Speech #1090133629

Mr. President. I rise to join Senator AKAKA in support of his amendment that grants immigrant visas for alien children of Filipino veterans of World War II. who were naturalized pursuant to section 405 of the Immigration Act of 1990. a measure which I authored in the 101st Congress. In recognition of Filipino veterans contributions during World War II. the Congress. in March of 1942. amended the Nationality Act of 1940. and granted Filipino veterans the privilege of becoming United States citizens. The law expired on December 31. 1946. However. many Filipino veterans were denied the opportunity to apply for naturalization under this act because of an executive decision to remove the naturalization examiner from the Philippines for a 9month period. The 9month absence of a naturalization examiner was the basis of numerous lawsuits filed by Filipino World War II veterans. On July 17. 1988. the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Filipino World War II veterans had no statutory rights to citizenship under the expired provisions of the Nationality Act of 1940. Section 405 of the Immigration Act of 1990 was enacted to make naturalization available to those Filipino World War II veterans whose military service during the liberation of the Philippines rendered them deserving of United States citizenship. Approximately 25.000 veterans took advantage of the naturalization provision which expired in February 1995. Unfortunately. the 1990 Act did not confer naturalization to the children of Filipino World War II veterans. Accordingly. they are enduring decades of family separation due to the long waiting periods under the numerical limit on immigrant visas for alien children of citizens of the United States. Many of these veterans are in their twilight years. and declining in health. They long to see their sons and daughters. Heroes should never be forgotten or ignored. let us not turn our back on those who sacrificed so much. Let us [52. Pt. 7 May 18. 2006 show our appreciation to these gallant Filipino men and women who stood in harms way with our American soldiers. and who fought the common enemy during World War II by granting their children a special immigrant status to immigrate and reunify with their aging parents who have made sacrifices for this country.