Senator Reid has made securing equity for Filipino Veterans of World War II one of his top priorities in Congress.
He co-sponsored the Filipino Veterans Equity Act and led the Senate to pass the Recovery Act, which authorized tax-free lump sum payments to veterans of World War II of Filipino descent.
These veterans had been unfairly denied their benefits for more than sixty years. However, the Recovery Act is providing $9,000 for non-American Filipino veterans and $15,000 for Filipino-Americans who fought in World War II but have been denied the benefits they deserve.
Senator Reid went even further, pushing for legislation to ease the process for Filipino veterans and their families to re-unite by streamlining the visa requirements for the children of Filipino World War II veterans.
[Asian Week, 6/29/07; S 57, Introduced 1/4/07; NPR, 2/20/09; S 671, Introduced 2/16/07]
