Washington, DC – This week, President Biden signed into law the Veterans and Family Information Act (H.R. 2093), a bipartisan bill led by U.S. Representatives Young Kim (CA-39) and Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) to expand access to resources at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans and caretakers.
“For too long, many veterans and their caretakers who do not speak English as a first language have been forced to rely on others for assistance in understanding VA benefits they have earned,” saidRep. Kim, who represents nearly 27,000 U.S. veterans of diverse backgrounds. “The brave men and women who served in our nation’s uniform deserve the best care and to be able to understand the resources available to them. That is why I’m proud to right this wrong and expand VA resources so U.S. veterans are aware of and can access the benefits they have earned. I am grateful to Rep. Jeffries for joining me in this bipartisan effort to stand up for our veterans.”
“It is our duty to fully support our veterans regardless of the language they speak. Providing veterans and their caregivers information without the burden or delay of translation will empower them to best access the benefits earned through their service to our nation,” said Rep. Jeffries. “I applaud President Biden for signing this important bill into law and thank my colleague, Congresswoman Young Kim, for joining me in championing this bipartisan legislation.”
This bipartisan bill would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to make all of its fact sheets available in the ten most commonly spoken languages other than English in the United States, including Spanish and Tagalog, and to make these fact sheets available online. Approximately 2.4 million veterans are either foreign-born or children of immigrants.
The Veterans and Family Information Act passed the House on June 15, 2021 and the Senate on November 2, 2021.
Read the bill HERE.
