As of the start of this year’s SUN ’n FUN, more than 21,000 letters to Congress in support of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 have been sent from EAA’s Rally Congress network by Experimental Aircraft Association members and other aviators.
That legislation includes the aeromedical reform language that is easily the No. 1 regulatory issue for pilots, according to EAA officials.
EAA and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) continue to lead the push for this legislation that, in addition to medical reform, contains many important legal and enforcement safeguards for aviators.
“All of those 21,000 letters are a terrific start. Those help our advocacy teams as we urge more lawmakers to become co-sponsors and commit support for this bipartisan bill,” said Sean Elliott, EAA’s vice president of advocacy and safety. “There’s an important step that each of you can take if you care about aviation, however. That’s making that personal contact with your federal lawmakers, whether through a phone call, personal letter, or conversation with the legislator or their staff. Those individual constituent contacts carry more weight than thousands of email messages.”
You can find contact information for your representative and senators through EAA’s Rally Congress website. If your local lawmakers have already signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, be sure to thank them. If they haven’t signed on yet, ask them to support their constituents who fly by backing H.R. 1062 (in the House) or S. 571 (in the Senate).
Your D.C. lawmakers will be in their home areas during the upcoming summer recesses. Many of them are at public venues, connecting with voters and constituents. Take advantage of those opportunities to make your voice heard.
“The Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 is a measure you have been demanding as an aviation community,” Elliott said. “However, it will take the help of every EAA member to get it passed. Don’t let the opportunity to connect with your local lawmaker pass you by.”