The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is pleased to announce that the House of Representatives passed the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Reauthorization Act of 2014 and the bill is on its way to President Obama for his signature.
The TBI Act reauthorizes existing TBI programs within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and provides appropriations for those programs through FY2019. The legislation also provides new authority for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to review brain injury management in children, identify ongoing and potential opportunities for research, and instructs the CDC to report back to Congress on their findings.
“This is the day we have worked toward for several years,” said Susan Connors, President and CEO of BIAA. “The passage of this reauthorization of the TBI Act means that research relating to children with brain injuries will gain more attention. TBI prevention and surveillance programs at CDC will continue, as will the state grant program and the protection and advocacy grant program currently administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA),” she added.
“I would especially like to recognize all of our grassroots advocates, without whom this would not have been possible,” Connors said.
BIAA would like to thank our partners in the House and Senate who championed this important piece of legislation and shepherded it through both chambers: House bill co-sponsors Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.)), Chair of the House Energy/Commerce Committee Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mo.); Ranking Member of the House Energy/Commerce Committee, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.); Chair of the House Subcommittee on Health, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Penn.) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.); sponsor of the Senate bill, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and co-sponsor Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.); Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP Committee), Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Ranking Member Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn).
Originally passed in 1996 and reauthorized in 2000 and 2008, the TBI Act represents a foundation for coordinated and balanced public policy in prevention, education, research, and community living for people with TBI. The TBI Act specifically allocates federal funds for programs supporting individuals with brain injury to federal agencies including the CDC, the National Institute for Health (NIH) and HRSA.
###
BIAA is the country’s oldest and largest nationwide brain injury advocacy organization. Our mission is to advance brain injury prevention, research, treatment, and education, and to improve the quality of life for all individuals impacted by brain injury. Through advocacy, we bring help, hope, and healing to millions of individuals living with brain injury, their families and the professionals who serve them.