Brain Damage Newsroom

Senator Co-Sponsors Amendment To Raise Veterans Brain Injury Center Funding

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, co-sponsored an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2007 Department of Defense Appropriations bill which passed today that increases funding for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) from $12 million to $19 million.

“This amendment provides a better opportunity to diagnose and treat Traumatic Brain Injury through the work being done at the Center,” Sen. Hutchison said. “Its passage will help ensure that our troops receive the best medical care this nation can offer.”

The amendment compliments language Sen. Hutchison introduced in the Fiscal Year 2007 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill, which requests that the Department of Veterans Affairs establish an education and diagnostic screening program for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). It has been reported that about 10 percent of all service personnel, and up to 20 percent of frontline personnel, suffer concussions during combat tours. Studies show that multiple concussions can lead to permanent brain damage.