Congressman Tom Barrett of Michigan’s 7th District called on the House Armed Services Committee on Apr. 15 to include three pieces of legislation he is leading in the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Barrett focused on aviation safety reforms and restoring education benefits for servicemembers discharged over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The NDAA is an annual package that sets policy and funding levels for the U.S. military, making its contents significant for both national security and service personnel. Barrett said that while some elements of his proposals were already included in other legislation, further action was needed to ensure department-wide standards.
“I was proud to help advance the ALERT Act just this week, which took important steps to ensure that the tragic crash over the Potomac last year never happens again. But we cannot stop with just that one bill… While some aspects of my bills were included in the ALERT Act, I strongly urge the committee to incorporate them into the NDAA to set standards across the department,” Barrett said during his testimony.
Barrett also addressed education benefits for veterans who left service due to vaccine mandates: “During the COVID-19 mandate, many healthy, brave men and women who had made the commitment to continue serving our country were forced to choose between receiving the vaccine or being involuntarily discharged from service… That was wrong, we need to fix it, and we can do that.” His Patriots Over Politics Act would allow those separated between August 24, 2021, and January 10, 2023—who served at least six years—to transfer G.I. Bill benefits to their children if they lost eligibility because of these separations.
Barrett has introduced four aviation safety bills overall; one has been signed into law while two others—the Military ADS-B Out Loophole Act and Safety in Shared Skies Act—are under consideration for inclusion in this year’s NDAA. These measures aim respectively at preventing pilots from disabling aircraft tracking systems during non-sensitive missions and requiring regular testing of those systems every ninety days.
Provisions similar to Barrett’s initiatives have already passed as part of another measure—the Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency (ALERT) Act—which cleared the House recently and now moves forward in Congress.
