[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 58 (Monday, April 14, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S2972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         REAUTHORIZATION OF THE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY PROGRAM

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I rise today to acknowledge the passage 
of S. 793, the reauthorization of the Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI, 
Program. Both the Senate and House of Representatives have passed this 
bill and it will now be sent to the President's desk to be signed into 
law.
  I thank my colleague and coauthor of the Senate bill, Senator 
Kennedy, and his staff for their hard work over the past few years. I 
also extend my gratitude to Senator Enzi and his staff for their 
diligent efforts in helping to reauthorize this important program.
  I also must thank the leaders of this effort in the House, 
Representatives Bill Pascrell, Jr., Frank Pallone, Jr., and their 
staffs who have been so dedicated to helping individuals with TBI.
  Also, this bill would not have been possible without the cooperation 
and input from involved organizations, such as the Brain Injury 
Association of America, BIAA; the National Association of State Head 
Injury Administrators, NASHIA; the National Brain Injury Research, 
Treatment and Training Foundation, NBIRTT; and the National Disability 
Rights Network, NDRN; and I thank them all for their contributions.
  It means a lot to the 5.3 million Americans living with TBI, and 
their families, to reauthorize the only Federal program that helps 
them. The Federal TBI Program comprises prevention and surveillance 
activities at the Center for Disease Control, CDC, research at the 
National Institutes of Health, NIH, and grants to States from the 
Health Resources and Services Administrations, HRSA. This 
reauthorization bill expands and improves those activities, and 
includes provisions to look at the reintegration of war vets returning 
to their communities.
  Each year, 1.4 million people sustain a TBI and face long-term or 
lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a 
result. Direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost 
productivity of TBI totaled an estimated $60 billion in the United 
States in 2000. We can help truncate those costs and ensure that people 
are connected to the services they need by continuing this important 
program.
  It has been a labor of love to draft and enact legislation to 
reauthorize this important program. On behalf of individuals living 
with TBI, and their families, I thank my colleagues in Congress for 
passing this legislation and reaffirming our commitment to helping 
those with who suffer from traumatic brain injuries.

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