[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3003 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3003

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to deem certain service in the 
organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the 
 Philippines and the Philippine Scouts to have been active service for 
 purposes of benefits under programs administered by the Secretary of 
                           Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 26, 2016

  Mr. Schatz (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to deem certain service in the 
organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the 
 Philippines and the Philippine Scouts to have been active service for 
 purposes of benefits under programs administered by the Secretary of 
                           Veterans Affairs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 
2016''.

SEC. 2. CERTAIN SERVICE IN THE ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES OF THE 
              PHILIPPINES AND THE PHILIPPINE SCOUTS DEEMED TO BE ACTIVE 
              SERVICE.

    (a) In General.--Section 107 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``not'' after ``Army of the United 
                States, shall''; and
                    (B) by striking ``, except benefits 
                under--'' and all that follows in that subsection and 
                inserting a period;
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by striking ``not'' after ``Armed Forces 
                Voluntary Recruitment Act of 1945 shall''; and
                    (B) by striking ``except--'' and all that follows 
                in that subsection and inserting a period;
            (3) by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
    ``(c) Determination of Eligibility.--
            ``(1) In general.--In determining the eligibility of the 
        service of an individual under this section, the Secretary 
        shall take into account any alternative documentation regarding 
        such service, including documentation other than the Missouri 
        List, that the Secretary determines relevant.
            ``(2) Report.--Not later than March 1 of each year, the 
        Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of 
        the Senate and Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives a report that includes--
                    ``(A) the number of individuals applying for 
                benefits pursuant to this section during the previous 
                year; and
                    ``(B) the number of such individuals that the 
                Secretary approved for benefits.''; and
            (4) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
    ``(d) Relation to Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund.--
Section 1002(h) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(title X of division A of Public Law 111-5; 123 Stat. 200; 38 U.S.C. 
107 note) shall not apply to an individual described in subsection (a) 
or (b) of this section.''.
    (b) Conforming and Clerical Amendments.--
            (1) Conforming amendment.--The heading of such section is 
        amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 107. Certain service deemed to be active service: service in 
              organized military forces of the Philippines and in the 
              Philippine Scouts''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 1 of such title is amended by striking the 
        item relating to section 107 and inserting the following:

``107. Certain service deemed to be active service: service in 
                            organized military forces of the 
                            Philippines and in the Philippine 
                            Scouts.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall 
        take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
            (2) Applicability.--No benefits shall accrue to any person 
        for any period before the effective date specified in paragraph 
        (1) by reason of the amendments made by this section.
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