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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1344 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.1344

                     One Hundred Thirteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
           the third day of January, two thousand and thirteen

                                 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.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
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