By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

(© 2012 Journal Group Link International)

C HICAGO (jGLi) – Rep. Ron Paul (TX-14th), who battled for second place in the Nevada caucuses last Saturday (Feb. 4) for the Republican presidential nomination, has pledged to support the pending H.R. 210, which will overturn the Recession Acts of 1946, according to Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign.

In a press statement released by the Ron Paul campaign in Henderson, Nevada, to Luke Perry, press relations representative of the Las Vegas, Nevada-based Filipino American Veterans of Nevada, Paul’s national campaign manager John Tate said the legislation that would recognize and guarantee Veterans Administration care to World War-II era Filipino veterans who fought on the side of the U.S. has Rep. Ron Paul's full support.

Mr. Tate said because “Ron Paul is the foremost champion of constitutionally-limited government and he supports deeper spending cuts than any other presidential candidate in history, the one exception to what our campaign and experts term the most ambitious spending-cut platform in national politics is cuts to veterans’ services.  In fact, Dr. Paul recently pushed back against President Obama’s misguided move to enact inauthentic spending cuts on the backs of veterans.”

Tate added, “Dr. Paul is the only presidential candidate – Republican or Democrat – with military service, having served honorably as an Air Force flight surgeon during the Cold War era.

“Dr. Paul also has a long history of honoring veterans, " target=_blank>getting thousands of heroes the medals they never received due to Department of Defense omission.

“To be sure, Dr. Paul will in fact advance the needs of WWII-era Filipino heroes who fought in the constitutional, declared war against fascist and imperial expansion that endangered America. 

“H.R. 210 provides a small thank you for an enormous debt of gratitude owed the Philippines’ and America’s most heroic individuals. 

UNWAVERING LEGACY OF SUPPORT

“Therefore, we are pleased to add to Ron Paul’s unwavering legacy of supporting veterans by announcing he will support and co-sponsor H.R. 210.  In making this gesture, Ron Paul will do his best to ensure that the diminishing number of WWII-era Filipino heroes get the honor, dignity, and care they earned during their service to America.

“The 12-term Congressman from Texas will be one of only a few Republican House members to co-sponsor the legislation, demonstrating that he is willing to reach across the aisle on issues of national importance and decency. It also illustrates quite convincingly that Dr. Paul is the most qualified to be President.”

Paul announced his support Friday (Feb. 3) during a caucus attended by 300 participants at a Rally In Support of H.R. 210 & World War II Filipino Veterans Fairness Day at Leatherneck Club 4360 W. Spring Mountain Road, in Las Vegas.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney collected 44 percent of the vote with about 43 percent of the precincts counted Saturday (Feb. 4) night, according to British news agency Reuters, taking about a 20-point lead over his closest rivals, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Representative Ron Paul, who were battling for second place.

H.R. 210 introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) provides benefits to Filipino World War II veterans taken away by the Rescission Acts of 1946. Among its provisions is a mandate to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to accept applicants whose names are not in the list of the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri for consideration for the benefits under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 signed by President Obama. There are now 86 co-sponsors of the legislation. If Rep. Paul affixes his signature to co-sponsor the bill, he will be the 87th. # # #

Editor’s Note: To contact the author, please e-mail him at: (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)