Congress of the United States
Mugshington, DE 20515
March 16,2022
“The Honorable Deb Hasland
Secretary
US, Department ofthe Interior
1849 C Steet, NW.
‘Washington, D.C. 20240
ear Secretary Hasland,
‘We write today concerning the Honor Flight Network (Honor Fight) and ther ability fo use the National
Park Service's United States Park Police (USPP) vehicular stort services Veterans inthe United States
deserve the highest respect fom ou atin, Honoe Flight should maintain access to this service
‘As you know, Honor Flight isa national network of Hubs that sponsors trp for veterans to vist
‘Washington, D.C. Ourntion’s heroes have the opportunity during the trip to view all the war memorials,
in our nation’s capital that are dedicated to their service and striie. Honor light typically pays the
USPP to provide esort services during the day of the war memorial tour. This allows the veterans,
including those with dsabiltes, ose all the war memorials during their allocated time in Washington,
De.
However, the USPP recently contacted Honor Flight to inform them that their vehicular escort services|
reno longer available fr any Honor Plight Hub visiting the war memorials. We ae told this is because
‘the Department of Introe as not explicitly given permission to the USPP to do so. Thies very
concerning and disappointing for our veteran constituents who look forward tothe trip to D.C.
COVID-19 restrictions have ben ited across the country and in Washington, D.C, and many Americans
ace looking forward to resuming recreational tavel. The Honor Fight ips area once in lifetime
experience for some veterans. We respetflly ask tht you provide an explanation regarding specific
actions that need tobe taken to resume immediately the USPP's ability to provide Honor Figs
vehicular escort
‘Im adition, since the Forda Hub is scheduled to visit this spring, we stand ready in Congress to elp
reinstate the USPP's escort services should Congressional action be necessary. The escort service is
critial to ensuring the veterans participating in the Honor Fight rip receive the fll experince they have
famed, We appreciate your attention to this mater an look forward toa timely respons.
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Member of Congress