[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1344 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1344
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 22, 2013
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Assistant
Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration)
to provide expedited air passenger screening to severely injured or
disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled
veterans, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Helping Heroes Fly Act''.
SEC. 2. OPERATIONS CENTER PROGRAM FOR SEVERELY INJURED OR DISABLED
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND SEVERELY INJURED OR
DISABLED VETERANS.
(a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 449 of title 49, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 44927. Expedited screening for severely injured or disabled
members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or
disabled veterans
``(a) Passenger Screening.--The Assistant Secretary, in
consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, and organizations that advocate on behalf of members of the
Armed Forces and veterans, including organizations that advocate on
behalf of severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and
severely injured or disabled veterans, shall develop and implement a
process to facilitate the ease of travel and to the extent possible
provide expedited passenger screening services for severely injured or
disabled members of the Armed Forces, severely injured or disabled
veterans, and their accompanying family members or nonmedical
attendants. Such process shall be designed to protect the privacy of
the individual being screened to the maximum extent practicable.
``(b) Operations Center.--As part of the process required under
subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary shall maintain an operations
center to provide support and facilitate the movement of severely
injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or
disabled veterans through screening prior to boarding a passenger
aircraft operated by an air carrier or foreign air carrier in air
transportation or intrastate air transportation. Such operations center
shall be operational at all times.
``(c) Protocols.--The Assistant Secretary shall--
``(1) establish and publish protocols, in consultation with
the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs,
and organizations that advocate on behalf of members of the
Armed Forces and veterans, including organizations that
advocate on behalf of severely injured or disabled members of
the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans,
under which a severely injured or disabled member of the Armed
Forces or severely injured or disabled veteran, or the family
member or other representative of such a member or veteran, may
contact the operations center maintained under subsection (b)
and request expedited screening services described in
subsection (a) for the member or veteran; and
``(2) upon receipt of such a request, require such
operations center to notify the appropriate Federal security
director of the request to facilitate the expedited passenger
screening services described in subsection (a) for the member
or veteran.
``(d) Training.--The Assistant Secretary shall integrate training
on the protocols established under subsection (c) into the training
provided to all employees who will provide the screening services
described in subsection (a).
``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section affects the
authority of the Assistant Secretary to require additional screening of
a severely injured or disabled member of the Armed Forces, a severely
injured or disabled veteran, or their accompanying family members or
nonmedical attendants, if intelligence, law enforcement, or other
information indicates that additional screening is necessary.
``(f) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Assistant
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of
this section. Each such report shall include each of the following:
``(1) Information on the training provided under subsection
(d).
``(2) Information on the consultations between the
Assistant Secretary and organizations that advocate on behalf
of members of the Armed Forces and veterans as described in
subsection (a).
``(3) The number of people who accessed the operations
center during the period covered by the report.
``(4) Such other information as the Assistant Secretary
determines is appropriate.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
44926 the following new item:
``44927. Expedited screening for severely injured or disabled members
of the Armed Forces and severely injured or
disabled veterans.''.
Passed the House of Representatives May 21, 2013.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.