[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 195 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H10057-H10058]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2018
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 6615) to reauthorize the Traumatic Brain Injury program, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6615
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
Program Reauthorization Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF INJURIES.
Part J of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 280b et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 393C (42 U.S.C. 280b-1d) by adding at the
end the following:
``(c) National Concussion Surveillance System.--The
Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, may implement a national
concussion surveillance system to determine the prevalence
and incidence of concussion.''; and
(2) in section 394A (42 U.S.C. 280b-3)--
(A) in subsection (b)--
(i) by striking ``393B and 393C'' and inserting ``393B,
393C(a), and 393C(b)''; and
(ii) by striking ``$6,564,000 for each of fiscal years 2015
through 2019'' and inserting ``$6,750,000 for each of fiscal
years 2019 through 2023''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(c) National Concussion Surveillance System.--To carry
out section 393C(c), there are authorized to be appropriated
$5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023.''.
SEC. 3. STATE GRANTS FOR PROJECTS REGARDING TRAUMATIC BRAIN
INJURY.
Section 1252 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
300d-52) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``, acting through the
Administrator for the Administration for Community Living,''
after ``The Secretary'';
(2) by striking subsection (e);
(3) by redesignating subsections (f) through (j) as
subsections (e) through (i), respectively; and
(4) in subsection (i), as so redesignated, by striking
``$5,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2015 through 2019''
and inserting ``$7,321,000 for each of fiscal years 2019
through 2023''.
SEC. 4. STATE GRANTS FOR PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SERVICES.
Section 1253 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
300d-53) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``, acting through the
Administrator for the Administration for Community Living,''
after ``The Secretary''; and
(2) in subsection (l), by striking ``$3,100,000 for each of
the fiscal years 2015 through 2019'' and inserting
``$4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Burgess) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6615, the Traumatic Brain
Injury Program Reauthorization Act, and I would like to thank
Representatives Bill Pascrell and Representative Thomas Rooney for
introducing this important legislation.
Traumatic brain injuries impact many families each and every year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report last
month that found that young children have one of the highest rates of
TBI-related emergency department visits.
These injuries can harm the developing brain and have the potential
to impact a child's cognitive abilities in the long term.
Whether the result of a hard hit during a football game as a teen, a
car crash in middle age, or a fall as a senior, traumatic brain
injuries pose various and serious risks to Americans.
This legislation reauthorizes the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention traumatic brain injury initiatives at a level of $675
million per year for fiscal years 2019 through 2023.
Additionally, this bill authorizes the National Concussion
Surveillance System at a level of $5 million per year through fiscal
year 2023. This is important in ensuring that we have adequate data
regarding who is getting concussions, how they are treated, and if
there are any trends.
This data will help identify where individuals are seeking healthcare
treatment, if they are seeking treatment at all. Additionally, we do
not currently have national estimates of the number of individuals
living with disabilities due to brain injury, and this system will help
to establish such estimates.
[[Page H10058]]
The Centers for Disease Control plans to conduct its data collection
via telephone surveys and a pilot test to ensure that we will get the
best data from a wide range of households. The bill also reauthorizes
State grants for protection and advocacy services at the Administration
for Community Living.
These services protect individuals with disabilities by providing
them with legal support, especially when it comes to their ability to
make certain lifestyle choices, such as living independently. This is
particularly important given that individuals who suffer from traumatic
brain injury, such as concussions, may experience a disability.
According to the CDC, more than 61 percent of children with moderate
to severe traumatic brain injury experience a disability. We have yet
to see what cost to these individuals and to society these disabilities
convey in the long term.
The culmination of the programs that will be reauthorized by this
legislation provides hope to individuals and families that are affected
by traumatic brain injury. We still have much to learn about the risks
and the short- and long-term effects of traumatic brain injury, and
this legislation will chip away at our goal of increasing knowledge,
awareness, and treatment of traumatic brain injury.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 6615, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6615, the Traumatic Brain
Injury Program Reauthorization Act of 2018, introduced by
Representative Pascrell and Representative Thomas Rooney. This
legislation would reauthorize funding for Administration for Community
Living's Traumatic Brain Injury Program, TBI, to fiscal year 2024.
The TBI program provides grants to States to support activities, such
as improving screening to identify individuals with TBI, building a
trained TBI workforce, providing resources to families, and funding
protection and advocacy systems for people with TBI.
H.R. 6615 will also reauthorize programs at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention to increase the incidence of traumatic brain
injury and reduce the prevalence of TBI. These programs are important
in improving our understanding of traumatic brain injury, and our
ability to prevent and treat such injuries.
Recently, the CDC released new diagnostic guidelines focused on
treating children with mild TBI and concussions, largely based on
research and surveillance efforts funded by CDC's traumatic brain
injury program.
Finally, this legislation also will reauthorize a new National
Concussion Surveillance System to determine the prevalence and the
incidence of concussions in the U.S. This is particularly important for
improving our understanding of long-term consequences of concussions,
as well as efforts to prevent, diagnose, and treat concussions.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6615, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), the cosponsor
of this bill.
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 6615, the Traumatic
Brain Injury Program Reauthorization Act of 2018, and I also would like
to thank Chairman Walden and Ranking Member Pallone for their work to
move this important legislation forward. I am grateful to House
leadership for bringing this for a vote. I want to associate myself
with the words of Mr. Burgess and Mr. Green.
Mr. Speaker, I commend Congressman Green and Congressman Burgess for
their steadfast work to improve our Nation's health landscape over the
past several decades, and especially during Mr. Green's tenure on the
Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. How time flies.
I would also like to give a special thanks to my colleague, Tom
Rooney, who sponsored this legislation with me. Congressman Rooney has
been a great partner as my co-chair of the Congressional Traumatic
Brain Injury Task Force. Over 20 years ago, Mr. Speaker, we put
together the task force on a bipartisan basis, and it is still going,
and it is still very, very active.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for all he has done for
Americans living with brain injuries during his time in Congress.
I am glad to see this body come together in a bipartisan manner to
support the work being done in our Federal agencies and across the
country to expand research and prevention in the treatment of traumatic
brain injury.
Traumatic brain injury knows no bounds. It affects people of all
backgrounds and every ZIP Code. We are only at the precipice of
understanding how prevalent that is. The passage of this legislation
will fulfill a very critical obligation to Americans living with brain
injuries, including our servicemembers, our athletes, and our children.
This reauthorization is especially important because it includes for
the first time funding for the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention so that they can determine how many Americans have sustained
a brain injury. This will give us critical insight into the problem.
Dubbed the signature injury of servicemembers returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan, TBI has continued to occur on the battlefield. TBI happens
on the sports field as well, and we are working diligently to address
this.
We have come a long way to improve safety screening and rehab since
we first talked about TBI two decades ago, but much more must be done.
This legislation makes the right investments in our Federal and State
TBI initiatives; provides those living with brain injuries the supports
that they need, and when we are supporting the brain injured, we are
also supporting their families. It includes critical increases in
funding and modernizes how the government oversees TBI.
Our legislation is endorsed by the Brain Injury Association of
America, the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators,
and the American Academy of Neurology.
Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working with Congressman Rooney, the
membership of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, as well as
Senator Casey and Senator Hatch to send this legislation swiftly to the
President's desk.
{time} 1400
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6615,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 6615, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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