President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has led the call on the United States Congress to immediately create a Bicameral Conference Committee to reconcile the veterans bills recently passed by the Senate and House of Representatives and finally enact the Veterans Equity Law.
In her speech in Chicago before the Filipino community in the US mid-West last Nov. 11, which happens to be Veterans Day in the United States, President Arroyo stressed that something could still be done by the present US Congress to reconcile the conflicting provisions of Senate Bill 1315 and House Bill 6897 and finally award to Filipino war veterans what they have been fighting for during the past 50 years – recognition as war heroes like their American counterparts in the form of financial remuneration.
The President revealed that while Illinois Senator and now President-elect Barack Obama had expressed to her last June his support for the Veterans Equity, "I think we should not wait for the bill to be re-filed in the next Congress."
"So, on this day, Veterans’ Day, I gave my instructions to (Philippine) Ambassador (to the United States) Willy Gaa -- and let’s all do it, Filipino-Americans here in the United States -- let us urge the U.S. Congress to act now to organize the Bicameral Committee to reconcile Senate Bill 1315 and House Bill 6897 so it can become a Veterans’ Equity Law," President Arroyo urged the hundreds of Filipino-Americans who braved the autumn chill to meet with her at the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Chicago in Illinois.
"So, I thank you for your plaque, our veterans. And let us continue to work for Veterans’ Equity. You see, this is the first time in the history of our advocacy that the bill finally passed both Houses of Congress.
"Let’s not waste that and have to go back to first base again in the next Congress. We’ve got to convince them that this is the time to have a Bicameral Conference Committee," the President advised, pointing out that, "Yes, the two versions are very different, but that’s the way it is in all bicameral democracies."
