[Ohio-talk] Space available, HR 2264)

[Jordy Stringer]

Equal Access to Air Travel for Service-Disabled Veterans (HR 2264)

 

The Space Available Program unjustly denies 100 percent service-disabled
veterans the opportunity to participate.

 

One hundred percent service-disabled veterans are not entitled to air travel
privileges to which other members of the military have access. The Space
Available Program allows members of the active military, some family
members, Red Cross employees, and retired armed services members to travel
on military aircraft if space is available. However, members of the military
who were classified as 100 percent service disabled before September 23,
1996, do not qualify for this program because they are not considered
"retired."

 

This exclusion denies 100 percent service-disabled veterans discharged
before September 23, 1996, a privilege to which they would be entitled had
they not been disabled during service. Those service members who were
disabled during active duty and were medically discharged prior to September
23, 1996, did not have the chance to stay on active duty, to be classified
as "medically retired," or to fulfill the twenty years requirement to become
qualified for this program. These men and women have earned the right to
space-available travel just as others have because they sacrificed so much
for our country. 

 

Military aircraft are already equipped to accommodate passengers with
disabilities. Retired military personnel, their family members, and Red
Cross workers with disabilities are already permitted to use the Space
Available Program, and according to the AMC Space-Available Handbook &
FAQ's, "Every effort shall be made to transport passengers with disabilities
who are otherwise eligible to travel."[1] Therefore, permitting 100 percent
service-disabled veterans the opportunity to ride on military aircraft if
space is available will not cause any new burden to the program.

 

The National Defense Authorization Act provides the platform to achieve the
goal of this bill. In a letter dated November 3, 2015, Bob Dole, a decorated
World War II veteran and longtime Senate majority leader, urged Senator John
McCain, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services, to
incorporate this bill into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Indeed, the House of Representatives' version of NDAA for fiscal years 2014
and 2015 included the language of HR 2264.

 

Equal Access to Air Travel for Service-Disabled Veterans would: 

Provide travel privileges to all 100 percent service-disabled veterans. This
bill amends Title 10 of the United States Code to permit veterans who have a
service-connected, permanent disability rated as total to travel on military
aircraft in the same manner and to the same extent as retired members of the
Armed Forces.

 

 

HONOR OUR SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS:

 

PERMIT THEM TO USE THE SPACE AVAILABLE PROGRAM

 

Cosponsor HR 2264.

 

To cosponsor HR 2264 in the House of Representatives, contact:

 

Joe Millado, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Congressman Gus Bilirakis
(R-FL)

 

Phone: (202) 225-5755, Email: Joe.Millado at mail.house.gov

 

For more information, contact:

 

Rose Sloan, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the Blind

 

Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2441, Email: rsloan at nfb.org