[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 16, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1290]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                H.R 248, THE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY ACT

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                          HON. CHRISTOPHER COX

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 16, 1996

  Mr. COX of California. Mr. Speaker, the recent passage by the House 
of H.R. 248, the Traumatic Brain Injury Act, gives me occasion to 
recognize several individuals in Orange County, CA, who have dedicated 
their lives to raising awareness and improving our understanding and 
treatment of traumatic brain injury.
  Prior to the redistricting that took place prior to the 1992 
elections, it was my pleasure and honor to be able to directly 
represent the citizens of Huntington Beach, CA, in the U.S. Congress. 
It was back then that I first met Mike Lee, a resident of Huntington 
Beach who suffered severe head injuries in 1991 in a tragic bicycle 
accident.
  Both before and after the accident, Mike has lived life to the 
fullest. In the 1980's, he cofounded a $10 million roofing business. 
He's a certified life insurance agent. And from 1961 to 1971, he worked 
for Rockwell, the prime contractor for the Apollo Space Program. He 
served as pad leader for three of the Apollo moonshots--the first Earth 
orbital Apollo flight, Apollo 7, a lunar orbital, Apollo 9, and the 
first lunar landing, Apollo 11.
  While the 1991 accident caused severe brain damage, greatly reducing 
cognitive ability and affecting short-term memory, Mike has made 
tremendous strides in his own recovery program to overcome his injury, 
and his never-give-up spirit for life has been an inspiration to the 
many people he's come into contact with since his accident. He's also 
done much to heighten public awareness and understanding throughout 
Orange County of traumatic brain injury.
  One of the organizations that's been of help to Mike, and many others 
with severe brain injuries, is the nonprofit National Cognitive 
Recovery Foundation, which is headquartered in Irvine, CA, and on whose 
honorary board of advisors I am pleased to serve. Thanks to the active 
leadership of Dr. Dan Levinson, the foundation has garnered national 
attention for its role in helping to establish programs across the 
country to provide low-cost and effective cognitive rehabilitation, 
retraining, and special education for brain-injured adults.
  Hundreds of persons have been helped through the foundation's 
community college rehabilitation courses. Coastline Community College 
in Costa Mesa, CA, was the first such institution to offer classes to 
re-educate and assist in the recovery of persons with brain injuries. 
Today, three community colleges in southern California offer the same 
innovative program, and the National Cognitive Recovery Foundation 
plans to expand this program to colleges nationwide. Thanks to support 
from charitable and private sources, Coastline is able to offer its 
program at an approximate cost of $50 per semester; other brain injury 
rehabilitation programs offered in other parts of the country can cost 
a person up to $15,000 per year.
  The Traumatic Brain Injury Act approved by the House last week is 
aimed at promoting precisely these kinds of creative and worthwhile 
programs. This legislation will authorize the National Institute of 
Health to conduct research into the prevention and treatment of 
traumatic brain injury. It will also authorize grants to groups like 
the National Cognitive Recovery Foundation for innovative demonstration 
programs that can help improve access to rehabilitation, health care, 
and other service for persons suffering from severe brain injuries.
  Mr. Speaker, now that the House has approved the Traumatic Brain 
Injury Act, I urge my colleagues in the U.S. Senate to act swiftly on 
this legislation. I ask them to keep in mind the daily struggles and 
challenges faced by Mike Lee and the thousands of other Americans with 
severe brain injuries. This legislation will do much to further 
progress in improving our understanding of traumatic brain injuries, in 
reducing the incidence of head injuries through public awareness and 
prevention efforts, and in promoting the development of effective, low-
cost rehabilitation and treatment programs.

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