Political Quotes

“Mr. President, on July 26, 1941, President Roosevelt issued an Executive Order ordering all military forces of the Commonwealth of the Philippines into service of the Armed Forces of the United States. This happened after a bit of history. In 1898 the Philippines became a colony of the United States. It was on March 24, 1934, that the Tydings-McDuffie Act passed Congress. That provided for independence for the Philippines. It was mandated in that bill that there would be a 10-year period--that is to 1944--when the Philippines would formalize and shape and develop its entity. But what was mandated was that the United States would provide the control and supervision of the national defense of the Philippines, and also of its foreign affairs. This was in that bill in 1934. The 10-year period ended in 1944. So the United States was very much a part of the Philippines. In 1941, under the declaration and Executive Order of President Roosevelt, they served in the U.S. Armed Forces of the Far East. All of the military forces of the Commonwealth of the Philippines remained under the command of the U.S. Armed Forces of the Far East throughout World War II and until the Philippines was granted independence on July 4, 1946. Our Nation has a long history of caring for aging veterans, particularly those who served the country during a time of war.”