I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9532 
To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a comprehensive initiative 
for brain health, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 14, 2022 
Mr. BACON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a comprehen-
sive initiative for brain health, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Warfighter Brain 
Health Act of 2022’’. 
SEC. 735. BRAIN HEALTH INITIATIVE OF DEPARTMENT OF 
DEFENSE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in con-
sultation with the Secretaries concerned, shall establish a 
comprehensive initiative for brain health to be known as 
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the ‘‘Warfighter Brain Health Initiative’’ (in this section 
referred to as the ‘‘Initiative’’) for the purpose of unifying 
efforts and programs across the Department of Defense 
to improve the cognitive performance and brain health of 
members of the Armed Forces. 
(b) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the Initiative 
shall be the following: 
(1) To enhance, maintain, and restore the cog-
nitive performance of members of the Armed Forces 
through education, training, prevention, protection, 
monitoring, detection, diagnosis, treatment, and re-
habilitation, including through the following activi-
ties: 
(A) The establishment of a program to 
monitor cognitive brain health across the De-
partment of Defense, with the goal of detecting 
any need for cognitive enhancement or restora-
tion resulting from potential brain exposures of 
members of Armed Forces, to mitigate possible 
evolution of injury or disease progression. 
(B) The identification and dissemination of 
thresholds for blast pressure safety and associ-
ated emerging scientific evidence. 
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(C) The modification of high-risk training 
and operational activities to mitigate the nega-
tive effects of repetitive blast exposure. 
(D) The identification of individuals who 
perform high-risk training or occupational ac-
tivities, for purposes of increased monitoring of 
the brain health of such individuals. 
(E) The development and operational field-
ing of non-invasive, portable, point-of-care med-
ical devices, to inform the diagnosis and treat-
ment of traumatic brain injury. 
(F) The establishment of a standardized 
monitoring program that documents and ana-
lyzes blast exposures that may affect the brain 
health of members of the Armed Forces. 
(G) The consideration of the findings and 
recommendations of the report of the National 
Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medi-
cine titled ‘‘Traumatic Brain Injury: A Road-
map for Accelerating Progress’’ and published 
in 2022 (relating to the acceleration of progress 
in traumatic brain injury research and care), or 
any successor report, in relation to the activities 
of the Department relating to brain health, as 
applicable. 
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(2) To harmonize and prioritize the efforts of 
the Department of Defense into a single approach to 
brain health. 
(c) 
ANNUAL
BUDGET
JUSTIFICATION
DOCU-
MENTS.—In the budget justification materials submitted 
to Congress in support of the Department of Defense 
budget for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029 (as sub-
mitted with the budget of the President under section 
1105(a) of title 31, United States Code), the Secretary 
of Defense shall include a budget justification display that 
includes all activities of the Department relating to the 
Initiative. 
(d) PILOT PROGRAM RELATING TO MONITORING OF 
BLAST COVERAGE.— 
(1) AUTHORITY.—The Director of the Defense 
Health Agency may conduct, as part of the Initia-
tive, a pilot program under which the Director shall 
monitor blast overpressure exposure through the use 
of commercially available, off-the-shelf, wearable sen-
sors, and document and evaluate data collected as a 
result of such monitoring. 
(2) LOCATIONS.—Monitoring activities under a 
pilot program conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) 
shall be carried out in each training environment 
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