I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5203 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a center of excellence for 

the study of tinnitus, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2010 

Mr. COLE (for himself and Mr. TEAGUE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a center 

of excellence for the study of tinnitus, 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 ‘‘Tinnitus Research for 

5 Military Health Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Tinnitus, or the perception of sound where 

9 no external source of such sound exists, is the most 

10 prevalent disabling condition that affects members of 


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1 the Armed Forces, most notably those members who 

2 have been exposed to blast injuries during combat, 

3 or other high noise level situations. 

4 (2) Tinnitus is the leading service-connected 

5 disability for returning members of the Armed 

6 Forces and the prevalence of tinnitus is continuing 

7 to increase at alarming rates. 

8 (3) An otologic, or ear, injury such as tinnitus 

9 has been shown to decrease performance and situa10 tional awareness during combat, seriously compro11 mising the ability of a member of the Armed Forces 

12 to hear and execute commands properly, thereby 

13 jeopardizing not only the affected member but other 

14 members as well. 

15 (4) While certain types of sensory impairment 

16 in combat or other military activities may be readily 

17 apparent, otologic injuries such as tinnitus may not 

18 be easily noticeable, which necessitates the need for 

19 more rigorous screening for tinnitus before and after 

20 deployment, and for additional research to distin21 guish tinnitus from other forms of brain injury in22 curred during combat. 

23 (5) Medical evidence to date suggests a dem24 onstrated link between tinnitus and post-traumatic 

25 stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, such that 


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1 improved understanding of treatment of tinnitus 

2 may also directly advance research efforts to address 

3 post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain 

4 injury. 

5 (6) Improving the treatment and prevention of 

6 tinnitus will benefit all members of the Armed 

7 Forces who are increasingly at risk of injury from 

8 high-decibel equipment or explosive devices. 

9 SEC. 3. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR THE STUDY OF 

10 TINNITUS. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

13 shall establish one or more Centers of Excellence (in 

14 this section referred to as a ‘‘center’’) for the study 

15 of tinnitus. 

16 (2) LOCATION.—The Secretary shall establish a 

17 center at a military installation in the United States 

18 where members of the Armed Forces perform activi19 ties involving high rates of sound, including artillery 

20 instruction and other basic combat training related 

21 activities. 

22 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—A center shall have the re23 sponsibilities as follows: 

24 (1) To study and enhance existing treatment 

25 modalities for members of the Armed Forces with 


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1 tinnitus, including diagnosed cases of recurrent, 

2 chronic, or severe tinnitus. 

3 (2) To conduct basic and clinical research to 

4 prevent, treat, and cure tinnitus, including studies 

5 on the neurological changes in the brain associated 

6 with tinnitus. 

7 (3) To coordinate research activities with the 

8 Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological 

9 Health and Traumatic Brain Injury in order to es10 tablish a tinnitus data registry for members of the 

11 Armed Forces affected with tinnitus and other neu12 rological conditions that will enhance scientific 

13 progress toward improvements in treatment for 

14 tinnitus and associated neurological combat related 

15 conditions. 

16 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than one year after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

18 Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report 

19 on the activities of the center. 

20 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 $7,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2016. 


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1 SEC. 4. AURAL SCREENINGS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

2 FORCES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 1074f(b) 

4 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(D) An aural screening, including an assess7 ment of tinnitus.’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1074f(b)(2) of title 

9 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this 

10 section, shall apply to members of the Armed Forces who 

11 are deployed or return from deployment on or after the 

12 date that is 30 days after the date of the enactment of 

13 this Act. 

14 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE TINNITUS RE15 SEARCH. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap17 propriations provided for such purpose, the Secretary of 

18 Defense shall establish a program to award grants to insti19 tutions to assist such institutions in conducting research 

20 on recurrent, chronic, or severe tinnitus and peripheral 

21 neurological conditions, including research related to neu22 rology, pharmacology, audiology, otolaryngology, and 

23 other disciplines that the Secretary determines appro24 priate according to newly discovered evidence-based find25 ings. 

26 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 


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1 (1) TEACHING PROGRAM.—An institution eligi2 ble to receive a grant under this section is— 

3 (A) a hospital with a teaching program de4 scribed in section 1861(b)(6) of the Social Se5 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x); or 

6 (B) an educational institution with dem7 onstrated expertise in tinnitus research. 

8 (2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

9 grant under this section, an institution shall submit 

10 an application to the Secretary of Defense at such 

11 time, in such manner, and containing such informa12 tion as the Secretary may require. The Secretary 

13 shall ensure that such applications are peer-reviewed 

14 by multidisciplinary tinnitus experts from both the 

15 public and private sector. 

16 (c) GRANT AMOUNT.—An institution awarded a 

17 grant under this section may not receive more than 

18 $2,500,000 per fiscal year under this section. 

19 (d) REPORTS.—Not later than December 31 of each 

20 year a grant may be awarded under this section, the Sec21 retary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on 

22 the grant program, including a summary of the research 

23 related to tinnitus conducted by each grant recipient. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2016. 

4 SEC. 6. IMPROVING AURAL PROTECTION FOR MEMBERS OF 

5 THE ARMED FORCES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall ex7 amine methods to improve the aural protection for mem8 bers of the Armed Forces in combat. 

9 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

11 to Congress a report on the methods to improve aural pro12 tection examined under subsection (a). 

13 SEC. 7. EXECUTIVE AGENT FOR TINNITUS. 

14 (a) EXECUTIVE AGENT.—Not later than 90 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

16 of Defense shall designate a senior official of the Depart17 ment of Defense to act as the executive agent for tinnitus. 

18 (b) ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND AUTHORI19 TIES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and in 

22 accordance with Directive 5101.1, the Secretary of 

23 Defense shall prescribe the roles, responsibilities, 

24 and authorities of the executive agent designated 

25 under subsection (a). 


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1 (2) SPECIFICATION.—The roles and responsibil2 ities of the executive agent designated under sub3 section (a) shall include coordinating common func4 tions related to tinnitus among the military depart5 ments. 

6 (c) SUPPORT.—In accordance with Directive 5101.1, 

7 the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the military de8 partments, Defense Agencies, and other components of the 

9 Department of Defense provide the executive agent des10 ignated under subsection (a) with the appropriate support 

11 and resources needed to perform the roles, responsibilities, 

12 and authorities of the executive agent. 

13 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) The term ‘‘Directive 5101.1’’ means De15 partment of Defense Directive 5101.1, or any suc16 cessor directive relating to the responsibilities of an 

17 executive agent of the Department of Defense. 

18 (2) The term ‘‘executive agent’’ has the mean19 ing given the term ‘‘DoD Executive Agent’’ in Direc20 tive 5101.1. 

Æ 


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