[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3003 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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114th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3003
To amend title 38, United States Code, to deem certain service in the
organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines and the Philippine Scouts to have been active service for
purposes of benefits under programs administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 26, 2016
Mr. Schatz (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to deem certain service in the
organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines and the Philippine Scouts to have been active service for
purposes of benefits under programs administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of
2016''.
SEC. 2. CERTAIN SERVICE IN THE ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES OF THE
PHILIPPINES AND THE PHILIPPINE SCOUTS DEEMED TO BE ACTIVE
SERVICE.
(a) In General.--Section 107 of title 38, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``not'' after ``Army of the United
States, shall''; and
(B) by striking ``, except benefits
under--'' and all that follows in that subsection and
inserting a period;
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) by striking ``not'' after ``Armed Forces
Voluntary Recruitment Act of 1945 shall''; and
(B) by striking ``except--'' and all that follows
in that subsection and inserting a period;
(3) by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
``(c) Determination of Eligibility.--
``(1) In general.--In determining the eligibility of the
service of an individual under this section, the Secretary
shall take into account any alternative documentation regarding
such service, including documentation other than the Missouri
List, that the Secretary determines relevant.
``(2) Report.--Not later than March 1 of each year, the
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of
the Senate and Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives a report that includes--
``(A) the number of individuals applying for
benefits pursuant to this section during the previous
year; and
``(B) the number of such individuals that the
Secretary approved for benefits.''; and
(4) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
``(d) Relation to Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund.--
Section 1002(h) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(title X of division A of Public Law 111-5; 123 Stat. 200; 38 U.S.C.
107 note) shall not apply to an individual described in subsection (a)
or (b) of this section.''.
(b) Conforming and Clerical Amendments.--
(1) Conforming amendment.--The heading of such section is
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 107. Certain service deemed to be active service: service in
organized military forces of the Philippines and in the
Philippine Scouts''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 1 of such title is amended by striking the
item relating to section 107 and inserting the following:
``107. Certain service deemed to be active service: service in
organized military forces of the
Philippines and in the Philippine
Scouts.''.
(c) Effective Date.--
(1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall
take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(2) Applicability.--No benefits shall accrue to any person
for any period before the effective date specified in paragraph
(1) by reason of the amendments made by this section.
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