02.28.08
Obama backs US bill to award pension benefits to Filipino WWII veterans
It’s great news for Filipino veterans who were in WW2 if Barrack Obama is elected in this presidential campaign because he would support a bill for that would award pensions to Filipinos who fought under the U.S. flag during World War II when the Philippines was a U.S. colony. Obama thinks that they deserve this for their courageous work, and he issued this statement this week urging his colleagues in Senate to provide the veterans with this recognition. According to him, these heroes are still being denied benefits. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee already has passed a broad bill that includes the benefit measure. The full Senate has yet to vote on the legislation. Sen. Daniel Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat and chairman of the veteran affairs committee, backs the Filipino veterans bill. Akaka is also a U.S. veteran of World War II. Filipino-American veterans, most now in their 80s, have campaigned for decades to win the benefits they were promised. Finally they have hope with this statement issued by Obama.