bill through the Senate,” says Jon Melegrito, NAFVE co-chair. “Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka has always been a champion for us on this issue and we express our profound gratitude to him as well.” “Speaker Pelosi’s support was critical in moving this in the House,” says Faustino “Peping” Baclig, a Filipino WWII veteran with the Filipino American Service Group in Los Angeles , CA . “We thank her, as well as Rep. Mike Honda and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, as well as Rep. Xavier Becerra for keeping this issue alive. House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner’s support for this issue has also helped bring us to this day.” Baclig will be celebrating his birthday in a very special way tomorrow on Valentine’s Day thanks to the history he has helped make today. “This moment is the result of our community’s partnership with our champions on Capitol Hill and the White House,” says NAFVE Steering Committee member Jerry Clarito with the Illinois Veterans Equity Center . “President Obama’s support for this is well documented, and we are grateful to the White House for its role in this historic achievement.” www.nafve.org
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WW II veterans should be given the credits for their services a couple of decades ago under the Roosevelt government. Passing this WW II Veterans Legislation is a great action of the Congress. Congress must do their jobs according to the law and for the sake of all the citizen of this country and also our international affair wit all the countries in the world. If ever the Congress will do shameful thing, you can see them online thru LegStorm. LegiStorm is the gadfly to the Io of Congress. (Io, a figure from Greek mythology was cursed by a ferocious gadfly that would sting her wherever she went.) One of the features of LegiStorm is a daily tracker, called the Score, wherein people may view the daily actions of our legislators, and whether or not they are making out another payday loan to their buddies at Bank of America and AIG. Congressional legislators and staffers have been announcing their opposition to the website - they hate being held accountable. Yet it is good news for us and even more good news - it's free. You don't need a payday loan to know what Congress is up to through LegiStorm.
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