BILL NUMBER: AJR 12	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Block and Salas
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bill Berryhill, Cook, Fuentes,
Gilmore, Jeffries, Lieu, Monning, Portantino, Price, and Silva)
   (Coauthors: Senators DeSaulnier, Florez, and Wright)

                        MARCH 27, 2009

   Relative to benefits for Filipino Americans who fought in World
War II.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 12, as introduced, Block. Filipino veterans: benefits.
   This measure would request that the Congress and the President of
the United States enact legislation granting veterans' benefits to
the Filipino Americans who fought in World War II in the United
States Armed Forces.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, The Republic of the Philippines (hereafter the
Philippines) was a colony of the United States, and, as a result, the
United States government possessed authority over that nation; and
   WHEREAS, On July 26, 1941, in anticipation of war with Japan,
President Roosevelt issued an Executive Order calling over 200,000
Filipino soldiers to serve in the United States Armed Forces in the
Far East (USAFFE); and
   WHEREAS, Ten hours after Pearl Harbor was attacked, the United
States military bases in the Phillippines were bombed, causing the
war to spill onto the Filipino people; and
   WHEREAS, On March 27, 1942, Congress passed Title 8 of the Second
War Powers Act, which provided that noncitizens who served in active
duty in the United States Armed Forces during World War II shall be
granted United States citizenship, meaning that every USAFFE soldier
had the right to equal treatment under the law; and
   WHEREAS, On April 9, 1942, the United States surrendered the
Philippines to Japan, leaving 75,000 USAFFE and regular soldiers to
the Bataan Death March where close to 10,000 died along the trudge to
P.O.W. camps; and
   WHEREAS, Even after the American surrender, Filipinos continued to
resist, gathering thousands more soldiers and forming guerilla
units, who, in coordination with United States command, conducted
operations, collected intelligence, and helped prepare for the
American return; and
   WHEREAS, On September 2, 1945, Japanese military command
surrendered the Philippines back to American forces ending World War
II on the Philippine islands, and Philippine nationals who served in
the war began filing for naturalization at the United States Embassy
in Manila; and
   WHEREAS, Filipino men and women served courageously in the fight
for freedom and democracy during World War II, under the leadership
of General Douglas MacArthur; and
   WHEREAS, After the war, the New Philippine Scouts were formed to
help reestablish United States authority in the Pacific, causing
thousands more Filipino soldiers to be called to serve the United
States; and
   WHEREAS, In November of 1945, adjudication of applications for
naturalization of Filipino veterans was stopped, per order of the
United States Department of State and the Commissioner of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service; and
   WHEREAS, In December of 1945, Congress passed legislation amending
the immigration and naturalization law, setting a deadline of
December 1946 for Filipino veterans applying for citizenship; and
   WHEREAS, On February 18, 1946, Congress enacted the 1946
Rescission Act, which denied World War II Filipino veterans,
including the USAFFE, the guerillas, and the New Philippine Scouts
equal status as American veterans, which stripped them of equal
recognition, compensation, and benefits; and
   WHEREAS, In October of 1990, the Immigration Act of 1990 was
passed, granting United States citizenship to Filipino veterans,
which allowed 24,000 Filipino World War II veterans, in their 70s and
80s, to receive citizenship, but who were still denied equal status
as American veterans; and
   WHEREAS, The course of correction has continued under Presidents
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and under many legislative reforms
regarding health care, benefits for surviving spouses, and burial
rights; and
   WHEREAS, Most families of Filipino World War II veterans who are
residing in the United States, have been longing to reunite with
their sons, daughters, and minor grandchildren whom they left behind,
between 1990 and 1995, when they were naturalized and finally
established residence in the United States; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California
respectfully requests the President and the Congress of the United
States to enact legislation granting veterans' benefits to the
Filipino Americans who fought in World War II in the United States
Armed Forces; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States.