OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Tommy Hardin, R-Madill, today released the following statement commenting on the future of veterans within Oklahoma.“I want to thank the people of House District 49 for allowing me to serve as their state representative for 12 years. It has indeed been an honor.I am, however, troubled by the events of the last few weeks. When I was campaigning for office 12 years ago, our state was a national embarrassment because we had veterans dying and being abused in our care.We have since come a long way as a state, and it has been a privilege to serve on the House Veterans and Military Affairs Committee for 10 of my 12 years and serve as Chairman for six years. Working with the Oklahoma Veterans Council and the Commissioners of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, the Legislature has taken great strides for Oklahoma to now be recognized as the number one state in the nation for the care of our disabled veterans. It was hard work and we didn’t always agree, but we worked together to get where we are today.That is why I am disappointed in the actions that have occurred recently with the firing of our commissioners in what appears to be political retaliation. Apparently, we are now heading in a new direction and it doesn’t matter how we have achieved number one status. I know of no one in any veterans organizations, the Oklahoma Veterans Council or the Legislature that have been consulted on this new direction.I guess that’s what happens when you elect a chief executive officer instead of a governor.”
Hardin served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves as an Air Traffic Controller from 1979 to 1985. He completed boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina, before transferring to the Memphis Naval Air Station in Tennessee and later transferred to the Dallas Naval Air Station. He was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2010 and is an active member of the bicameral Legislative Veterans Caucus.
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