Amendment Passes Providing Funding for Veterans With Brain Trauma

In a major victory for soldiers suffering head trauma

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.