House Passes Bill to Award Congressional Gold Medal to Filipino World War II Vets

On November 30, following the Senate’s approval of this bill in July earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed a bill seeking to honor more than 260,000 Filipino-American World War II veterans with the Congressional Gold Medal. To read more about this event, click on the link in the title for a story by Stephany Bai and Charles Lam.

As stated in the article:

The medal would recognize the soldiers who responded to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s call-to-duty and fought under the United States flag during World War II. Those soldiers were promised military benefits, but that offer was retracted by the Rescission Act of 1946.

During NAPABA’s Annual Lobby Day on May 24, AABANY was represented by Past President Robert Leung and Issues Committee Co-Chair Chris Kwok. They met with Congressman Jerry Nadler’s Office and with David Greengrass, Legislative Assistant. Using Lobby Day as an opportunity to discuss the Filipino War Veterans of WWII Gold Medal, they reminded the Congressman that Filipino Americans were the second most populous Asian American subgroup and that passage of the bill would be very meaningful to the Asian American population. He subsequently voiced support of the bill.

AABANY is pleased by the news that the House of Representatives passed this bill, which now will go to President Obama for signature. We are gratified to know that after all these decades, these Filipino-American World War II veterans will get the honor and recognition they deserve for their service to America.