{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://casten.house.gov/media/press-releases/casten-applauds-bipartisan-senate-introduction-of-pilot-mental-health-bills", "Casten Applauds Bipartisan Senate Introduction of Pilot Mental Health Bills", "2025-11-25", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "House", "IL", "Sean Casten", "C001117", "casten.house.gov", "casten", "https://casten.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) applauded the bipartisan Senate introduction of the Mental Health in Aviation Act and the Aviation Medication Transparency Act by Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).\n\n\u201cEnsuring pilots and aviators have access to mental health care makes our skies safer,\u201d said Rep. Sean Casten. \u201cThe current outdated system perpetuates a culture of silence and unfairly penalizes aviators who seek care. I applaud Senators Hoeven and Duckworth for their leadership in introducing the Senate companions for two bills that rectify this issue and ensure those who need help can get it.\u201d\n\nRep. Casten and Rep. Pete Stauber (MN-08) introduced the Mental Health in Aviation Act and the Aviation Medication Transparency Act in the House of Representatives in April. Reps. Casten and Stauber unanimously passed the Mental Health in Aviation Act through the House on September 8, 2025.\n\nRep. Casten began working on the issue after local families approached him with stories of losing adult children in flight school to suicide. In one case, the student pilot expressed how seeking mental health care could jeopardize his dreams of becoming a pilot.\n\nMental Health in Aviation Act\n\nCurrently, pilots and air traffic controllers who seek mental health care are unfairly penalized by a system that perpetuates a culture of silence. 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 overbroad regulation in the process of returning 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.\n\nIn December 2023, the FAA recognized the need to reform its current policies and established the Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to identify barriers to mental health care for aviators and present recommendations to the FAA to address these challenges. The ARC coalesced around a list of 24 recommendations to eliminate key barriers to care while upholding safety standards.\n\nThe Mental Health in Aviation Act requires the FAA to take the following steps:\n\nRegulations for Individuals Carrying Out Aviation Activities\n\nDirects the FAA to revise regulations based on recommendations from the FAA\u2019s mental health task group that was established in the FAA Reauthorization of 2024 to encourage early disclosure and treatment of mental health conditions without fear of losing one\u2019s career.\n\nRequires the FAA to consult with a broad range of stakeholders, including academic institutions conducting aviation training and mental health professionals, to ensure that future policies reflect current clinical standards and aviation workforce realities.\n\nAnnual Review of Mental Health Special Issuance Process\n\nRequires the FAA to annually review and update processes related to the special issuance process for FAA medical certificates for pilots and air traffic controllers.\n\nRequires the FAA to annually review the classification and use of medications, and to improve mental health knowledge and training provided to Aviation Medical Examiners.\n\nAuthorization of Appropriation for Additional Medical Examiners\n\nAllocates $15 million annually (FY2026\u2013FY2029) to recruit and train additional aviation medical examiners (AMEs) and human intervention motivation study (HIMS) trained AME\u2019s, including psychiatrists, to increase oversight and process certification reviews more efficiently.\n\nPublic Information Campaign\n\nAllocates $1.5 million annually (FY2026\u2013FY2029) for a public information campaign to reduce the stigma around mental health care in aviation, and to encourage pilots and air traffic controllers to seek necessary mental health treatment.\n\nText of the House version of the Mental Health in Aviation Act can be found here.\n\nAviation Medication Transparency Act\n\nCurrently, the FAA provides Aviation Medical Examiners with specific guidance on medications that are safe for aviators and those that necessitate grounding for various periods. However, this crucial information is not made accessible to pilots, non-aeromedical physicians, or air traffic Controllers.\n\nAs a result, an aviator may unknowingly take prescription medications that could potentially jeopardize their career. If both the aviator and their physician had access to information regarding permissible medications, they could opt for similar medications that would not pose such risks. To make sure pilots and air traffic controllers have full information, the Aviation Medication Transparency Act requires the publication of a list of approved medications. Further, this bill requires that the FAA:\n\nPublish and maintain this list of medications that are safe for pilots and air traffic controllers to take while working within one year of enactment.\n\nMaintain this list in consultation with various stakeholders\n\nEnsure that this list is comprehensive and drafted in a user-friendly and accessible manner.\n\nIndicate what, if any, period of time aviators must have limited duties while taking this medication\n\nIndicate a list of medications that the FAA has designated as \u201cDo Not Issue\u201d\n\nInclude any other clarifications it deems necessary\n\nUpdate this list annually\n\nInclude a mechanism for doctors to seek information from the FAA should they have any questions\n\nText of the Aviation Medication Transparency Act can be found here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://casten.house.gov/media/press-releases/casten-applauds-bipartisan-senate-introduction-of-pilot-mental-health-bills"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9311290234327316, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}