House Adopts Bilirakis Amendment to NDAA to Improve Travel for Disabled Veterans

Press Release

Today the House of Representatives approved a proposal by Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would allow access to the Department of Defense's Space Available Program for veterans with a service-connected disability rated as total.

"I am extremely pleased to see my legislation included in the NDAA this year. The Space Available Program allows active duty military and their families, as well as some retired members of the armed services to travel on military aircraft if space is available. My legislation would allow 100 percent service-disabled veterans the same opportunity, at no additional cost to the Department of Defense." Bilirakis said. "These service-disabled veterans deserve the opportunity to participate in the Space Available Program, and passage of my amendment is a step in the right direction."

The amendment closely resembled H.R. 164, which was originally introduced as stand-alone legislation in January of 2013. H.R. 164 has 229 cosponsors, and was also agreed to as an amendment in last year's NDAA.

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