Answer based on context:

On January 9, 2008, Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. and Vice Gov. Marlyn Primicias-Agabas established an annual commemoration to honor the war veterans. The resolution named January 9 as Pangasinan Veterans' Day. In the 63rd anniversary of the Lingayen Gulf landings, President Fidel Ramos  appealed to U.S. President George W. Bush for 24,000 surviving war veterans, to pass two legislative bills pending since 1968 at the U.S. House of Representatives — the Filipino Veterans' Equity Act of 2006 and the Filipino Veterans' Equity of 2005 sponsored by former Senator Daniel Inouye.

How many years passed from 1968 that President Fidel Ramos appealed to Bush to pass two legislative bills?
40