Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2591, the Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025, a bill that would modernize the Federal Aviation Administration's outdated policies and remove barriers to lifesaving mental health care for the aviation workforce.

As we continue to navigate the aftermath of traffic aviation accidents and harrowing near misses across this country, we must support the mental health of the dedicated women and men on the front lines of ensuring the traveling public reaches their final destination safely every day.

For far too long, many aviation professionals suffer in silence. That silence is because of the fear that disclosing a mental health diagnosis or treatment could derail their careers, possibly ending it.

Many of us in Congress have heard from our constituents about the FAA's difficult aeromedical process. We have spoken to overworked air traffic controllers about the consequence of mounting job pressures. We have seen qualified airline pilots grounded for months, in some cases even years, due to delays with FAA medical clearance reviews.

With the 2024 FAA reauthorization as a blueprint, the Mental Health in Aviation Act will do several things.

It will direct the FAA to annually review and update its mental health-related policies for pilots and air traffic controllers, in consultation with key stakeholders.

It requires the agency to implement recommendations from the aviation workforce mental health task group established under the 2024 FAA reauthorization law.

It will make significant, robust investments in the FAA's recruitment and training of aviation medical examiners, particularly those with mental health expertise.

Finally, this legislation will establish a public information campaign to help destigmatize mental health in U.S. aviation, among other key reforms.

The FAA's mental health protocols must evolve to foster an environment where the aviation workforce feels supported to seek the resources and care that they need, and the Mental Health in Aviation Act will do just that.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Casten, Stauber, and Mann for their leadership on this, as well as their staff for their hard work on this important issue.

H.R. 2591 was unanimously approved in the T&I Committee in June, and it is endorsed by several key stakeholders, including U.S. airlines, air traffic controllers and pilot unions, the general aviation and business aviation industries, first responders, and many others.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join us to support H.R. 2591, and I urge the Senate to quickly take up this bill to help provide the resources our aviation workforce desperately needs and deserves. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Casten).

Mr. Speaker, I support the Mental Health in Aviation Act, and I recommend my colleagues do the same. It is an important piece of legislation that will work to better the lives and better the safety of our aerospace professionals.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2591) to require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to revise regulations for certain individuals carrying out aviation activities who disclose a mental health diagnosis or condition, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record on H.R. 2591, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2591, the Mental Health in Aviation Act.

I thank Mr. Casten, Mr. Stauber, Ranking Member Larsen, and Mr. Mann for their work on this legislation and leadership on this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, one in four Americans today deal with mental health challenges over the course of their lifetime. We need to make sure pilots get the help they need and still keep flying.

This legislation is intended to reduce the barriers preventing pilots, air traffic controllers, and other aviation professionals from reporting and seeking mental health care.

The bill builds on the bipartisan work of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from last Congress to hold the Federal Aviation Administration accountable to Congress

and the Aeromedical Innovation and Modernization Working Group that we created in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.

Additionally, H.R. 2591 requires the FAA to annually review the process of mental health-related special issuances for pilots and air traffic controllers and strengthen the hiring of medical examiners to clear the backlog of special issuance requests.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, mental health issues are often underreported, and many times those who do not report an issue face difficulty accessing care because of burdensome regulations and lengthy wait times for aviation professionals to return back to work.

H.R. 2591 encourages and enables aviation professionals to report and access critical mental health care. Additionally, this bill will strengthen the FAA's hiring of medical examiners to help clear the backlog of special issuance requests.

As you heard today, Mr. Speaker, this bill will keep pilots flying, air traffic controllers working, and airspace safe while getting people the help that they need.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bipartisan Mental Health in Aviation Act, which I introduced with my friend, Mr. Stauber, from Minnesota.

I thank Congressman Stauber as well as Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Larsen for all of their support and close collaboration on this bill.

Today, pilots and air traffic controllers who seek mental health care are unfairly penalized by a system that perpetuates a culture of silence. Current regulations mandate that if they seek care, then they are immediately grounded for a minimum of 6 months, and then they are still faced with delays, confusion, and overbroad regulation in the process of returning to work.

This often leaves the folks who are tasked with keeping our skies safe with an absolutely terrible choice, Mr. Speaker: Get help but put your career and your paycheck on hold, or keep your career on track and just hope you will get better.

It doesn't make our skies safer, but it does lead to horrible and avoidable tragedies.

It hit home for me when a Chicago family told me about their son who was studying to become a pilot, and he took his own life. He knew that he needed help, but he didn't want to be grounded. That young man would still be here today but for these regulations that gave him fear when he needed care.

Since working on this bill, I have heard too many nearly identical stories from pilots, students studying to be pilots, and air traffic controllers, their coworkers, and their families.

As many have mentioned, in December 2023, the FAA finally recognized the need to reform those current policies and established a committee to identify barriers to mental health care for aviators to present ways for the FAA to address those challenges. Their recommendations included limiting disclosure requirements for low-risk psychotherapy and expanding the use of existing peer-support programs, but it didn't mandate those changes, nor did it provide necessary implementation resources.

This bill finishes that job by requiring the FAA to implement those changes within 2 years, to regularly review and improve processes related to mental health, and to ensure the FAA can successfully implement and publicize those rules. This will

destigmatize mental health care to make our pilots healthier and our skies safer.

I am proud that this bipartisan legislation is widely supported in Congress and also by the aviation community, airlines, pilot unions, and air traffic controllers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it.

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.