Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, currently, pilots and air traffic controllers who seek mental health care are unfairly penalized. While aviation professionals are mandated to report if they seek mental health care, once they take that step, they are faced with delays, confusion, and broad regulations to return to work. This often means that relatively minor mental health concerns result in long wait times and derailed careers for safe and well-trained pilots and air traffic controllers.

If we don't change how we handle mental health in aviation, then we will exacerbate a culture of silence.

When I was a law enforcement officer, we, too, faced a culture of silence. During a shift, we would see the worst of humanity, and then we went home to our loved ones and pretended everything was okay. That is because if you didn't, Mr. Speaker, you thought you would come off as weak or unable to handle the job.

As a former police officer who required professional help after a specific call for service, I understand the importance of seeking help. It is not a sign of weakness.

Like law enforcement officers, our pilots and air traffic controllers cannot fear that their livelihoods are at stake for taking care of themselves. These efforts are what keep skies safe in the first place.

In December 2023, the FAA recognized the need to reform its current policies and established the Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee, or ARC, to identify barriers to mental health care for aviators and present recommendations to the FAA to address these challenges.

The implementation of these recommendations was directed in section 411 of the FAA reauthorization bill we passed last year. Unfortunately, there was no required timeline for implementation, which is why I have introduced legislation with Congressman Casten, the Mental Health in Aviation Act, to ensure the timely implementation of section 411.

We want our pilots to be at the top of their game, and taking care of their mental health is critical to achieving that goal.

Mr. Speaker, I want to personally thank my colleague and friend, Representative Casten of Illinois, for his tremendous and strong leadership on this piece of legislation, and I ask all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

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