I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6121 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the benefits furnished 

by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to certain individuals who served 

in the forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 30, 2023 

Mr. MULLIN (for himself, Mr. CASE, Mr. MOYLAN, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, 

Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. BERA, Mr. CARSON, Ms. CHU, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COSTA, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DAVIS

of North Carolina, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, 

Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LIEU, 

Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MENG, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PASCRELL, 

Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TOKUDA, 

Mr. VARGAS, and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

benefits furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

to certain individuals who served in the forces of the 

Philippines and the Philippine Scouts. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Filipino Veterans Fair3 ness Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF VETERANS BENEFITS FUR5 NISHED TO CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHO 

6 SERVED IN THE FORCES OF THE PHIL7 IPPINES AND THE PHILIPPINE SCOUTS. 

8 (a) EXPANSION OF BENEFITS.—Section 107 of title 

9 38, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

12 and inserting a semicolon; 

13 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe14 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

16 following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(4) sections 1541 and 1542 of this title.’’; and 

18 (2) in subsection (b)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

20 and inserting a semicolon; 

21 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe22 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

24 following new paragraph: 

25 ‘‘(3) sections 1541 and 1542 of this title.’’; and 


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1 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—Such section is further amended 

2 by adding at the end the following new subsections: 

3 ‘‘(e) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—(1) In de4 termining the eligibility of the service of an individual 

5 under this section, the Secretary shall take into account 

6 any alternative documentation regarding such service, in7 cluding documentation other than the recognized guerrilla 

8 rosters stored at the National Personnel Records Center, 

9 that the Secretary determines relevant. 

10 ‘‘(2) Not later than March 1 of each year, the Sec11 retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 

12 of the Senate and House of Representatives a report that 

13 includes— 

14 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals applying for 

15 benefits pursuant to this section during the previous 

16 year; and 

17 ‘‘(B) the number of such individuals that the 

18 Secretary approved for benefits. 

19 ‘‘(f) RELATION TO FILIPINO VETERANS EQUITY

20 COMPENSATION FUND.—Section 1002(h) of the American 

21 Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (title X of divi22 sion A of Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 200; 38 U.S.C. 

23 107 note) shall not apply to an individual described in sub24 section (a) or (b) of this section.’’. 

25 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall take effect on the date that is 270 

3 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (2) APPLICABILITY.—No benefits shall accrue 

5 to any person for any period before the effective date 

6 of this Act by reason of the amendments made by 

7 this section. 

Æ 


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