From Politico:
By TAL KOPAN | 10/2/13 6:11 AM EDT Updated: 10/2/13 5:17 PM EDT
Sen. Ted Cruz apologized to Filipino veterans for his comments during his 21-hour long floor speech referencing the Bataan death march.
“I apologize for causing offense. I should not have said what I did,” Cruz (R-Texas) said to veterans and representatives of a Filipino veterans’ organization in a video posted Tuesday by the group.
At the end of his speech last week, Cruz wrapped up by acknowledging floor staff and individuals who worked during his speech, thanking “the men and women who have endured this — this Bataan death march.”
During World War II, the Japanese forced up to 100,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war in the Philippines to march 65 miles to a camp after the Battle of Bataan, enduring abuse and mistreatment with up to 10,000 dying or being killed along the way.
The National Federation of Filipino American Association condemned Cruz’s remarks, and the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans presented Cruz with a written demand for his public apology this week.
Cruz met in his office with a 93-year-old veteran and Bataan POW and other representatives from the group to discuss his remarks and legislation they wanted him to support.
After apologizing, the senator told the group that he was making the comments in the context of thanking those who had to endure his speech and work all night, not comparing his speech to the suffering endured by the soldiers in the march and camps. Still, he said, his comments were wrong.
“I understand that that comment caused offense, and I apologize and that was not my intention to do so,” Cruz said.
Cruz also spoke to the group about his own family history, including his father and aunt from Cuba who were imprisoned and tortured, his aunt “savagely.”
“I likewise come from a family that has experienced the atrocities that one man can inflict on the other,” Cruz said.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/1...01.html?hp=r23