[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2506 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2506

 To direct the Secretary of Defense to ensure the members of the Armed 
     Forces receive mandatory hearing screenings before and after 
deployments and to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to mandate 
 that tinnitus be listed as a mandatory condition for treatment by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs Auditory Centers of Excellence and that 
    research on the preventing, treating, and curing of tinnitus be 
                               conducted.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 2009

  Mr. Teague introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on 
   Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Defense to ensure the members of the Armed 
     Forces receive mandatory hearing screenings before and after 
deployments and to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to mandate 
 that tinnitus be listed as a mandatory condition for treatment by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs Auditory Centers of Excellence and that 
    research on the preventing, treating, and curing of tinnitus be 
                               conducted.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Hearing and Assessment 
Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that tinnitus is one of the leading 
service-connected disability issues that is not being addressed.

SEC. 3. MANDATORY HEARING EVALUATIONS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

    The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that each member of the Armed 
Forces receives a hearing evaluation that includes a screening for 
tinnitus before the member is deployed and after the member returns 
from a deployment.

SEC. 4. RESEARCH AND TREATMENT OF TINNITUS BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS.

    (a) Recognition.--The Secretary of Veterans affairs shall recognize 
tinnitus as a mandatory condition for research and treatment by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs Auditory Centers of Excellence.
    (b) Research.--The Secretary for Veterans Affairs shall ensure that 
research is conducted at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities on 
the prevention, treatment, and curing of tinnitus.
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