One of the few provisions of the bill that I *don’t* have a problem with.
I still oppose this on principle. These kind of things need their own bill. The only reason this was attached is to hid the 20 other amendments that are pure pork.
The 2009 Filipino Stimulus Bill
Did they get their island back from the Japanese?
Did the Japanese give them a present?
Did France give the US any cheese or wine for saving them?
Do welfare queens and illegal Mexican gangsters give a crap when they collapse an economy?
I am so tired of giving away all of our prosperity to people who got their already.
It’s good to know the vets got something, why not the FILIPINO GOVERNMENT?
Last year the Philippine government sent $500,000.00 to a lobbying firm in Wash, DC. The fee was the price to pay to get the veterans funding.
RP signs $500,000 US lobby deal
By Cynthia Balana
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:41:00 01/31/2008
Filed Under: Licensing Agreements
MANILA, Philippines — The government has signed a $500,000 (P20 million) lobbying contract with one of Washington D.C.’s more influential law firms to push the country’s interests in the United States, particularly veterans issues in the US Congress, the Philippine embassy in Washington said Thursday.
In his report to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, Ambassador to Washington Willy Gaa said he signed the contract on behalf of the Philippines, while Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat signed on behalf of International Practice of Covington & Burling LLP as its chair and partner.
Gaa said the contract, signed on Wednesday, was valid for six months and did not entail additional expense to the Philippine government, such as for travel and representation.
Gaa said the contract-signing was held after both sides had complied with the requirements of Philippine and US laws and after several rounds of discussions.
“Ambassador Eizenstat and his team will provide welcome support to our efforts here in Washington,” said Gaa. “Our consultant and his excellent team will work broadly on a bipartisan basis, particularly in Congress.”
More importantly, Gaa said, their priority remains correcting the grave injustice done to Filipino World War II veterans, referring to the veterans equity bill that is awaiting approval on Capitol Hill.
Gaa said the Philippines remained committed to winning for the “Filipino veterans the benefits, dignity and recognition that they truly deserve.”
Gaa said the embassy would release a copy of the contract after the signed copy had been registered with the US Department of Justice and received officially in the Philippines.
Philippine laws and regulations, particularly Executive Order No. 662-A, require that the contract be submitted to the Procurement Transparency Group under the Government Procurement Policy Board, which is chaired by the secretary of budget and management.
Reports out of Washington said Eizenstat was tapped to push the Philippine political, security and trade agenda on Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the Department of State.
The Philippines also has consultancy agreements with Burson-Marsteller, as well as Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg to lobby for bigger Philippine garment quotas.
The firm’s recent pro bono matters include:
* Former and/or continued representation of fifteen Yemenis, one Pakistani, and one Algerian being held at Guantanamo Bay, and have obtained favorable rulings that detainees have rights under the Fifth Amendment and the Geneva Conventions.[15] The court ruled in March 2005 that the government could not transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to foreign custody without first giving the prisoners a chance to challenge the move in court.
* Preparing an amicus brief on behalf of a number of social scientists in the Cook v. Rumsfeld case challenging the military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy.
* Filing an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in support of the Planned Parenthood challenge of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.
* Supporting the District of Columbia in District of Columbia v. Heller which argues that the District’s ban on the possession of handguns and its storage provisions for other firearms in the home is not implicated by the Second Amendment.[16]
Private practice
Since 2001, Holder has worked as an attorney at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.,[
I can get along with this one.
.