Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2823 To amend title 38, United States Code, to deem certain service in the organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts to have been active service for purposes of benefits under programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2019 Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. CASE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CON- NOLLY, Mr. CORREA, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. GOMEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to deem certain service in the organized military forces of the Govern- ment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts to have been active service for purposes of benefits under programs administered by the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2823.IH H2823 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2823 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Filipino Veterans Fair- 2 ness Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. CERTAIN SERVICE IN THE ORGANIZED MILITARY 4 FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES AND THE PHIL- 5 IPPINE SCOUTS DEEMED TO BE ACTIVE 6 SERVICE. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 107 of title 38, United 8 States Code, is amended— 9 (1) in subsection (a)— 10 (A) by striking ‘‘not’’ after ‘‘Army of the 11 United States, shall’’; and 12 (B) by striking ‘‘, except benefits under— 13 ’’ and all that follows in that subsection and in- 14 serting a period; 15 (2) in subsection (b)— 16 (A) by striking ‘‘not’’ after ‘‘Armed Forces 17 Voluntary Recruitment Act of 1945 shall’’; and 18 (B) by striking ‘‘except—’’ and all that fol- 19 lows in that subsection and inserting a period; 20 (3) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol- 21 lows: 22 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—(1) In de- 23 termining the eligibility of the service of an individual 24 under this section, the Secretary shall take into account 25 any alternative documentation regarding such service, in- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2823.IH H2823 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2823 IH cluding documentation other than the Missouri List, that 1 the Secretary determines relevant. 2 ‘‘(2) Not later than March 1 of each year, the Sec- 3 retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 4 of the Senate and House of Representatives a report that 5 includes— 6 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals applying for 7 benefits pursuant to this section during the previous 8 year; and 9 ‘‘(B) the number of such individuals that the 10 Secretary approved for benefits.’’; and 11 (4) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol- 12 lows: 13 ‘‘(d) RELATION TO FILIPINO VETERANS EQUITY 14 COMPENSATION FUND.—Section 1002(h) of the American 15 Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (title X of divi- 16 sion A of Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 200; 38 U.S.C. 17 107 note) shall not apply to an individual described in sub- 18 section (a) or (b) of this section.’’. 19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) The heading 20 of such section is amended to read as follows: 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2823.IH H2823 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2823 IH ‘‘§ 107. Certain service deemed to be active service: 1 service in organized military forces of the 2 Philippines and in the Philippine 3 Scouts’’. 4 (2) The item relating to such section in the table of 5 sections at the beginning of chapter 1 of such title is 6 amended to read as follows: 7 ‘‘107. Certain service deemed to be active service: service in organized military forces of the Philippines and in the Philippine Scouts.’’. SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this 9 Act shall take effect on the date that is 90 days after the 10 date of the enactment of this Act. 11 (b) APPLICABILITY.—No benefits shall accrue to any 12 person for any period before the effective date of this Act 13 by reason of the amendments made by this Act. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2823.IH H2823 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS