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AMENDMENT PASSES PROVIDING MORE FUNDING TO
TREAT BRAIN TRAUMA
September 7, 2006
Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093
(Washington, DC) In a major victory for soldiers suffering head trauma,
a bi-partisan amendment put forth by Senators George Allen (R-VA) and
Dick Durbin (D-IL), and cosponsored by Larry Craig (R-ID), Chairman of
the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, received unanimous
approval by the U.S. Senate on Thursday.
The legislation increases the amount of funding for the Defense and
Veterans Brain Injury Center to $19-million dollars, which is
$12-million more than requested by the Administration in the Department
of Defense Fiscal ’07 Appropriations bill.
"Today my committee held a hearing on the Wounded Warrior legislation we
passed last year. At the hearing I met with two young men who have
suffered brain injuries – one is blind and the other lost a leg. Seeing
the struggles these true American heroes have had and will continue to
face, it brought home the importance of being able to research new ways
to treat trauma to the brain," said Craig.
"I commend Senator Allen and Senator Durbin for their leadership in
increasing the funding for this vital program."
The increased funding will be used by the Defense and Veterans Brain
Injury Center – which is headquartered at Walter Reed Army Medical
Center and coordinates efforts at 10 facilities in several other states,
including Virginia, California, Texas, Florida, Minnesota and North
Carolina. These centers provide state-of-art, innovative medical care
including physical rehabilitation and speech therapy.
"With all the body armor and fast treatment of the wounded, more
soldiers and Marines are surviving injuries that in the past would have
taken their lives. But many of our servicemembers are impacted by the
blasts. Brain injuries are tough for servicemembers and probably even
tougher on family members. If we can do more to help the bodies of
heroes heal, we should, and hopefully this increased funding will help
achieve that objective," Craig said.
According to the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army, 64 percent
of soldiers recently wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom have sustained
"blast injury," which is the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries
for active duty military personnel in war zones.
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Larry Scott
