00                 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 15(STA)                                                               
01 Supporting the passage of a Filipino Veterans Equity Act and a Filipino Veterans                                        
02 Family Reunification Act.                                                                                               
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS, during World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt conscripted the                                    
05 military forces of the Philippines into service under the command of American officers in the                           
06 United States armed forces in the Far East to fight against the Japanese invasion; and                                  
07       WHEREAS Filipino soldiers fought shoulder-to-shoulder with American soldiers in                                 
08 the bloodiest battles of World War II, including the battle at Corregidor; and                                          
09       WHEREAS thousands of Filipino prisoners of war died during the 65-mile Bataan                                   
10 Death March, and those who survived were imprisoned under inhuman conditions; and                                       
11       WHEREAS Filipino World War II veterans were promised military benefits, but,                                    
12 after World War II, the United States Congress passed the Supplemental Surplus                                          
13 Appropriation Rescission Act of 1946, which considered service of the Filipino World War II                             
14 veterans not to be active service, and which had the effect of denying Filipino World War II                            
15 veterans the rights, privileges, and benefits that American World War II veterans received;                             
16 and                                                                                                                     
01       WHEREAS there are approximately 60,000 remaining Filipino World War II                                          
02 veterans currently residing in the United States and the Philippines out of the 120,000 Filipino                        
03 soldiers who served under United States command during World War II; and                                                
04       WHEREAS the United States Department of Veterans Affairs reports that the Filipino                              
05 World War II veteran population is expected to decrease to approximately 20,000 by 2010;                                
06 and                                                                                                                     
07       WHEREAS there are approximately 5,000 Filipino World War II veterans living in                                  
08 poverty in the United States and 15,000 living in poverty in the Philippines; and                                       
09       WHEREAS, in 2000, the surviving Filipino World War II veterans were provided                                
10 with burial benefits in United States national cemeteries, and, in 2003, they were provided                             
11 long overdue medical and nursing home care from the United States Department of Veterans                                
12 Affairs; and                                                                                                            
13       WHEREAS the United States Department of Veterans Affairs does not provide                                       
14 nonservice disability pension benefits to low-income Filipino World War II veterans, but                                
15 these benefits are available to 200,000 of their American comrades; and                                                 
16       WHEREAS Representative Bob Filner has sponsored H.R. 760, and Senator Daniel                                    
17 K. Inouye has sponsored S. 57, which are both called the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of                                
18 2007, to remedy the inequity experienced by Filipino World War II veterans and to provide                               
19 that certain service in the organized military forces of the Philippines and the Philippine                             
20 Scouts will be considered active service in order to qualify for benefits under programs                                
21 administered by the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and                                                    
22       WHEREAS Senator Daniel K. Akaka has sponsored S. 671, and Representative                                        
23 Mazie K. Hirono has sponsored H.R. 1287, which are both called the Filipino Veterans                                    
24 Family Reunification Act, to provide immediate relief to the children of Filipino World War                             
25 II veterans whose immigration petitions have been pending for more than a decade;                                       
26       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that the                                 
27 United States Congress pass                                                                                             
28            (1)  a Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2007 proposed by H.R. 760 or S. 57 in                                 
29 order to allow Filipino World War II veterans to receive the United States veterans' benefits to                        
30 which they are entitled under the programs administered by the United States Secretary of                               
31 Veterans Affairs; and                                                                                                   
01            (2)  a Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act proposed by S. 671 or H.R.                                 
02 1287 to exempt children of certain Filipino World War II veterans from the numerical                                    
03 limitations on immigrant visas.                                                                                         
04       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
05 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States                              
06 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S.                                 
07 Senate; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable                                
08 Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Steny H. Hoyer,                               
09 Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable John Boehner, Minority                              
10 Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Daniel K. Akaka, Chair of the                                
11 U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs; the Honorable Bob Filner, Chair of the U.S.                                 
12 House Representatives Committee on Veterans' Affairs; the Honorable Ted Stevens and the                                 
13 Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                              
14 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all members of the 110th                              
15 United States Congress by electronic transmission.