WASHINGTON — Filipino veterans who fought for the United States against the Japanese in World War II may get another chance next month to have legislation approved granting them full veterans benefits for their service.

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawai'i, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said if Congress meets in a lame-duck session after the Nov. 4 elections, he will try to negotiate a bill with opponents that would give Filipino veterans the equity and recognition they are seeking. Congressional leaders are considering such a session to take up an emergency economic stimulus bill.

The main sticking point is a special $300-a-month pension for thousands of Filipino veterans living in the Philippines.

Art Caleda, 85, a former intelligence officer with the guerrillas fighting against the Japanese in the Philippines, said the pensions were secondary to the recognition of military service the bill would bestow upon the aging veterans.

"It's very, very important," said Caleda of Waipahu, president of the World War II Filipino-American Veterans Hawai'i Chapter. "We cannot carry the pension when we pass away, but the honor of our full recognition would be carried through the generations. Even our grandchildren will know by that recognition that we fought for them and remember that we were war heroes."

Supporters estimate that about 18,000 Filipino veterans, including 2,000 in Hawai'i, are still alive. About 470,000 Filipinos fought for the United States during the war.

The Bush administration objects to the provision, and Senate and House Republicans also have fought the idea.

Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the top Republican on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, has said the pension is the wrong priority when the nation is fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, he said, the money should be used to improve benefits for U.S. veterans.

At the end of the regular session, Burr blocked a last-ditch effort by Akaka to pass the Filipino veterans legislation.

To get around the Republican objections, the House approved legislation that would make one time, lump sum payments to the Filipino veterans. The payments would be $9,000 to Filipino veterans who are not U.S. citizens and $15,000 to those who have gained U.S. citizenship.

The Senate did not consider the bill, which passed near the end of the session.

Burr told several Filipino veterans this month at Davidson College in North Carolina that he would be willing to talk with Akaka about a more limited pension for the Filipino veterans in the next Congress, which convenes in January.

"If we can come to an agreement on that, we could have an accelerated process to have a bill passed," Burr said in a YouTube video posted by the Filipino veterans.

Chris Walker, spokesman for Burr, said the senator has always been willing to work with Akaka on the issue.

"I don't think there has been any change in terms of Sen. Burr's position," Walker said. "He has always been willing to meet with Sen. Akaka on this and work on this issue."

Akaka wrote to Burr this week saying he would like to hear from him on the level of pension he would be willing to support.

"The veterans waiting for passage of the equity provisions in (the bill) are not someone else's veterans — they are our veterans," Akaka said in the letter. "I am willing to negotiate the extent of those benefits with you if you are prepared to recognize them as U.S. veterans."

Akaka said that if he and Burr could reach an agreement on a compromise benefits package, something might be done in the lame-duck session.

"If nothing happens, I plan to introduce the (Filipino) provisions early in the next Congress," he said.

But Eric Lachica, executive director of the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, said they were still optimistic that the Filipino veterans bill could be passed in the lame-duck session.