Abe Hamadeh Scores win in Fight to Enhance Veteran Readiness

Representative Abe Hamadeh's (R-AZ) Veteran Readiness & Employment Transparency Act passed the House of Representatives with near-unanimous support. He celebrated the vote by stating, "Our veterans deserve the benefits they have earned."

The bill, which Rep. Hamadeh introduced in March, improves the existing Veteran Readiness & Employment program by creating a new hotline system and requiring each regional office to hold Q&A sessions at every school under its jurisdiction.

In addition, vocational training extension waivers must be reported annually and approved or denied within 30 days of the initial request, a provision which Rep. Hamadeh included after veterans reported excessively long wait times, ranging from two weeks to five months.

The Arizona congressman previously referred to the program as "the Department of Veterans Affairs' best-kept secret" because "many veterans and campus administrators can't get the Department's help with the onerous application process—or even know where to begin."

More egregiously, he suggested that "Veterans are often ignored by their VR&E counselors – with no recourse, adding to often extreme wait times."

As a result, the bill overwhelmingly passed the House with 402 votes in favor and only two against, a feat which Hamadeh celebrated by saying that "in the past, unnecessary bureaucracy left many veterans with limited access to VR&E programs that help with job training, education, and employment accommodations, especially for those who were injured in the line of duty. Our veterans deserve the benefits they have earned."

"Our veterans did not delay when heeding the call of our nation, and I am grateful to my colleagues for recognizing that our nation cannot delay when our veterans call for assistance," he concluded.

The success of the Veteran Readiness & Employment Transparency Act comes on the heels of Hamadeh's successful push to include $7 million for police and veterans in Arizona, including a $500,00 grant for Arizona State University (ASU) to establish a veterans' legal assistance center.