Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013

Floor Speech

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Ms. SPEIER. Our Nation is great because in times of trial when we do the wrong thing, we will come back and do the right thing.

What this amendment does is attempt to address a wrong that we did many years ago, and right that wrong by restoring a promise that we made to Filipinos that fought side-by-side with us in World War II. We promised them in no uncertain terms that they would enjoy the same veterans benefits that others received for putting their lives at risk.

More than 200,000 Filipinos fought in defense of the United States in the Pacific theater against the Japanese in World War II, and more than half of them were killed. As citizens of a commonwealth of the United States before and during the war, Filipinos were legally American nationals, and they were promised the same benefits afforded to those serving in the United States Armed Forces.

But in 1946, Congress passed the Rescission Act, a law that stripped Filipinos of the benefits that had been promised them by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The Rescission Act created a wrong that will not be righted unless our Nation restores the veteran status it promised to Filipino soldiers more than 65 years ago.

Now the irony here, Mr. Chairman, is that there were other countries that provided us with men and women who served during World War II, and they were also promised veterans benefits. In fact, there are 65 countries that provided servicemembers to fight alongside us. Every one of those other soldiers were provided veterans benefits from other countries. And yet the Filipinos, who were part of a commonwealth at the time, who were nationals of this country, who were promised veterans benefits, were denied them by the Rescission Act that was passed in 1946.

What this amendment does is make all Filipino veterans fully eligible for veterans benefits, similar to those received by U.S. veterans. Specifically, the amendment eliminates the distinction between regular or old Filipino scouts and the other three groups of veterans--Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, Recognized Guerilla Forces, and New Filipino Scouts. Veterans that have received lump sum payments would be eligible for these benefits.

Now, we tried to sort of cover this all up by giving them a $15,000 stipend. Frankly, that's not good enough. And there are about 15,000 living Filipino veterans of World War II right now. They're 85 years old. They're not going to live much longer, but they certainly deserve the benefits that we promised them but we then rescinded with the Rescission Act of 1946.

For these veterans and their families, I believe the time has come to right this horrific wrong, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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