[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1344 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1344

    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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 21, 2013

 Ms. Gabbard (for herself, Mr. Joyce, and Mr. Richmond) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                                Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    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 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 provide expedited passenger screening services for severely 
injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or 
disabled veterans. 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 new employees and recurrent training for all employees who 
provide passenger screening services.
    ``(e) 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 following new item:

``44927. Expedited screening for severely injured or disabled members 
                            of the Armed Forces and severely injured or 
                            disabled veterans.''.
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