[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 17 (Tuesday, February 5, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      BIDDING FAREWELL TO TWO MEMBERS OF THE LAS VEGAS MIGHTY FIVE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Nevada (Mr. Heck) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HECK of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today to bid a 
solemn and respectful farewell to Mr. Romeo Barreras and Mr. Silverio 
Cuaresma. Messrs. Barreras and Cuaresma were residents of southern 
Nevada and members of the Las Vegas Mighty Five, a group of Filipino 
American World War II veterans denied benefits and recognition for 
their service to the United States.
  Romeo Barreras volunteered for the Philippine Army at age 17 and 
served with the infantry as a Guerrilla fighter. He earned a Purple 
Heart for wounds sustained in action and received an honorable 
discharge for his service to both the Republic of the Philippines and 
the United States. Romeo passed away last month at the age of 85.
  Silverio Cuaresma was a guerrilla intelligence officer who served 
under Army Colonel Edwin Ramsey in the 26th calvary. It was this unit 
that made the last horse charge in cavalry history on January 16, 1942. 
After his discharge, Silverio took up the cause of his fellow denied 
veterans and fought for their compensation ever since. That fight ended 
two weeks ago in Las Vegas. Silverio Cuaresma was 100 years old.
  They, along with their countrymen, fought and in many instances died 
under the command of American troops in the Pacific theater of World 
War II. After helping the Allies win the war in the Pacific, many of 
these veterans began seeking the benefits promised to them by President 
Franklin Roosevelt. But on February 18, 1946, President Harry S. Truman 
signed the Rescission Act of 1946 into law, which denied over 200,000 
Filipino World War II veterans the benefits promised to them just five 
years earlier by President Roosevelt.
  Congress finally acknowledged the dedicated service of many of these 
denied veterans when it established the Filipino Veterans Equity 
Compensation Fund in 2009. But many of these veterans, as many as 
24,000, still have not received compensation due to bureaucratic 
hurdles and paperwork shuffles over the types of records they hold 
verifying their service.
  The Mighty Five is now reduced to two with the passing of Romeo and 
Silverio. We lost Augusto Oppus last year as well. I fear many more 
will pass without ever obtaining the recognition they deserve if this 
body does not act to remove the barriers preventing these veterans from 
receiving the benefits they have earned.
  Yesterday, I introduced legislation to ensure that the remainder of 
the Mighty Five and denied Filipino veterans everywhere finally receive 
the benefits promised to them so many years ago.
  My bill, Mr. Speaker, is very simple. It directs the Department of 
the Army to certify the service of any Filipino World War II veteran 
whose name appears on the Approved Revised Reconstructed Guerrilla 
Roster or has certified documentation from the U.S. Army or Philippine 
Government attesting to their service.
  Simply put, these men fought so that the Allies could defeat the 
Japanese in the Pacific. If they can show they fought, let's fulfill 
our promise to them so they can live out their years knowing that the 
United States has officially recognized their service.
  I have met with the Mighty Five many times in Las Vegas. All they 
want is to be recognized. It's not about the money to them. They want 
to know that their service was appreciated, that their sacrifices did 
not go unnoticed.
  As I attended Lieutenant Cuaresma's funeral last week, no flag draped 
his casket, no honor guard was present, and there was no playing of 
``Taps.'' There was no official recognition of his dedicated military 
service. And that, Mr. Speaker, was wrong.
  I would like to thank my friends and brother veterans, Romeo and 
Silverio, for their service to our country. Their passion and 
dedication to this cause will be missed. Mr. Speaker, I urge my 
colleagues to join me in fighting to ensure these honorable World War 
II veterans are appropriately recognized.

                          ____________________