I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3390 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report 

on the feasibility and advisability of establishing a polytrauma rehabilitation center or polytrauma network site of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs in Fort Bayard, New Mexico, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 4, 2011 

Mr. PEARCE (for himself, Mr. HEINRICH, and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to 

Congress a report on the feasibility and advisability of 

establishing a polytrauma rehabilitation center or 

polytrauma network site of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs in Fort Bayard, New Mexico, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Southern New Mexico 

5 and El Paso, Texas, Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury 

6 Care Improvement Act of 2011’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. REPORT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF POLYTRAUMA RE2 HABILITATION CENTER OR POLYTRAUMA 

3 NETWORK SITE OF DEPARTMENT OF VET4 ERANS AFFAIRS IN FORT BAYARD, NEW MEX5 ICO. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

8 (1) The military population of the southern 

9 New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, region has grown 

10 greatly since the United States has been involved in 

11 military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and 

12 members of the Armed Forces returning from such 

13 operations to such region will require care at 

14 polytrauma centers as a result of their involvement 

15 with such operations. 

16 (2) The population at Fort Bliss in Texas and 

17 New Mexico is expected to grow from 9,300 mem18 bers of the Armed Forces in 2005 to an estimated 

19 33,400 members of the Armed Forces by 2012 be20 cause of the ongoing expansion of Fort Bliss. 

21 (3) Traumatic brain injury has become known 

22 as one of the signature wounds of service in the 

23 Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan because of 

24 its high occurrence among veterans of such service. 

25 Many members of the Armed Forces returning to 

26 the El Paso, Texas, and southern New Mexico remstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 gion from overseas service in the Armed Forces are 

2 expected to suffer from traumatic brain injury or 

3 other forms of injury requiring treatment at a 

4 polytrauma rehabilitation center or polytrauma net5 work site. 

6 (4) A recent RAND Corporation study esti7 mates that as many as 20 percent of the veterans 

8 who served in the Armed Forces in Iraq and Af9 ghanistan have a traumatic brain injury as a result 

10 of such service, and many of these veterans require 

11 ongoing care for mild, moderate, or severe traumatic 

12 brain injury. 

13 (5) The Department of Veterans Affairs rec14 ommends that all veterans experiencing a polytrau15 matic injury be referred to a polytrauma rehabilita16 tion center or polytrauma network site of the De17 partment. 

18 (6) The polytrauma system of care of the De19 partment includes four polytrauma rehabilitation 

20 centers and 21 polytrauma network sites, none of 

21 which are located within 300 miles driving distance 

22 of Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile Range, or Hollo23 man Air Force Base. 

24 (7) The large military population in the south25 ern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, region necesmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 sitates a new polytrauma rehabilitation center or 

2 polytrauma network site of the Department to deal 

3 with the significant hardships veterans residing in 

4 such region require. 

5 (b) REPORT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec8 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress 

9 a report on the feasibility and advisability of estab10 lishing a polytrauma rehabilitation center or poly11 trauma network site of the Department of Veterans 

12 Affairs in Fort Bayard, New Mexico. 

13 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The report required by 

14 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

15 (A) An assessment of the adequacy of ex16 isting Department facilities in the southern 

17 New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, region to ad18 dress matters that are otherwise addressed by 

19 polytrauma rehabilitation centers and polytrau20 ma network sites of the Department. 

21 (B) A comparative assessment of the effec22 tiveness of rehabilitation programs for individ23 uals with traumatic brain injuries in urban 

24 areas with the effectiveness of such programs 

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1 for individuals with traumatic brain injuries in 

2 rural and frontier communities. 

3 (C) An assessment of whether therapies 

4 that can prevent or remediate the development 

5 of secondary neurologic conditions related to 

6 traumatic brain injury can be interrupted by 

7 stress caused by living in an urban area. 

8 (D) The relation of high cost of living to 

9 the recovery of veterans and the impact on their 

10 families in comparison to recovery in an area 

11 where there is a lower cost of living. 

12 (3) CONSULTATION.—In preparing the report 

13 required by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con14 sult with appropriate State and local government 

15 agencies in New Mexico. 

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