II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1272 

To require 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 the southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, region, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2011 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require 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 the southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, 

region, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 and El Paso, Texas, Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury 

4 Care Improvement Act of 2011’’. 

5 SEC. 2. REPORT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF POLYTRAUMA RE6 HABILITATION CENTER OR POLYTRAUMA 

7 NETWORK SITE OF DEPARTMENT OF VET8 ERANS AFFAIRS IN SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO 

9 AND EL PASO, TEXAS, REGION. 

10 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find11 ings: 

12 (1) The military population of the southern 

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

14 greatly since the United States has been involved in 

15 military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and 

16 members of the Armed Forces returning from such 

17 operations to such region will require care at 

18 polytrauma centers as a result of their involvement 

19 with such operations. 

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

21 New Mexico is expected to grow from 9,300 mem22 bers of the Armed Forces in 2005 to an estimated 

23 33,400 members of the Armed Forces by 2012 be24 cause of the ongoing expansion of Fort Bliss. 

25 (3) Traumatic brain injury has become known 

26 as one of the signature wounds of service in the 


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1 Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan because of 

2 its high occurrence among veterans of such service. 

3 Many members of the Armed Forces returning to 

4 the El Paso, Texas, and southern New Mexico re5 gion from overseas service in the Armed Forces are 

6 expected to suffer from traumatic brain injury or 

7 other forms of injury requiring treatment at a 

8 polytrauma rehabilitation center or polytrauma net9 work site. 

10 (4) A recent RAND Corporation study esti11 mates that as many as 20 percent of the veterans 

12 who served in the Armed Forces in Iraq and Af13 ghanistan have a traumatic brain injury as a result 

14 of such service, and many of these veterans require 

15 ongoing care for mild, moderate, or severe traumatic 

16 brain injury. 

17 (5) The Department of Veterans Affairs rec18 ommends that all veterans experiencing a 

19 polytraumatic injury be referred to a polytrauma re20 habilitation center or polytrauma network site of the 

21 Department. 

22 (6) The polytrauma system of care of the De23 partment includes 4 polytrauma rehabilitation cen24 ters and 21 polytrauma network sites, none of which 

25 are located within 300 miles driving distance of Fort 


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1 Bliss, White Sands Missile Range, or Holloman Air 

2 Force Base. 

3 (7) The large military population in the south4 ern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, region neces5 sitates a new polytrauma rehabilitation center or 

6 polytrauma network site of the Department to deal 

7 with the significant hardships veterans residing in 

8 such region require. 

9 (b) REPORT.— 

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

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress 

13 a report on the feasibility and advisability of estab14 lishing a polytrauma rehabilitation center or 

15 polytrauma network site of the Department of Vet16 erans Affairs in the southern New Mexico and El 

17 Paso, Texas, region that is within a reasonable driv18 ing distance of Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile 

19 Range, and Holloman Air Force Base. 

20 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The report required by 

21 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

22 (A) An assessment of the adequacy of ex23 isting Department facilities in the southern 

24 New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, region to ad25 dress matters that are otherwise addressed by 


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1 polytrauma rehabilitation centers and 

2 polytrauma network sites of the Department. 

3 (B) A comparative assessment of the effec4 tiveness of rehabilitation programs for individ5 uals with traumatic brain injuries in urban 

6 areas with the effectiveness of such programs 

7 for individuals with traumatic brain injuries in 

8 rural and frontier communities. 

9 (C) An assessment of whether therapies 

10 that can prevent or remediate the development 

11 of secondary neurologic conditions related to 

12 traumatic brain injury can be interrupted by 

13 stress caused by living in an urban area. 

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

15 the recovery of veterans and the impact on their 

16 families in comparison to recovery in an area 

17 where there is a lower cost of living. 

18 (3) LOCATIONS.—In preparing the report re19 quired by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con20 sider and evaluate various locations for the potential 

21 location of a new polytrauma rehabilitation center or 

22 polytrauma network site. One location receiving such 

23 consideration and evaluation shall be the Fort Bay24 ard Medical Center in Grant County, New Mexico. 


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1 (4) CONSULTATION.—In preparing the report 

2 required by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con3 sult with appropriate State and local government 

4 agencies in the southern New Mexico and El Paso, 

5 Texas, region. 

Æ 


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