I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2992 

To direct the Attorney General to develop crisis intervention training tools 

for use by first responders related to interacting with persons who 

have a traumatic brain injury, another form of acquired brain injury, 

or post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2021 

Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. BACON, Mrs. DEMINGS, and Mr. RUTHERFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Attorney General to develop crisis intervention 

training tools for use by first responders related to interacting with persons who have a traumatic brain injury, 

another form of acquired brain injury, or post-traumatic 

stress disorder, 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 ‘‘Traumatic Brain In5 jury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Law EnforceVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2992.IH H2992

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1 ment Training Act’’ or the ‘‘TBI and PTSD Law Enforce2 ment Training Act’’. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) According to the Centers for Disease Con6 trol and Prevention, there were approximately 2.9 

7 million traumatic brain injury-related emergency de8 partment visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in the 

9 United States in 2014. 

10 (2) Effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) can 

11 be short-term or long-term, and include impaired 

12 thinking or memory, movement, vision or hearing, or 

13 emotional functioning, such as personality changes 

14 or depression. 

15 (3) Currently, between 3.2 million and 5.3 mil16 lion persons are living with a TBI-related disability 

17 in the United States. 

18 (4) About 7 or 8 percent of Americans will ex19 perience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at 

20 some point in their lives, and about 8 million adults 

21 have PTSD during the course of a given year. 

22 (5) TBI and PTSD have been recognized as the 

23 signature injuries of the Wars in Iraq and Afghani24 stan. 


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1 (6) According to the Department of Defense, 

2 383,000 men and women deployed to Iraq and Af3 ghanistan sustained a brain injury while in the line 

4 of duty between 2000 and 2018. 

5 (7) Approximately 13.5 percent of Operations 

6 Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans 

7 screen positive for PTSD, according to the Depart8 ment of Veteran Affairs. 

9 (8) About 12 percent of Gulf War Veterans 

10 have PTSD in a given year while about 30 percent 

11 of Vietnam Veterans have had PTSD in their life12 time. 

13 (9) Physical signs of TBI can include motor im14 pairment, dizziness or poor balance, slurred speech, 

15 impaired depth perception, or impaired verbal mem16 ory, while physical signs of PTSD can include agita17 tion, irritability, hostility, hypervigilance, self-de18 structive behavior, fear, severe anxiety, or mistrust. 

19 (10) Physical signs of TBI and PTSD often 

20 overlap with physical signs of alcohol or drug im21 pairment, which complicate a first responder’s abil22 ity to quickly and effectively identify an individual’s 

23 condition. 


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1 SEC. 3. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR 

2 FIRST RESPONDERS. 

3 Part HH of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

4 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10651 et seq.) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in section 2991— 

7 (A) in subsection (h)(1)(A), by inserting 

8 before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, in9 cluding the training developed under section 

10 2993’’; and 

11 (B) in subsection (o)(1)(C), by striking 

12 ‘‘$50,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$54,000,000’’; 

13 and 

14 (2) by inserting after section 2992 the following 

15 new section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 2993. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR 

17 FIRST RESPONDERS. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

19 date of the enactment of this section, the Attorney Gen20 eral, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Justice 

21 Assistance, in consultation with the Director of the Cen22 ters for Disease Control and Prevention and the Assistant 

23 Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall so24 licit best practices regarding techniques to interact with 

25 persons who have traumatic brain injury, acquired brain 

26 injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder from first reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2992.IH H2992

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1 sponder, brain injury, veteran, and mental health organi2 zations, health care and mental health providers, hospital 

3 emergency departments, and other relevant stakeholders, 

4 and shall develop crisis intervention training tools for use 

5 by first responders (as such term is defined in section 

6 3025) that provide— 

7 ‘‘(1) information on the conditions and symp8 toms of traumatic brain injury, acquired brain in9 jury, and post-traumatic stress disorder; 

10 ‘‘(2) techniques to interact with persons who 

11 have a traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain in12 jury, or post-traumatic stress disorder; and 

13 ‘‘(3) information on how to recognize persons 

14 who have a traumatic brain injury, an acquired 

15 brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder. 

16 ‘‘(b) USE OF TRAINING TOOLS AT LAW ENFORCE17 MENT MENTAL HEALTH LEARNING SITES.—The Attor18 ney General shall ensure that not less than one Law En19 forcement Mental Health Learning Site designated by the 

20 Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in consulta21 tion with the Council of State Governments Justice Cen22 ter, utilizes the training tools developed under subsection 

23 (a). 

24 ‘‘(c) POLICE MENTAL HEALTH COLLABORATION

25 TOOLKIT.—The Attorney General shall make the training 


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1 tools developed under subsection (a) available as part of 

2 the Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit provided 

3 by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. SURVEILLANCE AND REPORTING FOR FIRST RE5 SPONDERS WITH TBI. 

6 Section 393C of the Public Health Service Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 280b–1d) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(d) LAW ENFORCEMENT AND FIRST RESPONDER

10 SURVEILLANCE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

12 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

13 Control and Prevention, shall implement concussion 

14 data collection and analysis to determine the preva15 lence and incidence of concussion among first re16 sponders (as such term is defined in section 3025 of 

17 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 

18 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10705)). 

19 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

20 the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 

21 Secretary, acting through the Director of the Cen22 ters for Disease Control and Prevention and the Di23 rector of the National Institutes of Health and in 

24 consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the 

25 Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the 


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1 relevant committees of Congress a report that con2 tains the findings of the surveillance conducted 

3 under paragraph (1). The report shall include sur4 veillance data and recommendations for resources 

5 for first responders who have experienced traumatic 

6 brain injury.’’. 

Æ 


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