Volunteer Pilot Organization Protection Act of 2006

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1871) to provide liability protection to nonprofit volunteer pilot organizations flying for public benefit and to the pilots and staff of such organizations, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1871 currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1871, the Volunteer Pilot Organization Protection Act. This bill is narrowly tailored to correct specific liability exposure for volunteer and nonprofit activities.

In 1997, Congress passed the Volunteer Protection Act to shield volunteers from liability from some forms of negligence in response to concerns that America's lawsuit culture was inhibiting this country's rich tradition of volunteerism. However, that act does not protect volunteers who operate an automobile, vessel or aircraft, nor does it protect the organizations that coordinate the volunteers.

There are approximately 30 separate volunteer pilot organizations flying for the public benefit, the largest of which function together as Angel Flight America. These organizations coordinate almost 8,000 volunteer pilots, who fly anywhere from one to 50 volunteer missions a year, all at their own personal expense. These pilots conduct

public benefit aviation, which includes activities ranging from environmental observation, wilderness rescue, delivery of medical supplies and organs, and transport of medical patients. In the area of medical patient transport alone, volunteer pilot organizations provided free, long-distance transportation to over 40,000 patients and their escorts in 2003.

As beneficial as these groups are in the normal course, they are crucial in times of crisis. For example, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Angel Flight America, through its role with the Homeland Security Emergency Air Transportation System, flew over 500 missions in the first week after the storm, bringing in emergency workers, agency staff, volunteers, and supplies.

These volunteer pilots also flew high-risk individuals to safer locations, and once there assisted groups such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in reuniting parents and children separated in the evacuation of New Orleans. Overall, Angel Flight America coordinated over 2,200 flights in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, second only to the United States military.

Despite the invaluable services they provide, these groups are not protected from liability by the Volunteer Protection Act and face difficulty in obtaining the necessary insurance because of liability exposure fears. In many cases, the volunteer pilot organizations cannot obtain, at any cost, the type of liability insurance that they need. In addition, hospitals and other medical establishments are sometimes reluctant to refer patients to volunteer pilot medical transport services because of their own fear of liability exposure based upon the simple act of recommending needy patients to nonprofit volunteer pilots.

This legislation limits the liability exposure for volunteer pilots and organizations by bringing them within the scope of coverage of the Volunteer Protection Act. The legislation will not confer blanket immunity. Liability will attach for gross negligence or reckless, willful, or criminal misconduct. The bill would also have an added benefit of allowing hospitals, clinics and other organizations, including those organizations active in rescue operations like the American Red Cross, to refer needy patients for no-cost medical transport with less fear of their own liability exposure.

Further, the bill requires that the pilots purchase insurance in order to be covered by the liability protections.

I would also note that this bill contains two amendments that address specific concerns that were raised about earlier versions of this bill. The first amendment, which was adopted during the committee markup, ensures that the liability protections do not extend to anyone who engages in terrorist activities.

The second amendment, which was negotiated after the markup with Representative Scott of Virginia and Representative Drake, provides that volunteer pilots, who are required to carry insurance under the bill, can be liable up to the limits of that insurance. The pilots would not, however, be personally liable for any amounts above their insurance for simple negligence.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1871 will end the cycle of litigation and the threat of such litigation that has stifled the efforts of public-minded volunteer pilots who risk their lives to assist others. The bill is supported by a wide array of charitable organizations, including the American Red Cross, the National Organization For Rare Disorders, Angel Flight America, and the National Air Transportation Association.

In 2004, the House overwhelmingly passed similar legislation with the support of 385 Members. I would urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the author of the bill, the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Drake).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as much as I appreciate volunteer pilot organizations and the pilots, this bill creates a number of problems for me that I would like to bring to the attention of our membership, and it makes it difficult for me to support H.R. 1871.

If you didn't know that there was a Volunteer Protection Act already on the books, this would sound like something that is very important and very necessary. But there is, and H.R. 1871 undoes the balance achieved in the Volunteer Protection Act by exempting pilots and aircraft carriers from liability, and it applies not only to pilots but it applies to staff of an organization, mission coordinators, officers and directors of the volunteer pilot organizations, referring agencies, whether they are for profit or not for profit. And it would leave innocent victims without recourse in some situations by reducing the standard of care applicable to pilots.

It does nothing to tackle the real problem which is underlying in this bill. What is it? Well, it is that the insurance industry has failed to offer insurance to the volunteer pilot organizations and they can't get it. They can't get insurance. And so this measure flies in the face of already enacted law named the Volunteer Protection Act, which was passed 8 years ago and extending over five Congresses.

The Volunteer Protection Act, as opposed to this measure, was carefully deliberated and negotiated. But this measure before us wipes the slate clean by giving volunteer pilots protection from liability, despite the fact that the Volunteer Protection Act specifically excluded that category of volunteers from protection.

Under the Volunteer Protection Act, pilots and those operating aircraft were specifically left out of the liability exemption because of the highly dangerous nature of the activity and the fact that States already require these pilots to have insurance. The measure undoes that and exempts pilots from liability.

Moreover, it goes further than the Volunteer Protection Act by giving this exemption to not only the pilots but also to the staff, the mission coordinators and directors of the organizations and referring agencies. In the Volunteer Protection Act, Congress made sure it was only the volunteers being protected. We don't do that here.

Finally, as I have said, the real problem is with the insurance industry. Why won't they offer insurance to volunteer pilot organizations? Well, during the hearing of this legislation in the 108th Congress, it was suggested that these nonprofit volunteer pilot organizations need liability protection because they can't get insurance. If this is the case, why not have a bill that requires insurance agencies to offer insurance to these organizations? Why not that instead of in the reverse, exempting everyone almost under the sun from liability.

So what we are establishing here is a national policy specifically allowing certain pilots to operate their aircraft negligently and still escape liability. Thank goodness we haven't had any cases like this, but by immunizing both the negligent pilot and the organization that arranges and provides the transportation, this bill could leave victims of an air tragedy and their surviving families with no means of seeking compensation for their loss.

I hope that the House of Representatives will not turn its back on the victims of air tragedies, and I hope that none of them will occur. But for those reasons, I cannot support the passage of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, allow me to begin by thanking key individuals whose efforts brought this legislation to the floor today. First, let me thank Chairman Sensenbrenner for his diligence in moving this bill through the Committee on the Judiciary.

I would also like to thank Ed Boyer of Angel Flight America located in Virginia Beach for raising this important issue and whose vision will help hundreds of private citizens respond in time of crisis.

I would also like to thank my friend and colleague, Mr. Bobby Scott, for working with me to bring the best possible bill to the floor today.

Finally, allow me to thank Sarah Hamlett, who put in countless hours to make this bill a reality.

Today, we have an opportunity to take important action that will encourage the natural altruism and patriotism that Americans have repeatedly demonstrated in times of crisis.

In the past 5 years, our Nation has seen two great disasters, one at the

hands of terrorists and one at the hands of Mother Nature. In both cases, Americans responded with a tremendous outpouring of compassion, lending their time, skills and dollars to a range of charitable organizations.

In response to both 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, the thousands of civil aviators who make up Angel Flight America, stood ready to serve and, indeed, played a major role in the disaster response.

Flying over 150 missions following 9/11 and more than 2,200 missions in response to Katrina, these pilots led an aviation disaster response second only to that of the U.S. military.

But providing a coordinated aviation response during national emergencies is only a part of the underlying mission for most nonprofit volunteer organizations. Their most common mission is to provide emergency medical transportation services for needy families.

Each year, volunteer pilots transport hundreds of people with life- threatening illnesses thousands of miles in order to receive specialized medical attention, as well as transporting patients in remote locations who would otherwise be unable to receive care. Yet, despite the importance of their mission, these organizations have been left out of the Volunteer Protection Act in its current form.

This legislation addresses this mission by amending the Volunteer Protection Act to include organizations such as Angel Flight so they may continue to fulfill their mission and provide a critical service for needy families, seeking specialized medical attention.

It is important to note that I have worked closely with Congressman Scott to ensure that this legislation does not shield pilots from liability in instances of criminal misconduct or gross negligence.

Instead, this legislation provides nonprofit volunteer pilot organizations the security they need to grow and expand their mission to more parts of our country and provide a well-coordinated response in times of national emergencies.

I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important bipartisan legislation.