Mr. President, it has long been evident that our immigration system needs to be reformed, and the current debate on immigration is long overdue. I am pleased that this body is addressing this…
Mr. President, it has long been evident that our immigration system needs to be reformed, and the current debate on immigration is long overdue. I am pleased that this body is addressing this important issue in such a comprehensive manner. However, if the Senate's debate on immigration is to be truly comprehensive, it must address not only its better-known propositions and factors but also its lesser-known ones as well.
My bill seeks to address and resolve an immigration issue that, while rooted in a set of historical circumstance more than seven decades old, remains unresolved to this day. It is an issue of great concern to Filipino World War II veterans and to Filipino Americans, and it ought to be an issue of great concern to all American veterans and citizens with an interest in justice and fairness.
Before I discuss the specifics of my bill, I would first like to thank my dear friend and colleague, the senior Senator from Hawaii, Daniel K. Inouye, for cosponsoring this bill. In the 101st Congress, Senator Inouye authored Section 405 of the Immigration Act of 1990, which provided for the naturalization of Filipino World War II veterans. Senator Inouye has a long history of being involved in this important effort and it is an honor to have his support on my bill today.
To understand the significance of this bill, it is important to first provide some background about the historical circumstances that got us to where we are today.
In 1941, on the basis of 1934 legislation enacted prior to Philippine independence, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order. Through this order, President Roosevelt invoked his authority to ``call and order into the service of the Armed Forces of the United States,'' including ``all of the organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.'' This order drafted more than 200,000 Filipino citizens into the United States military. Under the
command of General Douglas MacArthur, Filipino soldiers fought alongside American soldiers in the defense of our country.
Throughout the course of World War II, these Filipino soldiers proved themselves to be courageous and honorable comrades in arms as they helped the United States fulfill its mission. There was no question that they would be treated the same as American troops.
These Filipino soldiers are war heroes, and deserved to be treated as such. They provided active duty service on behalf of the U.S. military, which should have qualified them for the same benefits as other active- duty veterans. Congress betrayed these veterans by enacting the First Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act in 1946, which included a rider that conditioned an appropriation of $200 million, for the benefit of the postwar Philippine Army, on the basis that service in the Commonwealth Army should not be deemed to have been service in the Armed Forces of the United States.
Commonwealth Army members were those called into the service of the United States Armed Forces for the Far East. These members served between July 26, 1941, and June 30, 1946. Similarly, Congress enacted the Second Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act, which provided that service in the New Philippine Scouts was not deemed to be service in the U.S. military.
New Philippine Scouts were Filipino citizens who served with the United States Armed Forces with the consent of the Philippine government. They served between October 6, 1945, and June 30, 1947.
These veterans are now in their eighties and nineties. Of the 200,000 Filipino veterans that served in World War II, close to 49,000 survive. Some of these veterans receive U.S. benefits, some do not. By 2010, it is estimated that there will be just 20,000 survivors.
With the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990, the courage of the many Filipino soldiers who fought alongside our troops during World War II was finally recognized by our government, and Filipino veterans were offered the opportunity to obtain U.S. citizenship. According to the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, about 15,000 Filipino veterans live in the U.S. and became citizens between 1941 and 1995 under the authority of the Immigration Act of 1990. Between that time about 11,000 veterans who live in the Philippines were successfully naturalized. These thousands of Filipino veterans clearly wished to spend their golden years in the United States, and I am pleased that the 1990 Immigration reform efforts provided them the opportunity to do so.
Unfortunately, the offer did not extend to the adult sons and daughters of these veterans. As a result, the Filipino veterans who fought on behalf of America, and who now live in American and continue to contribute to America, must do so alone. Due to a backlog in the issuing of visas, many of the children of these veterans have waited more than twenty years before being able to obtain an immigrant visa.
My bill, by exempting children of certain Filipino World War II veterans from the numerical limitation on immigrant visas, will ensure that our Filipino World War II veterans can enjoy and be supported by their family members in their twilight years. I believe it is a simple yet profound way that this country may honor the sacrifices made more than six decades ago by these war heroes.
I urge my colleagues to honor the valiant contributions of Filipino World War II veterans to our Nation by supporting my bill.
