Representative Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) has introduced a bipartisan bill cracking down on fraudsters posing as Veterans Affairs (VA) assistants.
Named the "Standardized Accreditation Information for Veteran Ease" (SAVE) Act, Rep. Hamadeh's bill improves the accrediting of individuals and organizations assisting veterans in filing benefits claims by requiring them to create and use a certification symbol for websites and other promotional materials and establishes civil penalties for those who misuse the symbol.
Therefore, the symbol allows veterans to more easily determine the legitimacy of groups or individuals assisting with claims and other VA services.
"I am proud to co-lead this bipartisan effort to ensure that Arizona's Veterans have access to accurate and up-to-date information so that they can file for the benefits they earned serving our country so selflessly," said Rep. Hamadeh in his press release, adding, "Veterans should not have to question whether or not the information provided by a government agency could put them at risk of fraudsters or unaccredited organizations that would take advantage of their need for assistance."
Representative Greg Stanton (D-AZ), the bill's cosponsor, described how the VA maintains a database of accredited attorneys, claims agents, and Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) representatives that is supposedly updated three times a week.
However, when his office called 100 of the phone numbers listed, less than half remained accredited or practicing.
Hamadeh's SAVE Act, therefore, streamlines the accrediting process through the symbol system.
The bill marks the freshman Arizona Congressman's third veterans-related bill in less than two weeks. At the beginning of March, he introduced the Veterans Readiness & Employment Transparency Act, which improves the Veterans Readiness & Employment program, and the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act a few days later.
All three bills are notably bipartisan. Representatives Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) and Hank Johnson (D-GA) cosponsored the Veteran Readiness & Employment Transparency Act, while Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) is the primary cosponsor of the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act.
