Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak about legislation that would remove the obstacles preventing Filipino veterans of World War II from being united with their children, a situation whose roots reach back almost eight decades. The Philippine Independence Act of 1934 established the Philippines, a U.S. possession since 1898, as a commonwealth with certain powers over its internal affairs but with sovereign power retained by the United States. The Act also established a ten-year timetable for the commonwealth to achieve independence from the United States. In early 1941, in the face of Japan's military aggression in Asia, President Franklin D. Roosevelt invoked his authority, based on the retention of U.S. sovereign power over the Philippines to ``call and order into the service of the Armed Forces of the United States all of the organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.'' In January of 1942, a month after it attacked Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded the Philippines and occupied the commonwealth until August 1945. Two months later, in March of 1942, Congress and President Roosevelt enacted the Second War Powers Act, which included the Nationality Act of 1940 that authorized the naturalization of all aliens serving in the U.S. armed forces. The 200,000 Filipinos that served in the U.S. armed forces were critical to the Philippine resistance and to the island's liberation in August 1945.…”