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Traumatic Brain Injury Health Enhancement and Long-Term Support Act of 2007

Floor Speech

Date: May 23, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Veterans Health and Health Care


TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY HEALTH ENHANCEMENT AND LONG-TERM SUPPORT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - May 23, 2007)

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Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, traumatic brain injury is the signature injury of the war in Iraq.

Let me explain a little bit what happens to a veteran soldier with a traumatic brain injury. They remove part of your skull so that your brain can expand into that while it's swelling up. They give you blood thinners so that you don't have blood clots. They give you antibiotics, and they put on a vest that keeps your body temperature cold, again so that you don't swell up and cause more injury. So this is the kind of thing that these veterans, these soldiers are going through.

And we estimate that there's approximately 12,000 service members with some degree of traumatic brain injury. That's why I was motivated, along with Mr. Boozman from Arkansas, to introduce the Caring for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 2007.

H.R. 2199 ensures that the VA will develop the infrastructure necessary to meet the needs of an increasing number of veterans diagnosed with TBI. Among other things, the bill requires the VA to screen all veterans for TBI. It creates a registry for veterans with TBI so that we don't lose track of them once they're diagnosed, and it also creates transition offices for patients with TBI who live in areas where the Veterans Administration isn't able to meet their needs.

I'm thankful for the leadership of Mr. Michaud and Mr. Filner on this issue, and for the opportunity to speak in favor of 2199.

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