2024 -- H 7074

========

LC003829

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024

____________

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

STRONGLY SUPPORTING THE PASSAGE OF THE 118TH CONGRESS H.R.6121 -- THE

FILIPINO VETERANS FAIRNESS ACT OF 2023

     Introduced By: Representatives Fenton-Fung, Kennedy, Azzinaro, J. Lombardi, Hull,
and Chippendale

     Date Introduced: January 05, 2024

     Referred To: House Veterans` Affairs

     WHEREAS, Congressional House Resolution 6121 will amend title 38, United States

Code, to improve the benefits furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to certain

individuals who served in the forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts; and

     WHEREAS, The United States military recruited tens of thousands of Filipino

servicemen to fight with it in World War II. It is estimated that over 250,000 Filipino troops

bravely fought under United States command, and saved countless lives during their service; and

     WHEREAS, These soldiers, who were promised full access to veterans’ benefits and

citizenship, never saw benefits. After the war ended, the government’s pledge was rescinded by

Congress’s passage of the Rescission Act in 1946, and has only partially been fulfilled in recent

decades; and

     WHEREAS, In 1990, President George H.W. Bush enacted a law granting citizenship to

Filipino nationals who fought in the war. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed a law granting

a lump sum of $15,000 to surviving Filipino veterans who are American citizens and $9,000 to

noncitizens, however, claiming these benefits has been nearly impossible and many have been

denied access to them due to the lack of proper documentation; and

     WHEREAS, H.R.6121 will restore those benefits to Filipino veterans by allowing the use

of alternative military documentation to determine eligibility which is necessary due in part to the

destruction of official service records in a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center;

and

     WHEREAS, H.R.6121 will also allow a need-based death pension to be offered to

survivors of Filipino WWII veterans, in order to recognize their honorable and outstanding

service to the United States; and

     WHEREAS, Passage of H.R.6121 will fulfill a long overdue promise for full access to

veterans’ benefits to the remaining veterans and the families of the hundreds of thousands of

Filipino servicemen who fought alongside American troops under U.S. command in World War

II; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island strongly

supports and urges Congressional passage of H.R. 6121 in support of Filipinos who bravely and

honorably fought for the United States in WWII; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President of the

United States, and the Rhode Island Congressional delegation.

========

LC003829

========

LC003829 - Page 2 of 2