WASHINGTON – Following a letter sent last week from U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Josh Hawley (Mo.) to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the National Park Service has announced they will reinstate police escorts for American veterans traveling to Washington, D.C., as part of the Honor Flight Network. In their letter to Secretary Haaland, the senators noted that Missouri-based Honor Flights were denied vehicular escort services this year and urged the Secretary to reverse course.

"The Honor Flight program has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families,” said Blunt. “One of the incredible privileges of serving in Congress is being able to welcome veterans to the National Mall and thank them for their service. These memorials belong to the veterans they were built to honor. I’m glad the Department of Interior has reversed course and will resume police escorts to ensure Honor Flight travelers can get to their destinations safely and quickly. I would like to thank Honor Flight networks in Missouri and across the nation for bringing attention to this issue and working with us to get it resolved.”

"This is the right decision – these police escorts should have always remained in place,” said Hawley. “Our veterans are American heroes and they deserve the very best when visiting our nation’s capital."

Read the entire response from the National Park Service here.