Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015

Floor Speech

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment, which would allow disabled veterans with service connected permanent disability rated as total to travel on military aircraft on a space-available basis.

The Space-Available program is administered by the Department of Defense (DOD), which allows active duty service members, their families, retirees and certain other individuals to fill empty seats on DOD flights.

Unfortunately, veterans who are 100 percent disabled do not qualify to participate in this program. My amendment will correct this unintentional oversight and provide equality to service members who were severely injured while serving their country honorably.

Had they not been medically discharged with a service connected disability in the line of duty, these veterans were likely to have served until retirement. At no fault of their own, these deserving individuals did not have the opportunity to continue their military careers. It is an injustice that they would be penalized from this benefit due to their bravery and valor.

I would also like to note that under current DOD guidelines for Air Transportation Eligibility, it states, ``Every effort shall be made to transport passengers with disabilities who are otherwise eligible to travel. Passenger service personnel and crew members shall provide assistance in loading, seating, and unloading the disabled passenger.'' There is already guidance in place to address passengers with disabilities, and my amendment will codify our commitment for their sacrifice.

This initiative has strong bi-partisan support, which has over 230 current cosponsors to the stand alone bill I introduced, H.R. 164. Moreover, this initiative has support in the Senate with the companion bill S. 346 offered by Senator Jon Tester from Montana.

While I was very pleased to see my amendment accepted in last year's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2014, it was unfortunate it was not accepted in the Senate process during consideration for the bill's passage.

The National Federation of the Blind has been very active in both the House and the Senate in its advocacy for our nations' disabled veterans. I submit a support letter for this amendment by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB).

While active duty members and their families will remain the primary beneficiaries of this program in order to assist them with the rigors of military life, my amendment simply allows these veterans the opportunity to fill available seats, a benefit I believe they have earned through their personal sacrifice.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to end the inequality for our nation's wounded warriors by voting in favor of my amendment. I thank the committees and their staff for their assistance through this process

National Federation of the Blind,
Baltimore, MD, May 19, 2014.
Subject: Support for H.R. 164
Hon. Gus M. Bilirakis,

House of Representatives, 2313 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Bilirakis: The National Federation of the Blind is the Nation's oldest and largest consumer group of blind Americans. We are composed of blind individuals who come from many different backgrounds, and we work to ensure that the concerns of all blind Americans are met.

Included in our organization is the National Association of Blinded Veterans. Recently these men and women who served our country brought to our attention a policy that we believe needs to be changed. The Space Available program is a program that allows a number of military personnel to fly on military transport planes if there is space remaining. This may include members of the Active Military, Family members of the Active Military, some components of Reserve Forces, individuals who are responding to emergency situations, such as the Red Cross, and retirees. We believe that individuals who have become disabled in the service of our country should be allowed to participate in this program.

Shortly after being made aware of this issue by blinded veterans, we learned that you introduced legislation to solve this problem in the last Congress. We are pleased that you reintroduced this legislation, H.R. 164, early in this session of Congress. The National Federation of the Blind stands firmly in support of this legislation, and will dedicate our support and our efforts to ensure its passage in this session of Congress.

Last June, thanks to your leadership, the United States House of Representatives voted to include this language in the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act. Unfortunately our Senate companion amendment was not allowed to be considered during Senate consideration in December. We appreciate the support shown by the House of Representatives, and urge the House to continue to fight for Service Disabled Veterans, by joining with you to include this language in the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.

We thank you for your leadership to support these men and women who have given service to defend our rights, and we now join with you to defend their rights to participate in the Space Available program.

John G. Paré, Jr.,

Executive Director for
Advocacy and Policy.

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