Bill extends benefits to Filipino WWII veterans

WASHINGTON — A bill that aims to sort out government benefits for Filipinos who fought alongside Americans during World War II advanced in Congress on Wednesday.

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee added the measure to a package of bills it passed and sent to the Senate floor for further consideration.

The “Filipino Veterans Promise Act” directs the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs to enlist military historians and establish a process to determine whether individuals qualify for benefits if they are not already on an approved list.

“Filipino veterans who served the United States during World War II deserve to know whether they are eligible for benefits promised to them,” said Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., the bill sponsor.

The committee bundled a number of veterans health and benefit measures into the bill that advanced. Among other provisions, the bill:

— Expands the eligibility for benefits for spouses in same-sex marriages. The change would bring the VA into conformance with the Supreme Court ruling in June that allowed for federal benefits for all legally married couples.

— Allows spouses of servicemembers who die on duty to obtain full undergraduate college benefits, a Heller proposal.

— Allows businesses run by surviving spouses or dependents of servicemembers killed on duty three years of contract preference as a “service-disabled-veteran-owned small business,” another Heller plan.