[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 188 (Thursday, November 29, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7243-S7245]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. DURBIN:
S. 3686. A bill to promote minimum State requirements for the
prevention and treatment of concussions caused by participation in
school sports, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of
the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, when we encourage our students to be
active and play school sports, it's because we want to promote healthy
habits and team-building skills. Yet every year, more than 140,000
student athletes sustain a concussion--and that's just the reported
count. We can be sure that many more go unreported and untreated.
The benefits of competing in school sports are undermined if students
are staying out on the field after an injury--especially concussions.
And there is more evidence than ever about the detrimental long term
effects of concussions.
That's why I'm reintroducing the Protecting Student Athletes from
Concussions Act. My bill would direct States to develop concussion
safety plans for public schools that include a concussion safety
awareness component. Certain States like Illinois already have such
procedures in place, but it's high time we make this true for all
States. By equipping our schools and communities with evidence-based
guidance for responding to concussions; we can keep our students, and
their futures safe.
The bill would also require States to adopt a ``when in doubt, sit it
out'' policy. If there is even the possibility that a student athlete
has suffered a concussion, their health and safety ought to be the
number one priority. That means, if an athlete is suspected of having
sustained a concussion, they should sit out and not be allowed to
return to play the same day and, after that, only once evaluated and
cleared by a qualified health care professional.
Unfortunately, many student athletes return to play prematurely--to
the detriment of both their health and academic performance.
Let's be clear: a concussion is a traumatic brain injury that affects
brain function. It is, by no means, something we can simply shake or
walk off. The still-developing brains of students make them more
susceptible to injury, making concussions all the more dangerous.
A ``when in doubt, sit it out'' policy, endorsed by the American
College of Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Neurology, will
take the decision to return to the game out of the hands of a coach or
an injured athlete who may not want to look ``weak''
[[Page S7244]]
to their teammates. It will prevent students from experiencing
successive injuries by staying in the game when they are not fit. It
will give injured athletes the time to heal to help ensure that short
term symptoms do not become long term effects.
For school sports to be a safe option, we have to put the necessary,
common-sense procedures for preventing, detecting, responding to, and
treating concussions in place. This bill would help do that.
It's why my bill is endorsed by the American College of Sports
Medicine, the American Academy of Neurology, the National Collegiate
Athletic Association, the National Football League, the National
Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey
League, the National Parent Teacher Association, the National
Association of Secondary School Principals, the Sports & Fitness
Industry Association, the Korey Stringer Institute, and Safe Kids World
Wide.
I hope my colleagues will join me in this common-sense, evidence-
based approach to protecting student athletes. Thank you.
S. 3686
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 ``Protecting Student Athletes
from Concussions Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. MINIMUM STATE REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Minimum Requirements.--Each State that receives funds
under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and does not meet the requirements
described in this section, as of the date of enactment of
this Act, shall, not later than the last day of the fifth
full fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act
(referred to in this Act as the ``compliance deadline''),
enact legislation or issue regulations establishing the
following minimum requirements:
(1) Local educational agency concussion safety and
management plan.--Each local educational agency in the State,
in consultation with members of the community in which such
agency is located, shall develop and implement a standard
plan for concussion safety and management that--
(A) educates students, parents, and school personnel about
concussions, through activities such as--
(i) training school personnel, including coaches, teachers,
athletic trainers, related services personnel, and school
nurses, on concussion safety and management, including
training on the prevention, recognition, and academic
consequences of concussions and response to concussions; and
(ii) using, maintaining, and disseminating to students and
parents--
(I) release forms and other appropriate forms for reporting
and record keeping;
(II) treatment plans; and
(III) prevention and post-injury observation and monitoring
fact sheets about concussion;
(B) encourages supports, where feasible, for a student
recovering from a concussion (regardless of whether or not
the concussion occurred during school-sponsored activities,
during school hours, on school property, or during an
athletic activity), such as--
(i) guiding the student in resuming participation in
athletic activity and academic activities with the help of a
multi-disciplinary concussion management team, which may
include--
(I) a health care professional, the parents of such
student, a school nurse, relevant related services personnel,
and other relevant school personnel; and
(II) an individual who is assigned by a public school to
oversee and manage the recovery of such student; and
(ii) providing appropriate academic accommodations aimed at
progressively reintroducing cognitive demands on the student;
and
(C) encourages the use of best practices designed to
ensure, with respect to concussions, the uniformity of safety
standards, treatment, and management, such as--
(i) disseminating information on concussion safety and
management to the public; and
(ii) applying uniform best practice standards for
concussion safety and management to all students enrolled in
public schools.
(2) Posting of information on concussions.--Each public
elementary school and each public secondary school shall post
on school grounds, in a manner that is visible to students
and school personnel, and make publicly available on the
school website, information on concussions that--
(A) is based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence (such as
information made available by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention);
(B) shall include information on--
(i) the risks posed by sustaining a concussion;
(ii) the actions a student should take in response to
sustaining a concussion, including the notification of school
personnel; and
(iii) the signs and symptoms of a concussion; and
(C) may include information on--
(i) the definition of a concussion;
(ii) the means available to the student to reduce the
incidence or recurrence of a concussion; and
(iii) the effects of a concussion on academic learning and
performance.
(3) Response to concussion.--If an individual designated
from among school personnel for purposes of this Act, one of
whom must be in attendance at every school-sponsored
activity, suspects that a student has sustained a concussion
(regardless of whether or not the concussion occurred during
school-sponsored activities, during school hours, on school
property, or during an athletic activity)--
(A) the student shall be--
(i) immediately removed from participation in a school-
sponsored athletic activity; and
(ii) prohibited from returning to participate in a school-
sponsored athletic activity on the day that student is
removed from such participation; and
(B) the designated individual shall report to the parent or
guardian of such student--
(i) any information that the designated school employee is
aware of regarding the date, time, and type of the injury
suffered by such student (regardless of where, when, or how a
concussion may have occurred); and
(ii) any actions taken to treat such student.
(4) Return to athletics.--If a student has sustained a
concussion (regardless of whether or not the concussion
occurred during school-sponsored activities, during school
hours, on school property, or during an athletic activity),
before such student resumes participation in school-sponsored
athletic activities, the school shall receive a written
release from a health care professional, that--
(A) states that the student is capable of resuming
participation in such activities; and
(B) may require the student to follow a plan designed to
aid the student in recovering and resuming participation in
such activities in a manner that--
(i) is coordinated, as appropriate, with periods of
cognitive and physical rest while symptoms of a concussion
persist; and
(ii) reintroduces cognitive and physical demands on such
student on a progressive basis only as such increases in
exertion do not cause the reemergence or worsening of
symptoms of a concussion.
(b) Noncompliance.--
(1) First year.--If a State described in subsection (a)
fails to comply with subsection (a) by the compliance
deadline, the Secretary of Education shall reduce by 5
percent the amount of funds the State receives under the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
6301 et seq.) for the first fiscal year following the
compliance deadline.
(2) Succeeding years.--If the State fails to so comply by
the last day of any fiscal year following the compliance
deadline, the Secretary of Education shall reduce by 10
percent the amount of funds the State receives under that Act
for the following fiscal year.
(3) Notification of noncompliance.--Prior to reducing any
funds that a State receives under the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) in
accordance with this subsection, the Secretary of Education
shall provide a written notification of the intended
reduction of funds to the State and to the appropriate
committees of Congress.
SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect civil or
criminal liability under Federal or State law.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Concussion.--The term ``concussion'' means a type of
mild traumatic brain injury that--
(A) is caused by a blow, jolt, or motion to the head or
body that causes the brain to move rapidly in the skull;
(B) disrupts normal brain functioning and alters the mental
state of the individual, causing the individual to
experience--
(i) any period of observed or self-reported--
(I) transient confusion, disorientation, or impaired
consciousness;
(II) dysfunction of memory around the time of injury; or
(III) loss of consciousness lasting less than 30 minutes;
or
(ii) any 1 of 4 types of symptoms, including--
(I) physical symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, or
dizziness;
(II) cognitive symptoms, such as memory disturbance or
slowed thinking;
(III) emotional symptoms, such as irritability or sadness;
or
(IV) difficulty sleeping; and
(C) can occur--
(i) with or without the loss of consciousness; and
(ii) during participation in any organized sport or
recreational activity.
(2) Health care professional.--The term ``health care
professional''--
(A) means an individual who has been trained in diagnosis
and management of traumatic brain injury in a pediatric
population; and
(B) includes a physician (M.D. or D.O.) or certified
athletic trainer who is registered, licensed, certified, or
otherwise statutorily recognized by the State to provide such
diagnosis and management.
(3) Local educational agency; state.--The terms ``local
educational agency'' and
[[Page S7245]]
``State'' have the meanings given such terms in section 8101
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 7801).
(4) Related services personnel.--The term ``related
services personnel'' means individuals who provide related
services, as defined under section 602 of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401).
(5) School-sponsored athletic activity.--The term ``school-
sponsored athletic activity'' means--
(A) any physical education class or program of a school;
(B) any athletic activity authorized during the school day
on school grounds that is not an instructional activity;
(C) any extra-curricular sports team, club, or league
organized by a school on or off school grounds; and
(D) any recess activity.
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