Warfighter Brain Health Act of 2022
This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish the Warfighter Brain Health Initiative to unify efforts and programs across DOD to improve the cognitive performance and brain health of members of the Armed Forces.
The bill authorizes the Defense Health Agency to conduct a pilot program to monitor blast overpressure exposure as part of the initiative.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9532 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9532
To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a comprehensive
initiative for brain health, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 14, 2022
Mr. Bacon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a comprehensive
initiative for brain health, and for other purposes.
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 ``Warfighter Brain Health Act of
2022''.
SEC. 735. BRAIN HEALTH INITIATIVE OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the
Secretaries concerned, shall establish a comprehensive initiative for
brain health to be known as the ``Warfighter Brain Health Initiative''
(in this section referred to as the ``Initiative'') for the purpose of
unifying efforts and programs across the Department of Defense to
improve the cognitive performance and brain health of members of the
Armed Forces.
(b) Objectives.--The objectives of the Initiative shall be the
following:
(1) To enhance, maintain, and restore the cognitive
performance of members of the Armed Forces through education,
training, prevention, protection, monitoring, detection,
diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation, including through the
following activities:
(A) The establishment of a program to monitor
cognitive brain health across the Department of
Defense, with the goal of detecting any need for
cognitive enhancement or restoration resulting from
potential brain exposures of members of Armed Forces,
to mitigate possible evolution of injury or disease
progression.
(B) The identification and dissemination of
thresholds for blast pressure safety and associated
emerging scientific evidence.
(C) The modification of high-risk training and
operational activities to mitigate the negative effects
of repetitive blast exposure.
(D) The identification of individuals who perform
high-risk training or occupational activities, for
purposes of increased monitoring of the brain health of
such individuals.
(E) The development and operational fielding of
non-invasive, portable, point-of-care medical devices,
to inform the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic
brain injury.
(F) The establishment of a standardized monitoring
program that documents and analyzes blast exposures
that may affect the brain health of members of the
Armed Forces.
(G) The consideration of the findings and
recommendations of the report of the National Academies
of Science, Engineering, and Medicine titled
``Traumatic Brain Injury: A Roadmap for Accelerating
Progress'' and published in 2022 (relating to the
acceleration of progress in traumatic brain injury
research and care), or any successor report, in
relation to the activities of the Department relating
to brain health, as applicable.
(2) To harmonize and prioritize the efforts of the
Department of Defense into a single approach to brain health.
(c) Annual Budget Justification Documents.--In the budget
justification materials submitted to Congress in support of the
Department of Defense budget for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029
(as submitted with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of
title 31, United States Code), the Secretary of Defense shall include a
budget justification display that includes all activities of the
Department relating to the Initiative.
(d) Pilot Program Relating to Monitoring of Blast Coverage.--
(1) Authority.--The Director of the Defense Health Agency
may conduct, as part of the Initiative, a pilot program under
which the Director shall monitor blast overpressure exposure
through the use of commercially available, off-the-shelf,
wearable sensors, and document and evaluate data collected as a
result of such monitoring.
(2) Locations.--Monitoring activities under a pilot program
conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be carried out in
each training environment that the Director determines poses a
risk for blast overpressure exposure.
(3) Documentation and sharing of data.--If the Director
conducts a pilot program pursuant to paragraph (1), the
Director shall--
(A) ensure that any data collected pursuant to such
pilot program that is related to the health effects of
the blast overpressure exposure of a member of the
Armed Forces who participated in the pilot program is
documented and maintained by the Secretary of Defense
in an electronic health record for the member; and
(B) to the extent practicable, and in accordance
with applicable provisions of law relating to data
privacy, make data collected pursuant to such pilot
program available to other academic and medical
researchers for the purpose of informing future
research and treatment options.
(e) Strategy and Implementation Plan.--Not later than one year
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense
shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives and the Senate a report setting forth a strategy and
implementation plan of the Department of Defense to achieve the
objectives of the Initiative under subsection (b).
(f) Annual Briefings.--Not later than January 31, 2024, and
annually thereafter until January 31, 2027, the Secretary of Defense
shall provide to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives and the Senate a report on the Initiative that includes
the following:
(1) A description of the activities taken under the
Initiative and resources expended under the Initiative during
the prior fiscal year.
(2) A summary of the progress made during the prior fiscal
year with respect to the objectives of the Initiative under
subsection (b).
(g) Secretary Concerned Defined.--In this section, the term
``Secretary concerned'' has the meaning given that term in section 101
of title 10, United States Code.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
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