House votes on WWII vets’ bill next month

June 3, 2008  --  Got something to say?
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By Bing Cardenas Branigin
WASHINGTON D.C. - V-Day (voting) for the Filipino Veterans pension bill in the U.S. House of Representatives is next month.
This assurance was made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who addressed the third annual Town Hall Democratic leadership meeting of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) at the Dirksen Office building on Capitol Hill May 21.

Pelosi pledged to do everything in her power to pass S. 1315, the Senate-approved version of the Filipino veterans’ bill when Congress resumes session after the Memorial Day recess. The bill was passed by the Senate, 96-1, last month.
Pelosi, along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, were among the guests at the CAPAC Democratic leadership meetingheld in celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The meeting took up issues affecting the APA community. But it quickly turned into an expression of support for the Filipino veterans.

Sen. Reid, the first speaker at the meeting, talked about the growing Asian American community in his home state of Nevada and mentioned the recently-passed Filipno veterans’ bill as one of the issues affecting the APA.
Before going up the rostrum to speak, Pelosi went out of her way to approach veteran Celestino Almeda, 91, of Falls Church Virginia. She held his hand, hugged him and thanked him and his other Filipino veterans for their sacrifices during the war. She then pledged to do her best to pass the bill when Congress resumes session after the Memorial Day recess.
Pelosi told Almeda: “Thank you for all your sacrifices. What you did in the war is most honorable. I’d like you to know that I am in full support of the bill. Please just wait a little longer. I promise you that I’ll do everything for you all to have that honor, and to pass the bill”.
In her speech, Pelosi asked everyone in the room to call, visit, email, their congressmen during the Memorial Day weekend. She stressed it was important for Congress to pass a bill in honor of the Filipino veterans’ heroism.
After her speech, many among the predominantly Asian American leaders who came from near and far tried to mob her for photo-op. Majority of the audience were leaders from the Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Bangladeshi, Hmongs, Indians, and other minority communities. There were only about five Filipino Americans present.
Eric Lachica, executive director of the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans (ACFV) came in later with Almeda in tow. Other Filipino veterans were not able to make it because they were either sick or had no means to go to Capitol Hill.
Pelosi explained that it was necessary to have the numbers when the House votes on the bill to make it veto-proof. President Bush had earlier said the amount set aside for the veterans was quite high.
Earlier Pelosi pledged to deliver the entire 230 Democrats to support the bill but added it needed at least 60 Republican votes to ensure its smooth sailing up to the White House.
Meanwhile, the Filipino American community and the visiting Philippine congressional delegation led by Rep. Antonio Diaz stepped up their lobby to get more Republicans to vote in favor of the bill. The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), American Coalition of Filipino Veterans (ACFV) and other groups joined together to woo other Republicans who have been opposed to the bill.
If the House approves the Senate version of the bill without many changes, the bill will encounter smooth sailing on its way to the White House for the President’s signature.
NaFFAA and all the other Filipino American groups launched a phone-fax-email campaign urging the members who oppose it to reconsider their stand. “For us to win, all Filams must call your US representatives now to vote Yes for S. 1315 and to make sure that the benefits for Filipino World War II veterans are in it!”
Armando ‘Doy’ Heredia, NaFFAA National Executive Director, urged all Filams to telephone, fax or email, now!, to contact their area congressmen and ask their support for S. 1315 and ensure the benefits for Filipino WW II veterans’ are intact.
In a separate advisory, ACFV’s Lachica said, “we are 25 votes shy of victory of passing S. 1315 on the House floor with 230 Democrats plus 60 Republicans needed, according to Rep. Darrell Issa’s staff whom we met May 16.”
Rep. Issa (R-Vista CA), co-chair of the US-Philippines Friendship
Caucus who recently received the Philippine Congressional Award from the visiting Philippine delegation led by Rep. Antonio Diaz, wrote his Republican colleagues to support S. 1315.
Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego, CA), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, had earlier agreed not to introduce the H.R. 760, the more controversial House version of the equity bill which provided more pension benefits for veterans in the Philippines.
Rodney J. Jaleco, ABS-CBN’s Washington bureau chief, said “The battle for equity for aging Filipino World War II veterans is fast shaping into a bellwether of Filipino American clout in America. When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, asked for 60 Republican votes to carry the veterans’ bill, GOP congressmen from California took up the cudgels for them.”
The Philippine congressional delegation which was here last month, has returned to continue to lobby for the Filipino veterans which it said had no one to represent them in the US Congress.
The delegation is led by House veterans affairs committee chairman Antonio Diaz. Others are Reps. Rozzano Rufino Biazon and Roman Romulo, former Justice Manuel Pamaran, and Defense Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina.
They’ve been doing the rounds of Capitol Hill, talking to key congressional leaders just as what they did with senators a month back. Shadowing the group is former U.S. Congressman Ben Gilman, a key Republican operator on Capitol Hill and himself a World War II veteran. Gilman flew 35 sorties against Japan, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross.
“We’re optimistic,” Biazon tells newsmen. “There was even this congressman who showed us a list of the colleagues he’s talked to, so that’s very encouraging because we know our friends in the U.S. Congress are really going out of their way to help us.”
Reprising their efforts in the Senate, Romulo said it’s important for their American counterparts to see just how important the veterans issue is for Filipinos, and the Philippine government.
“I’m very confident this bill will pass because of the moral dimension. America is a great country and it will not allow this reputation to be tarnished,” Diaz said.
S. 1316, which passed the Senate last month by a 96-1 vote, provides for a flat rate of $3,600 annual non-service disability pension for single Filipino veterans living in the Philippines; $4,500 annually for married veterans; and $2,400 annually for surviving spouses.
The House version, H.R. 760, 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 annually at $8,400 if married,
$6,000 if not married and $3,600 for low-income widow.
Both versions will restore 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.
Rep. Mike Honda, chair of CAPAC, urged the group to “stay together in their resolve to bring justice for our Filipino veterans. At the town hall, Democratic
Leadership and members of CAPAC stood together in their resolve to bring justice for our Filipino veterans. The Senate recently passed legislation that would recognize their valiant service to our country. It is now our turn in the House of Representatives to fight for these veterans who heroically fought for our freedoms during World War II.”


Posted by News Team | Filed Under Articles/Stories 

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