Washington, DC- The National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE) today applauds Senator Barack Obama's commitment to the Filipino Veterans Equity Act. The Senator's staff contacted NAFVE today to confirm the Senator's cosponsorship of the Filipino Veterans Equity Act, in follow up to a meeting NAFVE and the Illinois Veterans Equity Center (IVEC) held immediately following the April 11 Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Hearing on the bill. Senator Obama sits on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and his cosponsorship is a significant turn of events. His office has pledged to work with the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee for passage of this bill.
"The Senator's support comes at a critical juncture for this bill as the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee looks to markup this legislation, " said Ben de Guzman, NAFVE National Campaign Coordinator. "We are so thankful for the Senator and his staff for their continued commitment to securing passage of the Filipino Veterans Equity Act."
"Filipino community members in Chicago , including stalwart leaders like Atty. Vanessa Vergara, have been working directly with Senator Obama for a long time now. When we met with the Senator's staff in April, we reminded them of the previous statement of support for the Filipino Veterans Senator Obama has made in the past," said Jerry Clarito, IVEC Director, referring to a quote from the Senator in an NBC news piece on November 2005. "His staff has told us that the commitment of local Filipino WW 2 veterans like IVEC President Arcadio Calabas to come all the way to Washington for this issue was key in securing the Senator's support for this bill."
NAFVE represents over 20 local, national and international organizations committed to securing full equity for Filipino World War II Veterans. More information about NAFVE and the Filipino Veterans Equity Act is available on the NAFVE Web site: www.nafve.org.
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