Filipino Veterans Gain Allies in Benefits Fight
Rep. Bob Filner (D-Chula Vista), state Assembly Majority Leader Antonio Villaraigosa and other officials gathered Friday in MacArthur Park to announce that a bill to restore benefits to Filipino war veterans was gaining momentum.
“The entire Los Angeles-area congressional delegation has signed to the bill,” said Jim Bickhart, spokesman for Villaraigosa. “We hope that will be enough to pressure the chairman of the Veterans Commission [in the House of Representatives] to hold hearings on it. But he is reluctant to do it.”
Filner said that the bill has gained 132 signatures. He also said he hopes that two men staging a hunger strike in the park will stop before they become ill.
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