[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2992 Engrossed in House (EH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2992

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To direct the Attorney General to develop crisis intervention training 
 tools for use by first responders related to interacting with persons 
   who have a traumatic brain injury, another form of acquired brain 
   injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder Law Enforcement Training Act'' or the ``TBI 
and PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, there were approximately 2.9 million traumatic 
        brain injury-related emergency department visits, 
        hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States in 2014.
            (2) Effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be short-
        term or long-term, and include impaired thinking or memory, 
        movement, vision or hearing, or emotional functioning, such as 
        personality changes or depression.
            (3) Currently, between 3.2 million and 5.3 million persons 
        are living with a TBI-related disability in the United States.
            (4) About 7 or 8 percent of Americans will experience post-
        traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in their lives, 
        and about 8 million adults have PTSD during the course of a 
        given year.
            (5) TBI and PTSD have been recognized as the signature 
        injuries of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
            (6) According to the Department of Defense, 383,000 men and 
        women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan sustained a brain injury 
        while in the line of duty between 2000 and 2018.
            (7) Approximately 13.5 percent of Operations Iraqi Freedom 
        and Enduring Freedom veterans screen positive for PTSD, 
        according to the Department of Veteran Affairs.
            (8) About 12 percent of Gulf War Veterans have PTSD in a 
        given year while about 30 percent of Vietnam Veterans have had 
        PTSD in their lifetime.
            (9) Physical signs of TBI can include motor impairment, 
        dizziness or poor balance, slurred speech, impaired depth 
        perception, or impaired verbal memory, while physical signs of 
        PTSD can include agitation, irritability, hostility, 
        hypervigilance, self-destructive behavior, fear, severe 
        anxiety, or mistrust.
            (10) Physical signs of TBI and PTSD often overlap with 
        physical signs of alcohol or drug impairment, which complicate 
        a first responder's ability to quickly and effectively identify 
        an individual's condition.

SEC. 3. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.

    Part HH of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10651 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 2991--
                    (A) in subsection (h)(1)(A), by inserting before 
                the period at the end the following: ``, including the 
                training developed under section 2993''; and
                    (B) in subsection (o), by amending paragraph (1) to 
                read as follows:
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to the Department of Justice to carry out this section 
        $54,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.''; and
            (2) by inserting after section 2992 the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 2993. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Attorney General, acting through the 
Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in consultation with the 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the 
Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall solicit 
best practices regarding techniques to interact with persons who have a 
traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, or post-traumatic 
stress disorder from first responder, brain injury, veteran, and mental 
health organizations, health care and mental health providers, hospital 
emergency departments, and other relevant stakeholders, and shall 
develop crisis intervention training tools for use by first responders 
(as such term is defined in section 3025) that provide--
            ``(1) information on the conditions and symptoms of a 
        traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, and post-
        traumatic stress disorder;
            ``(2) techniques to interact with persons who have a 
        traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, or post-
        traumatic stress disorder; and
            ``(3) information on how to recognize persons who have a 
        traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, or post-
        traumatic stress disorder.
    ``(b) Use of Training Tools at Law Enforcement Mental Health 
Learning Sites.--The Attorney General shall ensure that not less than 
one Law Enforcement Mental Health Learning Site designated by the 
Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance uses the training tools 
developed under subsection (a).
    ``(c) Police Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit.--The Attorney 
General shall make the training tools developed under subsection (a) 
available as part of the Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit 
provided by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.''.

SEC. 4. STUDY ON FIRST RESPONDERS WITH TBI.

    Not later than 24 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the 
Director of the National Institutes of Health and in consultation with 
the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall 
conduct a study and submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor and Pensions of the Senate a report on the prevalence and 
incidence of concussion among first responders (as such term is defined 
in section 3025 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 
1968 (34 U.S.C. 10705)). The report shall include data on the incidence 
of concussion among first responders and recommendations for resources 
for first responders who have experienced traumatic brain injury.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 18, 2022.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
117th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 2992

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

To direct the Attorney General to develop crisis intervention training 
 tools for use by first responders related to interacting with persons 
   who have a traumatic brain injury, another form of acquired brain 
   injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes.