As the United States pauses this weekend to honor the American worker, I want to add my thanks to the operators, the pilots, the mechanics, the dispatchers, the administrative staff — all the people who keep the helicopters flying and make the helicopter industry so vital and alive.

Next week, as we all return to work, we need to keep those who have served their country and now want to join our industry in mind.

Congress returns to legislative work next week as well and has a lot of big-ticket business and contentious issues to attend to before the end of the fiscal year on September 30. America’s military veterans who want to join the civilian helicopter industry could get trampled in the rush unless we, the helicopter industry, work very hard to remind Congress to keep the promises it made to veterans on behalf of the American people in the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Earlier this year, the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on economic opportunities pushed a bill that would cap VA benefits for flight training at public universities, virtually making it a practical financial impossibility for a veteran to earn the commercial licenses necessary for employment using his or her VA benefits. This bill passed out of the subcommittee and committee, and could be headed to the House floor for a vote in the next few weeks. A ROTOR magazine article outlined the scope of the issue.

Through no fault of their own, deserving young men and women who have sacrificed for their country now find themselves with broken dreams, unable to attain their career goal as a commercial helicopter pilot.

I urge you, don’t expect the rest of the industry to carry the water and fight this battle in Washington. Many congressional offices have told HAI they just haven’t heard from many veterans or pilots about this issue. Our voices need to be heard, and only you can help in this regard.

Pick up the phone or send an email. Contact your elected representative and senators, and tell them that the language capping VA flight training benefits must be stripped from H.R. 475, the GI Bill Processing Improvement Act of 2015.

Contact information for your elected members of Congress may be found at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

Don’t neglect your duty to stand up for what is right. Today, it’s a veterans benefit. Tomorrow, it could be something you’ve earned that will be taken away.