Sixty-three years after the end of World War II, an aging and dwindling group of Filipino veterans who fought alongside our American forces against the Japanese is still waiting for veteran benefits.

The Senate finally approved a measure Thursday that would expand benefits to these Filipino veterans, many of whom now live in California. The House is expected to take up a similar measure before the end of the year.

"We have been waiting for this for the last 60 years; you can imagine how happy we are," said Faustino "Peping" Baclig, 86, a former guerrilla officer and survivor of the Bataan Death March, who is now a U.S. citizen living in Whittier.

Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), a World War II veteran and chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, sponsored the measure. "The Filipino veterans of World War II fought bravely under U.S. military command, helping us win the war," he said. "I commend my colleagues for supporting those veterans who stood with us."

Republican opposition to creating a new pension benefit had blocked action on the Filipino veteran provision until Thursday's vote. But debate over the measure, part of a larger bill to expand or extend benefits to all veterans, split along a generational divide, with WWII veterans from both parties backing the bill.

"I see this as a matter of honor," said Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who noted that there were only five WWII vets left in the Senate. "I know some of my younger colleagues see this as expensive. About 1 million Filipinos were killed in defense of our country. This bill restores their benefits . . . how long can that last? I appeal to the Senate."

The Senate voted 56 to 41 to defeat an effort by Sen. Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.) to curtail veteran benefits.

The overall veterans’ bill, which passed 96 to 1, would enhance life insurance benefits for disabled veterans younger than 65 and for veterans who have suffered traumatic injuries since 2001. It would also increase some housing benefits for veterans with severe burn injuries and augment some labor and education benefits for veterans.

The bill is expected to cost less than $1 billion over five years, but is "budget neutral," meaning its cost has been covered with savings found elsewhere.

The Filipino veteran provision creates about $250 million in new benefits over 10 years. Of that, about $84 million will go to Filipinos in the United States for such benefits as grants to modify homes for disabled vets. The other $166 million would pay pension benefits to Filipino veterans in the Philippines who fought under U.S. command but were not injured. There are about 6,000 Filipino veterans in the U.S. and 12,000 in the Philippines.

This measure, however, faces an uncertain fate, as the Bush administration has once again expressed concern about the cost of expanding veteran benefits.

Filipino veterans, many now in their 80s and 90s, have waged a decades-long struggle to secure benefits they say were promised when they responded to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's call in 1941 to fight the Japanese.

Many fought as regular soldiers in the U.S armed forces and received regular benefits. But many more fought in Philippine forces that were under the command of the U.S. military.

Over the years, Filipino veterans, many of whom survived the infamous Bataan Death March, chained themselves to the statue of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, their former commander, in Los Angeles' MacArthur Park, and to the White House fence to call attention to their cause.

Senate Republicans argued that the $166 million that the pension provision is projected to cost would be better spent on U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. They pointed out that the U.S. has invested heavily in the Philippines and that injured Filipino veterans get full benefits, including special burial rates and access to veterans hospitals.

The Senate's few veterans delivered passionate speeches in favor of the Filipino measure. "This bill has a provision of honor," said Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), a cosponsor of the measure who lost an arm while fighting with the Japanese American 442nd Regiment in Italy.

Senator Stevens also gave younger members of the Senate a small refresher course in the war's history. "These people were the keys to the Pacific," he said. "Without them, we would have seen war for another few years. They gave us the time to survive."

Thank God someone in our leadership today is still giving History lessons; and Thank God a few of our Senators still have a sense of justice and compassion.