[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9619]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      FILIPINO VETERANS EQUITY ACT

  Mr. AKAKA. Madam President, I wish to update our colleagues on an 
important issue that the Veterans' Affairs Committee is dealing with; 
namely, providing long overdue recognition to all those veterans of the 
Philippines Armed Forces who served under U.S. command during the 
Second World War.
  Recently, the Veterans' Affairs Committee, which I am privileged to 
chair, held a hearing on S. 57, the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 
2007. This important legislation, introduced by my good friend and 
senior Senator, Mr. Inouye, would end more than 50 years of inequality 
for Filipino veterans who have served our country, and it has my strong 
support. During our hearing, the committee received testimony from 
Filipino veterans who spoke of their service under U.S. military 
command and their difficulties with a VA system that doesn't recognize 
them as veterans.
  Until 1946, the Philippines was not completely independent from the 
United States. When America entered the Second World War, the Filipino 
military was a part of the U.S. Armed Forces, under the command of the 
U.S. Armed Forces of the Far East. All military forces of the 
Commonwealth of the Philippines were ordered by President Franklin D. 
Roosevelt to serve under the command of the U.S. military, and they 
served bravely, fighting for our country and their freedom.
  In 1946, Congress limited veterans' benefits to only a portion of 
Filipinos who served in World War II. While some of the inequity has 
been corrected in recent years, this injustice still remains. Filipino 
veterans of the U.S. military do not have equal access to the health 
care and benefits they have earned through service. S. 57 would end the 
inequity and give Filipino veterans who fought under the command of 
U.S. military the benefits and care they earned.
  Some who oppose S. 57 say we cannot afford it. While I, too, am 
concerned about costs, I am committed to finding offsets to cover the 
expense. After all, fiscal responsibility is not the only kind of 
responsibility there is. Our country has a deeper responsibility to the 
men and women who have served in our military, whether they were born 
in America or the Philippines. We need a solution that is both morally 
responsible to Filipino veterans and fiscally responsible with taxpayer 
dollars.
  Many of the brothers-in-arms of those who testified at our hearing 
have since passed away, never having been recognized by the United 
States for their service. I find that shameful. Following the hearing, 
I asked myself how we could stray from our moral commitment to these 
men for over half a century and then argue that it is too expensive to 
give those who are left the benefits they have earned.
  With that in mind, let us look to fulfill both responsibilities, 
rather than neglecting the Filipino veterans who remain with us today. 
We have gone down that path for over half of a century, denying them 
care and benefits. Today we find many Filipino veterans living their 
twilight years in the pain of poverty, without access to the relief 
available to other veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Allowing this to 
go on without searching vigorously for a realistic solution is not the 
responsible response. These veterans deserve better.

                          ____________________