S. 1403 — Introduced in Senate

II 113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1403 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 31, 2013 Mr. Pryor (for himself and Ms. Ayotte) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration) to facilitate the screening of severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans at airports, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Helping Heroes Fly Act. 2. Facilitation of passenger screening 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: 44927. Facilitation of passenger screening for severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans (a) Passenger screening The Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration), in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and organizations described in subsection (b), shall develop and implement a process to support severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans during, and to facilitate the movement of such members and veterans through, the screening of passengers before boarding passenger aircraft required by section 44901(a) (in this section referred to as passenger screening). The process required under this subsection shall include offering private screening for such members and veterans to the maximum extent practicable. (b) Organizations described Organizations described in this subsection are organizations identified by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that advocate on behalf of severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans. (c) Operations center As part of the process required under subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary shall maintain an operations center to provide support for severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans during, and to facilitate the movement of such members and veterans through, passenger screening. (d) Protocols The Assistant Secretary shall— (1) establish and publish protocols, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and organizations described in subsection (b), 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 (c) and request support during and facilitation of passenger screening for the member or veteran; and (2) upon receipt of such a request, require the operations center to notify the appropriate Federal Security Director of the request. (e) Training The Assistant Secretary shall integrate training on the protocols established under subsection (c) into the training provided to all employees who will regularly conduct passenger screening. (f) 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 or a severely injured or disabled veteran if intelligence, law enforcement, or other information indicates that additional screening is necessary. (g) 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 described in subsection (b). (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. Facilitation of passenger screening for severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans. .