Helping Heroes Fly Act
Public Law 113–27
Helping Heroes Fly Act
27
113–27
Statute Compilation
United States House of Representatives
Office of the Legislative Counsel
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
GPO Statute Compilations USLM converter, version 20210527.1
2021-10-15
Helping Heroes Fly Act
10550
113
2013-08-09
Helping Heroes Fly Act
[(Public Law 113–27)]
[This law has not been amended]
[Currency: This publication is a compilation of the text of Public Law 113-27. It was last amended by the public law listed in the As Amended Through note above and below at the bottom of each page of the pdf version and reflects current law through the date of the enactment of the public law listed at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/comps/]
[Note: While this publication does not represent an official version of any Federal statute, substantial efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. The official version of Federal law is found in the United States Statutes at Large and in the United States Code. The legal effect to be given to the Statutes at Large and the United States Code is established by statute (1 U.S.C. 112, 204).]

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:
“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 identified by the Secretaries of Defense and Veteran Affairs 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 support and 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 and severely injured or disabled veterans through passenger screening. The process shall be designed to offer the individual private screening to the maximum extent practicable.
“(b)

Operations Center.
As part of the process 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 passenger screening prior to boarding a passenger aircraft operated by an air carrier or foreign air carrier in air transportation or intrastate air transportation.
“(c)

Protocols.
The Assistant Secretary shall—
“(1)
establish and publish protocols, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the organizations identified under subsection (a), 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 member or veteran, may contact the operations center maintained under subsection (b) and request the expedited passenger screening services described in subsection (a) for that member or veteran; and
“(2)
upon receipt of a request under paragraph (1), require the operations center to notify the appropriate Federal Security Director of the request for expedited passenger screening services, as described in subsection (a), for that 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 regularly provide the passenger screening services described in subsection (a).
“(e)

Rule of Construction.
Nothing in this section shall affect 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 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of this section. Each 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 the organizations identified under 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 subchapter I of chapter 449 of title 49, United States Code, 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.”
.