Honor Flight Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4812, the Honor Flight Act. This bill would improve the airport screening processes for veterans traveling to visit our war memorials by providing expedited and dignified passenger screening services.
I am pleased TSA is currently implementing the requirements outlined in this bill by working with the Honor Flight Network to expedite the screening process for veterans visiting war memorials here in Washington, D.C. Codifying this commonsense policy will ease airport access for our Nation's heroes, who have made incredible sacrifices and deserve our utmost respect.
Not only will this legislation help to simplify their passage through airports, it will also improve efficiency by freeing up TSA screeners to focus on real threats. This is a positive step for our veterans and ultimately our transportation and national security.
I would like to commend the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Richmond) for his work on this issue, as well as Chairman McCaul for moving this bill through the committee.
The Committee on Homeland Security has long advocated for less burdensome airport screening for our men and women in uniform and our veterans. In fact, this bill builds upon previous bipartisan legislation promoted by the committee and signed into law requiring TSA to provide expedited screening to Active Duty military traveling on official orders, as well as severely injured or disabled veterans and members of the Armed Forces.
Each and every day, we are humbled and inspired by the incredible sacrifices of all our veterans. This should serve as a powerful reminder of our duty to do all we can to honor the sacrifices they have made for our freedoms and treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, as we walk around our Nation's Capital and visit the numerous war memorials, we are reminded of the incredible sacrifices that have been made by our veterans over many decades. H.R. 4812 is a simple and commonsense way to recognize and honor those sacrifices.
Mr. Speaker, I again want to commend the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Richmond) for his work authoring this legislation. I am proud that we moved this forward in a bipartisan way. As the gentleman said earlier, this is not a political issue, this is not a partisan issue; this is an issue of right or wrong, and it is right for us to honor our veterans and it is right for us to expedite their travel when they visit Washington, D.C. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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