I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2612 
To improve mental health care for wounded members of the Armed Forces, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 7, 2007 
Mrs. DAVIS of California (for herself, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mrs. 
BOYDA of Kansas, Ms. GIFFORDS, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 
CHANDLER, and Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To improve mental health care for wounded members of 
the Armed Forces, 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 ‘‘Mental Health Care 
for Our Wounded Warriors Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) An estimated one in six members of the 
Armed Forces returning from service in Iraq or Af-
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ghanistan has a diagnosable condition of post-trau-
matic stress disorder (PTSD). 
(2) One in ten members of the Armed Forces 
who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan may suffer 
from a traumatic brain injury (TBI). 
(3) Since 2001, approximately 1,500,000 mem-
bers of the Armed Forces have been deployed in sup-
port of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, of 
whom approximately one-third have served at least 
two tours of duty, 70,000 have served three tours of 
duty, and 20,000 have served at least five tours of 
duty. 
(4) Currently, there are 700,000 children in the 
United States with at least one parent deployed to 
support ongoing military operations in Iraq and Af-
ghanistan. 
(5) The Department of Defense is facing a 
shortage of mental health professionals. The Depart-
ment has had as many as 450 psychologists on ac-
tive duty in the Armed Forces in past years. How-
ever, the Department currently has only 350 psy-
chologists on active duty in the Armed Forces in 
support of combat operations. 
(6) The demands placed on the Department of 
Defense mental health system exceed its capacity to 
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provide services in a timely manner to all those in 
need. 
(7) The long-term costs of treating members of 
the Armed Forces returning from Iraq and Afghani-
stan could ultimately reach $700,000,000,000, with 
post-traumatic stress disorder projected to be one of 
the most expensive conditions to treat. 
(8) Women now constitute 16 percent of the 
members of the Armed Forces and are assigned to 
90 percent all military occupations. As a result, 
there is a need for research on whether or not 
women in combat roles have unique mental health 
needs that should be addressed by the mental health 
system of the Department of Defense. 
(9) More than 25 percent of the members of 
the Armed Forces deployed in support combat oper-
ations in Iraq and Afghanistan are ethnic minorities. 
There is a need for research on whether or not mi-
norities have unique mental health needs that should 
be addressed by the mental health system of the De-
partment of Defense. 
(10) Three out of every five deployed members 
of the Armed Forces have a spouse, child, or both. 
However, there is a paucity of research on the men-
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tal health needs of members of the Armed Forces 
and their families. 
(11) Approximately 40 percent of the billets for 
licensed clinical psychologists in the Army are va-
cant, and there are shortages in other mental health 
professions, including psychiatry and clinical social 
work. 
(12) The long-term needs associated with men-
tal health conditions and brain injuries will require 
a robust mental health professional workforce. 
(13) Mental health professionals deployed 
alongside combat troops also suffer from combat re-
lated mental illness. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON MENTAL HEALTH OF THE 
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) members of the Armed Forces deserve the 
best possible treatment for injuries sustained while 
in service to the United States; 
(2) injuries sustained by members of the Armed 
Forces in combat produce both physical and mental 
illnesses; 
(3) members of the Armed Forces should have 
access to mental health providers to facilitate their 
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treatment for mental illness sustained during com-
bat; 
(4) mental health disorders, such as post-trau-
matic stress disorder (PTSD), incurred by members 
of the Armed Forces in combat should be treated 
with an urgency similar to physical ailments in-
curred by such members in combat; 
(5) there is a need to train, recruit, and retain 
more psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, 
neurologists, and other health care professionals to 
diagnose and provide short-term and long-term care 
for members of the Armed Forces with mental 
health conditions, including traumatic brain injuries 
(TBIs), sustained in combat; and 
(6) there is a continued need for— 
(A) basic science research on post-trau-
matic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, 
and other combat-related conditions; 
(B) the development of new treatments for 
post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain 
injury, and other combat-related conditions; 
(C) the dissemination of best practices for 
treating and managing post-traumatic stress 
disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other 
combat-related conditions; and 
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(D) a long-term strategy for education, 
training, recruitment, and retention for the 
mental health workforce of the Department of 
Defense in order to expand and improve that 
workforce. 
SEC. 4. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN MILITARY MENTAL 
HEALTH. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
section 1105 the following new section: 
‘‘§ 1105a. Centers of Excellence in Military Mental 
Health 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall 
establish within the Department of Defense at least two 
centers of excellence in military mental health to carry out 
the responsibilities specified in subsection (c). Each such 
center shall be known as a ‘Center of Excellence in Mili-
tary Mental Health’. 
‘‘(b) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary shall authorize 
each Center of Excellence in Military Mental Health to 
enter into such partnerships, agreements, or other ar-
rangements as the Secretary considers appropriate with 
institutions of higher education and other appropriate 
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public and private entities to carry out the responsibilities 
specified in subsection (c). 
‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each Center of Excellence 
in Military Mental Health shall have responsibilities as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(1) To direct and oversee, based on expert re-
search, the development and implementation of a 
long-term, comprehensive plan and strategy for the 
Department of Defense for the prevention, identi-
fication, and treatment of combat-related mental 
health conditions and brain injuries, with an empha-
sis on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 
traumatic brain injury (TBI). 
‘‘(2) To provide for the development, testing, 
and dissemination within the Department of best 
practices for the treatment of combat-related mental 
health conditions and brain injuries, including post- 
traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, 
acute depression, and substance abuse. 
‘‘(3) To provide guidance for the mental health 
system of the Department in determining the mental 
health and neurological health personnel required to 
provide quality mental health care for members of 
the armed forces. 
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‘‘(4) To establish, implement, and oversee a 
comprehensive program to train mental health and 
neurological health professionals of the Department 
in the treatment of combat-related mental health 
conditions and brain injuries. 
‘‘(5) To facilitate advancements in the study of 
the short-term and long-term psychological effects of 
traumatic brain injury. 
‘‘(6) To disseminate within the military medical 
treatment facilities of the Department best practices 
for training mental health professionals, including 
neurological health professionals. 
‘‘(7) To develop a strategic plan to reduce the 
stigma among members of the armed forces regard-
ing the presence of mental illness or other mental 
health conditions in such members. 
‘‘(8) To conduct basic science and translational 
research on combat-related mental health conditions 
and brain injuries for the purposes of understanding 
the etiology of such conditions and injuries and de-
veloping preventive interventions and new treat-
ments. 
‘‘(9) To develop outreach strategies and treat-
ments for families of members of the armed forces 
with combat-related mental health conditions or 
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brain injuries in order to mitigate the negative im-
pacts of such conditions and injuries on such family 
members and to support the recovery of such mem-
bers from such conditions and injuries. 
‘‘(10) To conduct research on the unique men-
tal health needs of women members of the armed 
forces who serve in combat zones whose service may 
be compromised by various levels of sexual harass-
ment or sexual assault and develop treatments to 
meet any needs identified through such research. 
‘‘(11) To conduct research on the unique men-
tal health needs of ethnic minority members of the 
armed forces who serve in combat and develop treat-
ments to meet any needs identified through such re-
search. 
‘‘(12) To conduct research on the mental health 
needs of families of members of the armed forces 
who are deployed to combat zones and develop treat-
ments to meet any needs identified through such re-
search. 
‘‘(13) To develop and oversee a long-term plan 
to increase the number of mental health and neuro-
logical health professionals within the Department in 
order to facilitate the meeting by the Department of 
the long-term needs of members of the armed forces 
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with combat-related mental health conditions or 
brain injuries. 
‘‘(14) Such other responsibilities as the Sec-
retary shall specify.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of chapter 55 of such title is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 1105 the following new item: 
‘‘1105a. Centers of Excellence in Military Mental Health.’’. 
(3) REPORT
ON
ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later 
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to 
Congress a report on the establishment of Centers of 
Excellence in Military Mental Health under section 
1105a of title 10, United States Code (as added by 
paragraph (1)). The report shall— 
(A) set forth the number and location of 
the Centers of Excellence in Military Mental 
Health so established; 
(B) for each Center so established, de-
scribe in detail the activities and proposed ac-
tivities of such Center; and 
(C) assess the general progress of the Cen-
ters in discharging the responsibilities set forth 
in that section. 
(b) OVERSIGHT.— 
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(1) BOARD OF OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary of 
Defense shall establish a board to oversee the activi-
ties of the Centers of Excellence in Military Mental 
Health of the Department of Defense established 
under section 1105a of title 10, United States Code 
(as added by subsection (a)). The board shall be 
known as the ‘‘Board of Oversight of Excellence in 
Military Mental Health’’ (in this subsection referred 
to as the ‘‘Board’’). 
(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(A) REQUIRED MEMBERS.—The members 
of the Board shall include the following: 
(i) The director of each Center of Ex-
cellence in Military Mental Health. 
(ii) The commanding officer of Walter 
Reed Army Medical Center, District of Co-
lumbia. 
(iii) The Surgeon General of the 
Army, the Surgeon General of the Navy, 
and the Surgeon General of the Air Force. 
(iv) The Assistant Secretary of De-
fense for Health Affairs. 
(B) AUTHORIZED
MEMBERS.—With the 
joint approval of the Secretary of Defense and 
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the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the members 
of the Board may include any of the following: 
(i) The Under Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs for Health. 
(ii) Any director of a polytrauma cen-
ter of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
(3) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet not less 
often than four times each year. 
(4) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of 
the Board shall include the following: 
(A) To consider and evaluate proposals of 
the Centers of Excellence in Military Mental 
Health in the discharge of the responsibilities of 
such Centers. 
(B) To develop mechanisms for the dis-
semination and implementation of recommenda-
tions and best practices on military mental 
health developed by the Centers of Excellence in 
Military Mental Health. 
(C) Such other responsibilities as the Sec-
retary shall establish for purposes of this sec-
tion. 
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SEC. 5. PERSONNEL SHORTAGES IN MENTAL HEALTH 
WORKFORCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DE-
FENSE. 
(a) RECOMMENDATIONS ON MEANS OF ADDRESSING 
SHORTAGES.— 
(1) REPORT.—Not later than 45 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed 
Services of the Senate and the House of Representa-
tives a report setting forth the recommendations of 
the Secretary for such legislative or administrative 
actions as the Secretary considers appropriate to ad-
dress current personnel shortages in the mental 
health workforce of the Department of Defense. 
(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para-
graph (1) may include recommendations on the fol-
lowing: 
(A) Enhancements or improvements of fi-
nancial incentives for personnel in the mental 
health workforce of the Department of Defense 
in order to enhance the recruitment and reten-
tion of such personnel, including recruitment, 
accession, or retention bonuses and scholarship, 
tuition, and other financial assistance. 
(B) Modifications of service obligations of 
personnel in the mental health workforce. 
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(C) Such other matters as the Secretary 
considers appropriate. 
(b) RECRUITMENT.—Commencing not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Defense shall implement programs to recruit 
qualified individuals in mental health fields to service in 
the Armed Forces as mental health personnel of the 
Armed Forces. 
Æ 
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