NEW YORK – Bernie 2016, the presidential campaign for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, has released the following statement to the Filipino American Democratic Club on Senator Sanders’ position on Filipino veterans:
“As a long-time member and former chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Senator Sanders has worked tirelessly to ensure veterans have access to the care and benefits they have earned in service to our nation.
The Senator is a strong supporter of Filipino World War II veterans. These veterans are now advanced in age and deserve to know the U.S. government has done everything possible to verify their service. To this end, Senator Sanders supports efforts to review denials of Filipino veterans’ claims for the lump sum benefit. While there have been previous efforts to determine eligibility in the past, Senator Sanders believes it is worth taking another look to verify eligibility.
In addition to the lump sum benefit, Senator Sanders supported Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii’s legislation to provide increased benefits to Filipino veterans. More recently, he has supported legislation offered by Senator Mazie Hirono and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to provide a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of the dedication of World War II Filipino veterans.
Senator Sanders supports President Obama’s executive action to assist family members of Filipino veterans currently in family immigration backlogs to come to the U.S. to care for these aging veterans. While this policy is no replacement for immigration reform, it’s an important step in addressing the need to care for these veterans.”
Aries Dela Cruz, Filipino American Democratic Club of New York president issued the following statement in response: