{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=ff74e7e0-7a59-4403-9bfd-ed9c339494cf", "Heitkamp Announces Senate Passed Pilots Bill of Rights 2 Supporting General Aviation in ND", "2015-12-29", "2015", "2015-12", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a member of the Senate General Aviation Caucus, today announced the Senate unanimously passed bipartisan legislation she cosponsored which will support general aviation in North Dakota by making sure pilots are treated fairly and reducing burdensome requirements currently in place.\r\nThe Pilots Bill of Rights 2 will decrease unnecessary bureaucracy pilots currently face, cut costs, improve protections for pilots, and reform certain medical requirements. The bill had 70 cosponsors in the Senate. The House of Representatives needs to pass the bill before it goes to the President for his signature.\r\nGeneral aviation pilots in North Dakota understand the importance of safety while in flight, said Heitkamp. Yet for too long, pilots have faced onerous and costly rules, preventing them the fair treatment they deserve. This overwhelmingly bipartisan bill will reform many of these outdated regulations so they work better for pilots while still making sure safety is the top priority.\r\nDetails about the Pilots Bill of Rights 2:\r\n \r\nReforms the FAAs overly burdensome medical certification process by expanding an existing FAA medical standard to include more qualified, trained, general aviation pilots.\r\nOutlines specific requirements that pilots need to meet to qualify for the expanded medical standard, including completion of a medical education course every two years, self-certification by the pilot that they are being treated by their physician for any medical diagnosis that could impact their ability to fly, and the use of a checklist to guide the discussion between pilots and their physicians during a health examination, which must occur once every four years.\r\nEnhances the due process rights established in the first Pilots Bill of Rights by making sure airman have the right to appeal an FAA decision through a new, merit-based trial in Federal Court.\r\nIncreases transparency for airman subject to an investigation or enforcement action by requiring the FAA to articulate the specific activity under investigation to parties involved in the investigation and provides specific documentation relevant to its investigation.\r\nExpedites updates to the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) Improvement Program required in the first Pilots Bill of Rights and directs the FAA to include the effective duration of temporary flight restrictions in NOTAMs. This makes sure the most relevant and important information reaches the pilot prior to a flight taking place. The legislation also mandates that the FAA certify the accuracy of posted NOTAMs.\r\nMakes sure the accessibility of flight data, such as air traffic communication tapes and radar information produced by contract towers, and flight service stations and controller training programs, which gives certificate holders the ability to use this information to defend themselves during an enforcement action proceeding. \r\n \r\nThe bill builds on Heitkamps work to cut red tape in the federal government by making federal regulations more efficient and effective. In March, Heitkamp and Republican Senator James Lankfordof Oklahoma  who are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the management of federal regulations  launched their#CutRedTape Initiativeto gather stories about how federal regulations are impacting Americans across the country every day, and help make federal regulations work better for families and businesses by reducing waste, stopping backlogs, and cutting red tape.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=ff74e7e0-7a59-4403-9bfd-ed9c339494cf"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.515301875770092, "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"}