[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6008 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6008
To direct the Attorney General to develop crisis intervention training
tools for use by first responders related to interacting with persons
who have a traumatic brain injury, another form of acquired brain
injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 27, 2020
Mr. Pascrell (for himself, Mr. Bacon, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Rutherford, and
Mr. Cox of California) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Attorney General to develop crisis intervention training
tools for use by first responders related to interacting with persons
who have a traumatic brain injury, another form of acquired brain
injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder, 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 ``Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder Law Enforcement Training Act'' or the ``TBI
and PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, there were approximately 2.9 million traumatic
brain injury-related emergency department visits,
hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States in 2014.
(2) Effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be short-
term or long-term, and include impaired thinking or memory,
movement, vision or hearing, or emotional functioning, such as
personality changes or depression.
(3) Currently, between 3.2 million and 5.3 million persons
are living with a TBI-related disability in the United States.
(4) About 7 or 8 percent of Americans will experience post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in their lives,
and about 8 million adults have PTSD during the course of a
given year.
(5) TBI and PTSD have been recognized as the signature
injuries of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(6) According to the Department of Defense, 383,000 men and
women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan sustained a brain injury
while in the line of duty between 2000 and 2018.
(7) Approximately 13.5 percent of Operations Iraqi Freedom
and Enduring Freedom veterans screen positive for PTSD,
according to the Department of Veteran Affairs.
(8) About 12 percent of Gulf War Veterans have PTSD in a
given year while about 30 percent of Vietnam Veterans have had
PTSD in their lifetime.
(9) Physical signs of TBI can include motor impairment,
dizziness or poor balance, slurred speech, impaired depth
perception, or impaired verbal memory, while physical signs of
PTSD can include agitation, irritability, hostility,
hypervigilance, self-destructive behavior, fear, severe
anxiety, or mistrust.
(10) Physical signs of TBI and PTSD often overlap with
physical signs of alcohol or drug impairment, which complicate
a first responder's ability to quickly and effectively identify
an individual's condition.
SEC. 3. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.
Part HH of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10651 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 2991--
(A) in subsection (h)(1)(A), by inserting before
the period at the end the following: ``, including the
training developed under section 2993''; and
(B) in subsection (o)(1)(C), by striking
``$50,000,000'' and inserting ``$54,000,000''; and
(2) by inserting after section 2992 the following new
section:
``SEC. 2993. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.
``(a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Attorney General, acting through the
Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in consultation with the
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall solicit
best practices regarding techniques to interact with persons who have
traumatic brain injury, acquired brain injury, or post-traumatic stress
disorder from first responder, brain injury, veteran, and mental health
organizations, health care and mental health providers, hospital
emergency departments, and other relevant stakeholders, and shall
develop crisis intervention training tools for use by first responders
(as such term is defined in section 3025) that provide--
``(1) information on the conditions and symptoms of
traumatic brain injury, acquired brain injury, and post-
traumatic stress disorder;
``(2) techniques to interact with persons who have a
traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, or post-
traumatic stress disorder; and
``(3) information on how to recognize persons who have a
traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, or post-
traumatic stress disorder.
``(b) Use of Training Tools at Law Enforcement Mental Health
Learning Sites.--The Attorney General shall ensure that not less than
one Law Enforcement Mental Health Learning Site designated by the
Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in consultation with the
Council of State Governments Justice Center, utilizes the training
tools developed under subsection (a).
``(c) Police Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit.--The Attorney
General shall make the training tools developed under subsection (a)
available as part of the Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit
provided by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.''.
SEC. 4. SURVEILLANCE AND REPORTING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS WITH TBI.
Section 393C of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280b-1d)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Law Enforcement and First Responder Surveillance.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
shall implement concussion data collection and analysis to
determine the prevalence and incidence of concussion among
first responders (as such term is defined in section 3025 of
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 1968 (34
U.S.C. 10705)).
``(2) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary, acting through
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and the Director of the National Institutes of Health and in
consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the relevant committees of
Congress a report that contains the findings of the
surveillance conducted under paragraph (1). The report shall
include surveillance data and recommendations for resources for
first responders who have experienced traumatic brain
injury.''.
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