WASHINGTON — The Senate yesterday approved a omnibus veterans benefit bill that would authorize $221 million over the next decade to give special pensions to low-income Filipinos who fought with the U.S. Army against the Japanese in World War II.

"The Filipino veterans of World War II fought bravely under U.S. military command, helping us win the war only to lose their veteran status by an act of Congress," said U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawai'i, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and sponsor of the bill.

The bill, approved 96-1, expands a number of veterans benefits covering life insurance, housing assistance, education and burial costs. U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was the lone vote against it.

Some Senate Republicans blocked action on the measure for nine months because they objected to a provision granting special pensions of about $3,600 a year to 13,000 aging, low-income Filipino veterans living in the Philippines. It also offers reduced pensions to Filipino veterans' survivors.

Supporters estimate that about 20,000 Filipino veterans — about 2,000 in Hawai'i — are still alive. Those living in the U.S. already get veterans benefits.

An estimated 470,000 Filipinos fought for the U.S. during the war.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., offered a substitute bill that dropped the Filipino pension provision and used the money to improve some of the provisions for U.S. veterans.

"It's about recognizing priorities," said Burr, whose bill failed 41-56.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said if the Filipino benefits were added at the expense of U.S. veterans, "I can't see that our priorities are correct."

The Bush administration also said it has concerns because the bill would increase benefits for Filipino veterans who live in the Philippines to about 125 percent of the average family income there. U.S. veteran pensioners receive only about 30 percent of the average U.S. income.

The provision is aimed at giving the Filipinos a pension similar to one offered to low-income veterans over 65 in the United States. That pension currently provides almost $12,000 a year for single veterans and their survivors can receive death benefits.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said the bill "makes good on our promises to Filipino veterans."

Obama also said in a statement that "for far too long, these heroes have been denied benefits they are owed."

Filipino veterans have argued that they were promised veterans benefits in 1941 when President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order drafting them into the U.S. Army to fight the invading Japanese.

The Filipinos fought at Bataan and Corregidor and an estimated 60,000 walked with the 15,000 Americans on the infamous "Bataan Death March."

After the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese, many Filipinos were part of organized guerrilla units, battling Japanese forces and keeping them from being deployed elsewhere in the war.

But shortly after the war, Congress stripped thousands of the Filipino fighters of their eligibility for full benefits in the Recession Acts of 1946, limiting the veterans to compensation for service-related disabilities or death.

"Senate approval of the benefits for the surviving Filipino veterans is the first step in removing a more than 60-year-old stain on our national honor," said U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, who has pushed for almost two decades to restore the benefits.

"It fulfills our long-held promise to our Filipino comrades in arms," he said.

The bill now goes to the House, which does not have an identical bill, although Filipino veterans' legislation is pending before the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, a sponsor of the House measure, said the Filipinos were the only group of veterans systematically denied benefits.

"This (Senate) bill starts to undo a wrong," he said.

In a statement, state Rep. Michael Magaoay, chairman of the House Filipino Caucus, said "Even though many of the veterans have passed, we believe it is important to honor their memory and give them the recognition they deserve.

"It's an important lesson that we pass on to our children, that our Filipino ancestors played a role in fighting for the United States of America in the name of freedom, and that our country found it right and just to give Filipinos a place in history."