[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 24, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H4312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RECOGNITION AND COMPENSATION FOR FILIPINO VETERANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California [Ms. Roybal-Allard] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, in my district, on June 14, at 
MacArthur Park, located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, three 
brave, elderly, former soldiers renewed a battle first begun in World 
War II.
  In an unprecedented display of determination, Percy Javellana, age 
74, Angel De La Cruz, age 71, and Orcencio Salem, age 71, chained 
themselves to the statue of their former commander, General Douglas 
MacArthur. They have vowed to remain there for 24 hours a day in 
protest of our Government's denial of benefits for Filipino veterans of 
World War II.
  Mr. De La Cruz took his personal sacrifice one step further by 
beginning a hunger strike he has promised will not end until Federal 
legislation to restore these promised benefits is enacted.
  Let there be no mistake, their symbolic act of protest, which is 
gaining national media attention, is not merely motivated by a desire 
for monetary compensation. Instead, their struggle is about honor, 
dignity, and respect for their sacrifices as soldiers. More 
importantly, it is about the moral obligation of our Government to live 
up to its promises once made.
  In 1941, recognizing the critical strategic value of the Philippines 
to the allied forces, President Roosevelt called upon Filipino soldiers 
and civilians to join United States forces in retaking the Philippines. 
In exchange for their volunteer military service, they were promised 
pay and benefits equal to that provided to United States troops.
  In response, during almost 4 years of the most intense and critically 
important phases of World War II, more than 200,000 Filipinos fought 
side by side with allied forces and won a strategic forward position 
vital to our success in the Pacific Theater.
  Willingly, these brave men sacrificed their well-being and their 
lives in defense of freedom. They fought, believing in our country's 
promise that they would earn the right to the same compensation and 
benefits given to American men and women with whom they fought side by 
side in defense of the free world.
  To the ultimate shame of our Nation, not one promise was honored. 
Instead, in 1946, the United States Congress passed legislation 
severely restricting the veterans' benefits that members of the 
Phillipine Commonwealth Army and the Special Scouts could receive. Ever 
since that betrayal, Filipino veterans and their survivors have fought 
an uphill battle to restore these hard-earned benefits.
  In their support, I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 836, a 
bipartisan bill introduced by the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] 
and the gentleman from California [Mr. Filner] to extend full benefits 
to these Philippine veterans.
  I support not only its passage but the efforts of the Filipino 
veterans to have congressional hearings to illuminate the unkept 
promises and the impact it has had on the lives of these aging 
veterans.
  As our Nation focuses increased attention on World War II through the 
creation of a memorial recognizing the contributions of all World War 
II veterans, and as we continue to celebrate the recent dedication of 
the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, a great portion of which 
focuses on his leadership during the Second World War, there is no 
better time than now to correct this injustice.
  Clearly, the Filipino veterans who fought, bled, and suffered 
alongside American troops deserve the recognition and compensation they 
were promised and then denied for over 50 years. I urge my colleagues 
and the American public to recognize that correcting this injustice is 
a matter of national honor.

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