Last week, February 13, the U.S. Congress approved HR 1. This is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the economic stimulus bill, which includes legislation regarding Filipino World War II veterans. With this vote, the bill is expected to be signed by President Obama on February 16, Presidents’ Day. This is an historic advance for these veterans, who have been fighting for recognition of their service during WWII for over 60 years.
This bill recognizes these veterans’ military service as U.S. veterans, and additionally provides one-time payments of $15,000 to Filipino American veterans residing in the U.S. or in the Philippines, and $9,000 to veterans who are Philippine citizens. It also contains a provision for spouses and protects eligibility for benefits currently received by veterans.
The inclusion of the authorizing language in effect allows the Department of Veterans Affairs to disburse funds that have been appropriated for this purpose through the Filipino WWII Veterans Compensation Fund. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Daniel Inouye included the Filipino WWII Veterans legislation in the stimulus package. (perryscope)
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