[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 7, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E134-E135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE VETERANS BENEFITS TO MEMBERS OF THE PHILIPPINE 
  COMMONWEALTH ARMY AND THE MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL PHILIPPINE SCOUTS, 
                                H.R. 491

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 7, 2001

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce H.R. 491, the 
Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2001. I urge my colleagues to join me 
in supporting this worthy legislation.
  On July 26, 1941, President Roosevelt issued a military order, 
pursuant to the Philippines Independence Act of 1934, calling members 
of the Philippine Commonwealth Army into the service of the United 
States Forces of the Far East, under the command of Lt. Gen. Douglas 
MacArthur.
  For almost 4 years, over 100,000 Filipinos, of the Philippine 
Commonwealth Army fought alongside the allies to reclaim the Philippine 
Islands from Japan. Regrettably, in return, Congress enacted the 
Rescission Act of 1946. That measure limited veterans eligibility for 
service-connected disabilities and death compensation and also denied 
the members of the Philippine Commonwealth Army the honor of being 
recognized as veterans of the United States Armed Forces.
  A second group, the Special Philippine Scouts called ``New Scouts'' 
who enlisted the United States armed forces after October 6, 1945, 
primarily to perform occupation duty in the Pacific, were similarly 
excluded from benefits.
  It is long past due to correct this injustice and to provide the 
members of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and the Special Philippine 
Scouts with the benefits and the services that they valiantly earned 
during their service in World War II.
  There are some who may object to this legislation on the grounds of 
its cost. In years past, when we were running chronic deficits, this 
may have been a valid argument. That past validity however, has been 
dispelled by today's record surpluses.
  While progress has been made towards restoring these long overdue 
benefits to those brave veterans who earned them, much remains to be 
done. I would remind my colleagues that time is not on the side of 
these veterans. Each year, thousands of these veterans pass away. We 
have a moral obligation to correct this problem before the last of 
these dedicated soldiers passes from this life.
  These Philippine veterans have waited more than 50 years for the 
benefits which, by virtue of their military service, they were entitled 
to back in 1946.
  Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to carefully review this 
legislation that corrects this grave injustice and provides veterans 
benefits to members of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and to the 
members of the Special Philippine Scouts.

[[Page E135]]

  I request that the full text of the bill be included at this point in 
the Record:

                                H.R. 491

       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 Equity Act 
     of 2001''.

     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 out ``not'' after ``Army of the United 
     States, shall''; and
       (B) by striking out ``, except benefits under--'' and all 
     that follows in that subsection and inserting in lieu thereof 
     a period;
       (2) in subsection (b)--
       (A) by striking out ``not'' after ``Armed Forces Voluntary 
     Recruitment Act of 1945 shall''; and
       (B) by striking out ``except--'' and all that follows in 
     that subsection and inserting in lieu thereof a period; and
       (3) by striking out the subsection (c) inserted by section 
     501 of H.R. 5482 of the 106th Congress, as introduced on 
     October 18, 2000, and enacted into law by Public Law 106-377, 
     and the subsection (c) inserted by section 332(a)(2) of the 
     Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act of 2000 
     (Public Law 106-419).
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--(1) 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) The item relating to such section in the table of 
     sections at the beginning of chapter 1 of such title is 
     amended to read as follows:

``107. Certain service deemed to be active service: service in 
              organized military forces of the Philippines and in the 
              Philippine Scouts.''.

     SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       (a) In General.--The amendments made by this Act shall take 
     effect on january 1, 2002.
       (b) Applicability.--No benefits shall accrue to any person 
     for any period before the effective date of this Act by 
     reason of the amendments made by this Act.

     

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