by B.J. Reyes
Debate began in the U.S. Senate today on a bill that would provide special pensions to thousands of Filipino veterans who fought alongside U.S. forces during World War II.
Democrats have blamed Republicans for stalling the bill since August.
Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said he has rebuffed repeated attempts by Republicans to remove the provisions for Filipino veterans.
"The ranking (Republican) member offers one option, and that is to give these elderly Filipino veterans nothing, and that is not a compromise," Akaka said on the Senate floor.
"I am ready to debate the core issues, but I am not prepared to abandon a provision that I believe is right."
Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the ranking Republican on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said his main objection is cost. The bill includes $221 million to provide a special pension for the Filipino veterans living in the Philippines and additional pensions to spouses of those who have died.
He argued that it would make Filipino veterans in the Philippines a higher priority than U.S. veterans living in America.
The Philippine government estimates there are about 18,000 veterans living in the Philippines who would benefit from the bill, known as the Veterans Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007.
Roughly 120,000 Filipinos were drafted in 1941 to serve alongside U.S. forces in defending the Philippines - an American commonwealth at the time - during World War II. Those Filipinos were promised the same veterans benefits as American servicemen, but Congress rescinded the pledge in 1946, when the Philippines gained independence.
Though Filipinos who served directly in the U.S. armed forces and those who now live in the United States qualify for some programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, many still seek the full benefits that were promised, including health care, pension and survivor and burial benefits.
Burr said the special pension amounts to about $300 a month, and would lift a single Filipino veteran to 1,400 percent over the poverty line in the Philippines, whereas pensions to U.S. veterans living in America are designed to lift them to about 10 percent above the U.S. poverty line.
"A VA pension benefit is not designed to put a veteran in the middle class," Burr said. "It certainly doesn't in the U.S., and I don't believe it's our responsibility to do it in the Philippines and I don't believe at this time of war that it's a priority for this country to do."
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