Representative Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) has announced the launch of the CD8 Congressional Civics Initiative, a program designed to promote high school civic literacy and academic excellence.
The program builds on an existing educational requirement in Arizona: for high schoolers to graduate, they must pass the Arizona Civics Test, which also applies to High School Equivalency Diplomas.
The Arizona Civics Test is a 100-question multiple-choice exam modeled after the Civics portion of the Naturalization Test published by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and, as of 2026, requires a score of 70/100 to pass.
Put simply, the CD8 Congressional Civics Initiative allows students who score 95 or higher on the Civics Test to be formally recognized by Rep. Hamadeh and to be eligible for all students enrolled in public, charter, private, and homeschool institutions.
"I firmly believe that preserving the strength of our Republic begins with educating the next generation about the Constitution, the principles of liberty, and the responsibilities of citizenship," Rep. Hamadeh said in a press release. "With graduation fast approaching, I want to make sure that our high school students are aware of this opportunity earn congressional recognition for their accomplishment."
The Arizona congressman's previous excursions into education policy include the reintroduction of the bipartisan Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act last March, which would expand veterans' access to the Edith Nourse Rogers scholarship, which helps eligible veterans pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees through the Post-9/11 GI Bill via $30,000 (up to 9 months of additional benefits) for training in such fields, and lift the requirement that veterans be within 6 months of exhausting their benefits before they can apply.
"In light of the fact that 3,500 Veterans have used the scholarship to continue pursuing their degrees in STEM fields in just the last three years, the need to modify the requirements was obvious," Hamadeh previously said. "Because we need more STEM professionals for our workforce, it only makes sense to facilitate Veterans' entry into the workforce."
