Filipinos Veterans Bill Passes House Committee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
July 17, 2007 Ben de Guzman 202.422.4909
E-mail: NAFVE2007@gmail.com
Web: www.nafve.org

CALLS, EMAILS AND FAXES OVERWHELMED HOUSE VA COMMITTEE

FILIPINO VETERANS BILL (HR.760) PASSES HOUSE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

NEXT: BILL MOVES TO FLOOR

Washington, DC- Today, in a dramatic and contentious Veterans Committee session by a straight party line vote (15 Democrats “Yes,” and 12 Republican “No’s”), the House Veterans Affairs Committee voted to approve H.R. 760, the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2007 as amended. The National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE) hails the approval of this historic legislation. NAFVE continues to urge bipartisan support from Members of Congress in order to find necessary funding to ensure FULL EQUITY.

It has been 61 years since Filipino World War II veterans who served under the American Flag were stripped of their U.S. veterans’ status. Today’s historic action moves us closer to ending the injustice to these heroes. For the first time in the 14 years since the bill has been introduced in Congress, Equity legislation has been voted out of both House and Senate committees. The bill is now poised to move to the Senate floor (S. 1315) and House floor (H.R. 760).

Chairman Bob Filner’s Manager’s Amendment voted out of Committee seeks to do the following:

o Restores full veterans’ status to Filipino veterans of World War II who had this taken away under the Rescission Acts of 1946. This ends a long-standing injustice, and fulfills our nation’s promises to those who served. (Same as Senate bill)

o Permits Filipino veterans of World War II who suffer from service-connection disabilities incurred or aggravated by military service to receive compensation at the same rate as other U.S. veterans, regardless of where they live. (Amendment from Senate bill)

o Permits those eligible for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) to receive those benefits at the same rate as other U.S. veterans, regardless of where they live. (Amendment from Senate bill)

o Permits Filipino veterans of World War II and survivors residing in the United States to receive pensions and death pensions paid at the same rate and under the same conditions as U.S. veterans. (Same as Senate bill)

o Permits non-U.S. citizen Filipino veterans of World War II residing outside of the United States to be eligible for a pension and death pension paid at a flat rate. (Amendment from Senate bill)

$8,400 if married

$6,000 if not married

$3,600 for low-income widow

o If an individual is receiving Social Security overseas, he or she is not eligible for the above mentioned program. Additionally, an individual may not receive benefits under this chapter if receipt of such benefits would reduce monetary benefits from a foreign government.

“The National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE) is pleased that the bill has been approved by both the House and Senate Committees. We are thankful to the champions of this bill who have worked tirelessly to ensure that Filipino veterans are treated as equals to the U.S. veterans with whom they served,” said Lillian Galedo, NAFVE Co-Chair and Executive Director of Filipinos for Affirmative Action. “Our coalition continues to urge Members of Congress to secure necessary funding to treat all Filipino veterans, regardless of residency, equally.”

“We are thankful to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman Michael Honda (D-CA), and we hope the Members of both the House and Senate address the final inequity, by treating all Filipino WWII veterans equally, and passing FULL Equity during this 110th Congress,” added Lourdes Tancinco, NAFVE Steering Committee member and Co-Chair of the National Network for Veterans Equity.
The National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity joins the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NAFFAA), National Network for Veterans Equity (NNVE), Veterans Federation of the Philippines, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), Japanese Americans Citizens League (JACL), Asian American Justice Center, American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars and other veterans’ organizations and advocates who have called on the Congress to support passage of legislation to provide full equity for Filipino Veterans.
NAFVE urges Congress to approve this legislation expeditiously before the August recess. We look to the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Mike Honda (D-CA), and Darrell Issa (R-CA) in the House of Representatives and Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) in the Senate. After passage in both houses, the bill is expected to go into Conference Committee, and then to the President for final passage.

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