[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.