It's hard to find cause for celebration when it comes to the shameless and inexcusable foot-dragging of Congress to give Filipino World War II veterans their due.

After all, it has been more than 60 years.

Nevertheless, the U.S. Senate recently approved an amendment that would allow children of these veterans to join them in the U.S. And, indeed, this is something to celebrate.

Of the 200,000 Filipino men drafted in 1941 to fight under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, an estimated 5,000 are still living. But most are well into their 80s and 90s, and the number of survivors continues to dwindle.

These men have spent decades fighting for what was promised them by the U.S. government: equal benefits, which Congress reneged on in 1946.

It wasn't until 1990 that the government finally gave them the opportunity to obtain citizenship, but that offer was not extended to the estimated 20,000 children of the veterans.

The Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Daniel Akaka and Dan Inouye, grants the veterans' children special immigrant status, enabling them to move up in the visa backlog that has had some of them waiting for entry to the U.S. for nearly 20 years.

"It would be a great final honor for these heroes to be joined and cared for by their adult children as they move through their golden years," Akaka said.

It would be an even greater honor if the aging veterans could live to see Congress approve the most meaningful part of their struggle for equity. Doing so would grant them full pension benefits that could mean $200 a month per veteran.

In April, a hearing was held for the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2007 authored by Inouye. Despite tearful testimonies by veterans, it still faced opposition. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, the highest-ranking Republican on the committee, argued that granting the Filipino veterans their promised benefits would be too costly.

When the U.S. government enlisted these men to serve, they did so with the courage that all our veterans fought with. They deserve the same benefits.

In their final years, it's good to know that they'll finally have their families alongside them.

Now let's give them the dignity they've earned by granting them what was promised long ago.