06-05-2025
Pfluger's ACES Act passes through the House
May 6—WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman August Pfluger's (TX-11) bipartisan, bicameral legislation seeking to lower military aviation cancer rates passed through the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 376-5. The Aviator Cancer Examination Study (ACES) Act directs the Secretary of the VA to study cancer incidences and mortality rates among aviators and aircrews who served in the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
The ACES Act was co-led in the House by Congressman and U.S. Navy veteran Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) and in the Senate by Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK), both veterans and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"As a former fighter pilot, I know firsthand the risks that airmen and women take every day when they step into the cockpit, and I've fought alongside the best this nation has to offer. But I have also stood in hospital rooms watching far too many of my brothers and sisters fight their toughest battles not in the air, but in the hospital room against cancer," Pfluger said in a statement. "The ACES Act is not just a bill — it's a lifeline for those who have already given so much for our freedom, and it's a message to every pilot who's ever put on a uniform to protect our skies that we will fight to protect them in return. The ACES Act has been my top priority in Congress since I was elected, and I am thrilled that after years of advocacy, this legislation has finally passed through the House, and I urge its swift passage in the Senate."
