Unhappy with Hamadeh despite support for veterans, responders

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OPINION — I read with great interest the recent letter extolling the virtues of Congressman Abe Hamadeh’s many services to the constituents of Congressional District 8.

The writer heaped well-deserved praise for supporting police and first responders as well as supporting veterans and this certainly does support the greater good of all CD 8.

What she fails to mention is that Hamadeh has voted every single time with the Trump administration regarding the cutting of SNAP benefits, Meals on Wheels and other vital social services. It’s as though he doesn’t realize that 30% of CD 8 is age 60-plus and 9% are below the poverty line … or he doesn’t care.

Also, what are the 600 cases his office has assisted in and what does the purported $2 million “returned to constituents” represent? The population of CD 8 is over 800,000. What about the remaining 799,400, 191,000 of whom are registered voters? They don’t even get a town hall meeting to hear their “representative” speak and listen to their concerns. It seems these 600 are very lucky or, possibly, Republican campaign donors.

The letter-writer’s focus on scolding the press to report Rep. Hamadeh’s accomplishments accurately seems incongruous within the context of the opinion pages of The Independent. No specific publication is mentioned nor any specific anti-Hamadeh reporting. Is the writer referring to social media?

Specifics would be helpful to put this opinion into context. A House representative’s main job is to represent and to do that effectively he/she must be available to the entire district, not to just the select .00075%. This is why I plan on supporting and voting for Bernadette Greene-Placentia.

Congressional District 8 includes parts of Glendale, Peoria, north Phoenix, Sun City, Sun City West and Surprise. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.