[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 78 (Thursday, May 22, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HOWARD P. ``BUCK'' McKEON NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL 
                               YEAR 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2014

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4435) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2015 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense and for military 
     construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for 
     such fiscal year, and for other purposes:

  Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Chair, I rise today to discuss an important issue 
facing our troops--primary blast injury and its connection to traumatic 
brain injury.
  TBI has become the ``signature wound'' of the wars in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, with 20% soldiers deployed are estimated to have 
experienced a brain injury. I would like to thank Chairman McKeon and 
Ranking Member Smith for their commitment to this issue in recent 
authorizations.
  As Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task 
Force, I have spent the last thirteen years fighting for patients with 
brain injuries, both on and off the battlefield. We all know that 
traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the signature wound of the conflicts in 
Iraq and Afghanistan, and while we made great progress on ensuring our 
soldiers have the best care, there is still more work to be done.
  The high rate of TBI and blast-related concussion events resulting 
from current combat operations directly impacts the health and safety 
of individual service members, and subsequently the level of unit 
readiness and troop retention. The Department of Defense (DoD) is 
actively seeking strategies to prevent, mitigate, and treat blast-
related injuries, including TBI.
  Since I began working on this issue, our knowledge of the brain has 
expanded at an incredible pace. In recent years, we have made strong 
investments in TBI research. The DoD's Peer-Reviewed Psychological 
Health and TBI Research Program conducts extensive research on TBI; 
however, little is known about primary blast injury and its connection 
to TBI. Primary blast injury occurs when an explosion generates a blast 
wave traveling faster than sound and creating a surge of high pressure 
immediately followed by a vacuum. Studies show that the blast wave 
shoots through armor and soldiers' skulls and brains, even if it 
doesn't draw blood. Researchers still do not know the exact mechanisms 
by which primary blast injuries damages the brain's cells and circuits. 
However, the blast wave's pressure has been show to compress the torso, 
impacting blood vessels, which then send damaging energy pulses into 
the brain. The pressure can also be transferred partially through the 
skull, interacting with the brain.
  My amendment would direct the Department of Defense to conduct a 
study on blast injury mechanics covering a wide range of primary blast 
injury conditions, including TBI. Understanding how a primary blast 
injury affects the brain is imperative to developing appropriate 
prevention measures, including ensuring proper equipment. I was glad to 
see this amendment pass the House last night, and I hope that it will 
be adopted in the final bill after negotiations with the Senate.

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