H.R. 7613 - ALERT Act

...tion of other committees, we request that member, before he or she offers the amendment, have a letter from the respective committee chair indicating their waiver. Today the committee will mark up H.R. 7613, the Airspace Location Enhanced Risk Transparency Act of 2026, otherwise known as the ALERT Act. Today we are meeting to mark up the portion of the ALERT Act that's under HASC's jurisdiction. It is uncommon for HASC to mark up legislation outside of the NDAA. But this is critically needed legislation to improve aviation safety and it cannot wait. Last year's mid-air collision between Army helicopter and a passenger jet on approach to Reagan National should not have happened. The NTSB completed their investigation last month and their report included 13 recommendations to the Army and the Pentagon to ensure another tragedy like this never happens again. Title II of the ALERT Act carries out all 13 of those recommendations. In fact, the NTSB states that the bill before us not only meets their recommendation but in most cases exceeds them. For instance, the NTSB made several recommendations to the Army to improve its training and safety management system. The ALERT Act requires all the military services to make their safety improvements, not just the Army. The ALERT Act also addresses concerns raised by the Department of War with the bill that passed the Senate. The bill before us ensures our bombers, fighters, and other classified aircraft can continue to execute their critical national security missions without revealing their location to our adversaries. Improving aviation safety and protecting our national security are not mutually exclusive. By taking our time and following regular order, we have produced a bill that does both. I thank the NTSB and the Pentagon for working with us throughout this process. I also want to thank Chairman Graves and Ranking Members Larsen and Smith, as well as the staff on both committees for their hard work. Finally, I want to express my deepest condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of those lost in this terrible accident. I also want to thank the PAT 25 and the Flight 5342 families for their tireless efforts to ensure a tragedy like this never occurs again. Chair now recognizes my friend the ranking member for any opening statement he may have.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for your leadership on this and I too want to thank our colleagues in the Transportation Infrastructure Committee for working on this issue and the NTSB, and of course the families who dedicated the tragic experience to trying to figure out a solution to prevent it from happening again. I really appreciate their work on that. On January 29, 2025, 67 people died in a collision over the Potomac. I want to start by recognizing the families of the victims of this tragedy and extend our deepest condolences. This tragedy was 100 percent preventable. The collision highlighted systemic failures in how civilian and military aircraft operate in shared airspace and we have seen multiple incidents since that that further demonstrate a continued lack of coordination between the FAA and the Department of Defense. Congress must address these fundamental flaws in our national airspace system and ensure that what happened at DCA never happens again. And I really want to emphasize that point, the lack of cooperation between the FAA and the DOD is deeply troubling. Even after this incident, we had the situation in El Paso where the FAA shut down the airport, originally saying they were going to have to shut it down for 10 days with no explanation because again of a lack of coordination between DOD and the FAA, also in this case, the CBP got involved as well. Simply unacceptable. They have to work together. I understand the urgency of the military missions, but when they are operating in civilian airspace here in the United States, they also have to prioritize working with the FAA to deconflict. That coordination has got to get better. For the past several weeks, our committee has worked across the aisle to develop an updated version of the ALERT Act, which addresses recommendations from the NTSB their accident report. The portion of this legislation in the House Armed Services Committee's jurisdiction has one goal, to ensure that military operations do not create unnecessary risk at our national airspace. This legislation drives key changes in military flight operations. Unclassified and proficiency flights will no longer be allowed to operate without transmitting ADSB. ADSB out will be required on manned rotary aircraft in the national airspace, ADSB in will be required on all mobility and rotary aircraft, and all ADSB equipment and associated systems will be subject to regular inspections. The ALERT Act narrows the definition of special mission aircraft, closing the loophole that allowed routine flights by senior government officials and military officers to fly without ADSB transmitting. The bill also improves information sharing between the FAA and DOD, strengthens safety management systems and addresses other NTSB recommendations listed in the final report. I want to thank Chairwoman Homendy and the entire NTSB staff for identifying the root causes of the crash, providing meaningful and actionable recommendation and for coordinating with our committee as we worked on the ALERT Act. I again also want to thank the families who engaged in this process. What they have been through is something no family should ever have to experience. And the fact that they chose to channel that into making sure it doesn't happen to someone else, that means a great deal and should not go unrecognized. While our focus today is on the Department of Defense, the NTSB report exposed multiple FAA failures as well. I know our colleagues on Transportation Infrastructure Committee have worked to address those issues. I look forward to the outcome of their markup as well. Today is a meaningful step towards addressing the systemic issues that caused the devastating crash last year. This committee has an important oversight role going forward and I'm committed to seeing it through. We recognize this bill is not a complete solution to the problem. This is an ongoing thing where we need to exercise our oversight responsibility for DOD to make sure that all of these steps are followed through. I thank the chairman and with that I yield back.

I now call up H.R. 7613. I understand that a copy of the bill has been made available and distributed to member offices on Tuesday, March 24. Without objection the first reading of the bill is dispensed with. Without objection the bill shall be considered as read and open to amendment at any point. I have an amendment in the nature of a substitute. I understand that a copy has been made available and distributed to member offices on Tuesday, March 24. Without objection the amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read for purposes of amendment, shall be considered as original text for purposes of amendment and shall be open to amendment at any point. Is there any discussion on the amendment in the nature of a substitute or the underlying bill? Mr. Chairman. Mr. Keating.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We're here today because of a tragedy. A tragedy as we know that was sadly no surprise and one that could have and should have been averted. The data was there, the warning signs were there, the pattern was there. Since 1987 pilots have reported at least 30 near mid-air collisions at Reagan National Airport, many of them involving military aircraft and helicopters. And in just the few years, the numbers are even more striking. Between 2021 and 2024, the National Transportation Safety Board identified more than 15,000 near miss events at DCA, situations where aircraft came dangerously close to one another. Within that there were dozens of cases where aircraft were separated by just a fraction of what safety standards require. And this was not a one-time failure. This is a system sending repeated warnings. And the question before us is simple. Why did these warnings not lead to action? You know, in our country right now, for military practices, we do not need actual real airspace or real terrain spaces for exercises. For the mission that brought Osama bin Laden to justice, U.S. forces built a full scale replica of the compound and rehearsed operations over and over again, adjusting tactics, identifying risks, refining every detail of the execution. And more recently, the U.S. government extracted Nicolas Maduro and his wife from the presidential palace. Again, building replicas, target sites, simulating those missions. The mission succeeded in part because the risks were discovered before the operation, not during it. And that's the point. The goal of simulation is not to get better at reacting to danger, it's to ensure that you never encounter that danger in the first place in the real world. In fact, when simulation is done well, the need for high-risk real-world training runs should be minimized, not relied on. That's exactly the lesson we should take from what happened at DCA. We had the data, we had the near misses, thousands of them. And I believe this legislation will go a long way into changing that. It ensures that near misses are not treated as isolated incidents but as early warning signals. It requires the FAA to connect the dots across safety data and identify patterns before they escalate. And it creates accountability so that when risks are identified, they are acted on quickly and decisively. It allows us to identify problems in the data rather than in disaster. To correct the course before rather than after lives are lost. The ROTOR Act is also critically important. It addresses a specific and serious hazard, helicopter operations in congested airspace. And it must be brought to the floor again for action where given the chance it will undoubtedly pass. The data makes it clear. This is not just one issue, this is a pattern that was left unaddressed. I hope that when we see thousands of near misses and the goal of that should not be to get better analyzing the facts after 67 people have lost their lives but preventing it from happening in the first place. I thank you and I yield back.

Gentleman yields back. Is there further discussion? Conaway. Gentleman Mr. Conaway is recognized.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Smith. Among the many provisions of this bill, I am pleased to see updated requirements for collision prevention technology, specifically automatic dependent surveillance broadcast or ADSB out, which broadcasts an individual's position, altitude and other critical information as the default practice for all DOD rotary aircraft operating within the national airspace system. This bill also highlights exceptions to vital to protect the missions and the lives of the many who carry out sensitive national security missions. While these changes increase the safety of the airspace and make the necessary safety requirements for military aircraft in a way that balances our national security concerns, I want to ensure the proper oversight of the department and the president. That is why I am offering an amendment. Now I'm doing this too early, am I, to offer an amendment?

We haven't gotten to amendments yet. This is on the underlying bill. We're going to do en bloc amendments in just a second and then we'll recognize everybody who has an amendment in the en bloc package.

Then I apologize if I might just have a few extra minutes on the underlying bill.

Certainly, go ahead. Go ahead.

As everyone knows, on January 29, there was a devastating crash over the DCA airspace which included a person in my district. I want to respect the privacy of the individual and their family in keeping their name private, but I believe it is critical that we as a Congress and certainly as members of this committee take action to prevent further loss of life. This legislation closes gaps that were identified by the National Transportation Safety Board after the conclusion of its investigation and implements recommendations through increased training for flight crews, flight data monitoring and requirements for all military services to implement or update current safety management systems. Among its many provisions, I am pleased to see updated requirements for collision prevention technology, specifically the automatic dependent surveillance broadcast or ADSB out, which broadcasts an aircraft's position, altitude and other critical information as the default practice for all DOD rotary wing aircraft operating within the national airspace system. This bill also highlights exceptions to vital to protect the missions and the lives of those carrying out sensitive national security missions. While these changes increase the safety of the airspace and make necessary a safety requirements for military aircraft in a way that balances our national security concerns, I want to ensure proper oversight of the department and the president. That is why I am offering an amendment, which requires the president to submit an annual report to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees identifying the people designated by the president as any other individual under the special mission exclusion in this bill. This amendment requires transparency from the president to ensure the Congress is aware of how this exception is being utilized. This reporting requirement extends this transparency to any president, not just the current one. We owe to the families of those lost in this accident to ensure that we're conducting continuous oversight and implementing critical safety requirements that prevent another tragedy like this from occurring. Thank you and I reserve my time.

Do any other members wish to speak on the underlying bill, not the amendment package? Seeing none, we will now consider en bloc package number one. I ask unanimous consent to call up en bloc package number one consisting of amendments that have been worked and approved with the minority, without objection, so ordered. Will the clerk please distribute the en bloc amendment? Without objection, the amendments are considered as read. En bloc package number one is comprised of the following: Log 5694 by Representative Rogers, Log 5689 R1 by Representative Elfreth, Log 5690 by Representative Vindman, Log 5692 R2 by Representative Vindman, Log 5688 R1 by Representative Tokuda, Log 5691 by Representative Tokuda, Log 5693 R1 by Representative Conaway, Log 5695 R1 by Representative Sorensen. Is there further discussion on the en bloc package? Mr. Vindman.

Thank you, Chairman. Few events in recent memory have shaken the National Capital Region like the collision over the Potomac last January. And I know I speak for everyone on this committee when I say we were profoundly disturbed and saddened by what happened that night. In fact, first responders, fire from Prince William County, were on the scene within hours, first for a rescue operation, then a recovery in the icy water that January. So today's markup is a step toward making sure a crash like that never happens again. I've been heartened by this committee's willingness to engage its partners in good faith and produce a measure which includes meaningful safeguards to prevent future tragedies. In that vein, I am offering two amendments that I worked on with my friend, Representative Don Beyer, and I'm pleased that they were both included en bloc. One amendment adds a reporting provision requiring DOD to update Congress annually for three years on the number of training flights in the National Capital Region. This data will be critical for informing additional guardrails and to make sure that the reforms of the ALERT Act are working. My second amendment requires DOD to report on the adoption of live, virtual, constructive training. Modern simulation technology can satisfy many proficiency training objectives without putting aircraft into an already congested airspace, and to the degree that it makes sense, this technology could offer a path to reducing activity in the region. I thank everyone involved in crafting this bill. I thank Representative Beyer for his leadership in improving safety around DCA alongside my office, and I strongly urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the en bloc and for the final package. Thank you, and I yield back.

Gentleman yields back. Chair now recognizes Mr. Sorensen from Illinois.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to first begin to send my condolences to the loved ones of those that were lost aboard American 5342 and the Black Hawk. We must not let up until we know we've done everything to prevent this tragedy from happening again. Thank you, Chairman Rogers, to Ranking Member Smith and their teams for leading this effort to address the crash and strengthen aviation safety. I became a professional meteorologist partly because of the lessons that I learned as a kid as the weather was causing aviation disasters. And as the skies have become safer and safer, we must continue to work to make sure that we understand what happened in every situation to ensure safety and lower every identifiable risk. The Army has conducted a command investigation into the crash and has made recommendations. This is a very important step. My amendment would require the Army to share their investigation with us in Congress and their timeline for implementing those recommendations be fair. This amendment would also have the Army Inspector General ensure that the Army is implementing the recommendations and report back to Congress. That way, we can determine if there's anything more the Army should be doing. Congress is given a constitutionally mandated rule of oversight, which is why I believe that we all must ensure that all of the necessary changes are being made to protect any American who takes flight. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting Amendment 5695. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

Gentleman yields back. Chair now recognizes gentlelady from Maryland, Ms. Elfreth.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I also want to echo all of my colleagues' just deep gratitude for the families of the 67 people lost last January, 67 lives that were lost in a completely preventable accident. And I'm grateful to everybody here today, the committee staff, coming together and trying to find solutions on behalf of not just those 67 families, but all Americans. I also want to recognize a number of those lost were Marylanders. I also want to thank the Readiness Subcommittee for the closed-door briefing last week that we had. I think it was eye-opening for many of us to try to get answers to this very frustrating incident. And the result of what we're marking up today, I think, is a positive step in the right direction because even more than a year later, we are still learning new, really tragic pieces of that accident, including the fact that there were many near misses before and even a near miss almost immediately after this tragedy at Reagan with a Black Hawk. In the nine months following that DCA crash, there have been at least 59 near mid-air collisions nationally between commercial airplanes and other piloted aircraft at takeoff or landing. The amendment included in today's en bloc, and I want to thank the chair and the ranking member for including it, is very simple. It requires the Department of Defense to define what a near miss accident is, provide a timely notice to Congress when there are near miss incidents of a DOD aircraft, and then submit an annual report on such incidents in the National Capital Region where we know we have tremendously congested airspace. In this report, the DOD will be required to identify the cause of the near miss incident and, importantly, and this is so important, the modifications of standard operating procedures or policies to mitigate future risks. This is not just a check-the-box meeting between FAA and DOD. This is an honest gut check of what went wrong and how we can prevent it moving forward. This is a common-sense amendment that provides additional oversight and addresses these near miss incidents because if we don't properly learn from these incidents, we know that we may not get so lucky the next time. And when it comes to aviation safety, we simply cannot leave it up to luck. Again, I want to thank the families for their courage in continuing to advocate that this never happens to another family in this country and thank the committee staff for including this common-sense amendment in the en bloc, and I urge my colleagues to support the amendment. I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Gentlelady yields back. Chair now recognizes gentlelady from Hawaii, Ms. Tokuda.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We lost 67 people on January 29, 2025, a collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter, two aircraft that should have seen each other coming. Families expecting a safe landing that they never got. Every one of them should have made it home that night. The National Transportation Safety Board found that a contributing factor in the collision was, quote, "the limitations of traffic awareness and collision alerting systems on both aircrafts, which precluded effective alerting of the impending collision to the flight crews," end quote. Plainly, that means the systems meant to prevent this tragedy didn't do their job. That is why it is so important that this legislation would require aircraft to be equipped with and use technologies like Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, also known as ADS-B. It's life or death. Despite this essential step forward, it leaves the door open too wide, in my humble opinion. I am concerned about exceptions in the legislation that would allow the Department of Defense to turn off ADS-B, keeping it off, which broadcasts the location of a particular aircraft and, combined with other safety systems, enables automated collision avoidance alerts. The ANS we are marking up today is certainly an improvement from the introduced bill. The new text now restricts when the military can turn off ADS-B Out. However, it still allows for many exceptions, including classified flights. And while some of those may be necessary, out of respect for the families that lost loved ones in the January 25th disaster, we need to scrutinize these exceptions. We cannot let national security become a cover for risking human life. The truth is we don't know how many helicopters in that airspace would fly without this feature under this bill. Is it 50? Is it 500? Is it 5,000 flights per year? The department is required to implement mitigating measures when ADS-B Out is turned off, but we should seek to minimize the number of flights that aren't utilizing this important safety feature. My amendment would require the Department of Defense to report to Congress how many helicopter flights in congested airspaces, including within 30 miles of Washington National Airport, operated with ADS-B Out turned off and which exception was used. Congress must provide strong oversight over the department, and this reporting will help us better understand if this authority is being abused and used at a volume that possesses undue risk to travelers. I want to be absolutely clear. These exceptions to turning off ADS-B should be used very sparingly because every flight in congested airspace without location transmitting puts the public at risk, especially if risk mitigation measures fail. After the NTSB's report and the long litany of failures that resulted in this terrible and tragic loss of life, we must insist on verification and oversight so that Congress can hold the department accountable and take further action if necessary to reduce risk to the public. Thank you again, Mr. Chair and Ranking Member, for holding this hearing, for having these en bloc amendments to the families, our deepest sincerest mahalo for your courage to be here, your advocacy in the face of such loss. I urge all my colleagues to support this measure, and I yield back.

Gentlelady yields back. Is there any further discussion on the en bloc package? Seeing none, the question is on en bloc package number one. So many as are in favor will say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it, the amendment en bloc are agreed to. Are there any additional amendments to the amendment in the nature of a substitute?

Tab three. Tab three.

If there are no further amendments, the question is on agreeing to the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. So many as are in favor will say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, the amendment in the nature of a substitute is agreed to.

Recess until 11:00.

Yeah, we have some members who are in the T and I Committee that are still finishing up, so we are going to need to have a recorded vote on final passage. So to wait on them to complete their duties and get over here, we will recess until 11:00, at which time we will reconvene for the recorded vote on final passage. We are in recess.

Jason, you made it just in time.

We will now vote on reporting the bill favorably to the House. The chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Wittman, for the purpose of offering a motion.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the committee report the bill H.R. 7613 as amended favorably to the House.

Question is on the motion of the gentleman from Virginia. So many as are in favor will say aye. Aye. Those opposed, no. Quorum being present.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the committee report the bill H.R. 7613 as amended favorably to the House.

The question is on the motion of the gentleman from Virginia. So many as are in favor will say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, no. Quorum being present, the ayes have it. Chair calls for a recorded vote. Members will record their vote using the assigned electronic device. The chairman will be voting aye.

Ranking member will be voting aye as well.

Clerk will open the machine and the members will vote. Salud, you got to push the green button. [Laughter.] So we need to wipe it. Wipe it. We're going to have to... we lost members. All right. Are we going to do the unanimous consent now? Okay. We are going to need to... we had a member vote another member's machine by accident. [Laughter.] So we are going to need unanimous consent... we are going to need unanimous consent to agree that we record Mr. Carbajal as voting aye and Mr. Moulton as not being present. Without objection, so ordered. Now, have all members voted? Does any member need to change their vote? We are holding for just a few seconds for Mr. Courtney. You all can give him grief when he gets here for being late and holding you up, but we'll give him a few more seconds. Hey man, what happened? All right. I think we're going to have to UC. All right. We've lost members. I know I'm not revoting. We're not revoting. All right. We are having a technical issue with the recording machine and Mr. Courtney's machine is not working, nor is Mr. Fallon's, so I ask unanimous consent to recognize Mr. Fallon as voting yes, to Mr. Courtney's voting yes. Without objection, so ordered. Will the clerk record the vote and let us know the tally.

Mr. Chairman, the ayes are 53 and the nays are zero.

The ayes are 53, the nays are zero. The bill is recorded favorably. A quorum being present, the motion agreed to and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. Pursuant to clause two L of House Rule 11, all members are entitled to not less than two calendar days to file supplemental minority additional dissenting views in writing. I ask unanimous consent that staff be authorized to make necessary conforming technical and clerical changes to the bill as amended and to remove from the bill as amended provisions that would cause the bill to be referred to another committee or would result in additional direct spending. Without objection, so ordered. Finally, ask unanimous consent that the chairman be authorized to make such motions on the floor as are necessary to go to conference with the Senate on the bill H.R. 7613 or a similar Senate measure. With that, I thank you and we are adjourned.