I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6008 
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 
FEBRUARY 27, 2020 
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. BACON, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. RUTHERFORD, 
and Mr. COX of California) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined 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 inter-
acting with persons who have a traumatic brain injury, 
another form of acquired brain injury, or post-traumatic 
stress disorder, 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 ‘‘Traumatic Brain In-
jury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Law Enforce-
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ment Training Act’’ or the ‘‘TBI and PTSD Law Enforce-
ment Training Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) According to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, there were approximately 2.9 
million traumatic brain injury-related emergency de-
partment visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in the 
United States in 2014. 
(2) Effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) can 
be short-term or long-term, and include impaired 
thinking or memory, movement, vision or hearing, or 
emotional functioning, such as personality changes 
or depression. 
(3) Currently, between 3.2 million and 5.3 mil-
lion persons are living with a TBI-related disability 
in the United States. 
(4) About 7 or 8 percent of Americans will ex-
perience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at 
some point in their lives, and about 8 million adults 
have PTSD during the course of a given year. 
(5) TBI and PTSD have been recognized as the 
signature injuries of the Wars in Iraq and Afghani-
stan. 
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(6) According to the Department of Defense, 
383,000 men and women deployed to Iraq and Af-
ghanistan sustained a brain injury while in the line 
of duty between 2000 and 2018. 
(7) Approximately 13.5 percent of Operations 
Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans 
screen positive for PTSD, according to the Depart-
ment of Veteran Affairs. 
(8) About 12 percent of Gulf War Veterans 
have PTSD in a given year while about 30 percent 
of Vietnam Veterans have had PTSD in their life-
time. 
(9) Physical signs of TBI can include motor im-
pairment, dizziness or poor balance, slurred speech, 
impaired depth perception, or impaired verbal mem-
ory, while physical signs of PTSD can include agita-
tion, irritability, hostility, hypervigilance, self-de-
structive behavior, fear, severe anxiety, or mistrust. 
(10) Physical signs of TBI and PTSD often 
overlap with physical signs of alcohol or drug im-
pairment, which complicate a first responder’s abil-
ity to quickly and effectively identify an individual’s 
condition. 
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SEC. 3. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR 
FIRST RESPONDERS. 
Part HH of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10651 et seq.) is 
amended— 
(1) in section 2991— 
(A) in subsection (h)(1)(A), by inserting 
before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, in-
cluding the training developed under section 
2993’’; and 
(B) in subsection (o)(1)(C), by striking 
‘‘$50,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$54,000,000’’; 
and 
(2) by inserting after section 2992 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 2993. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR 
FIRST RESPONDERS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this section, the Attorney Gen-
eral, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance, in consultation with the Director of the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention and the Assistant 
Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall so-
licit best practices regarding techniques to interact with 
persons who have traumatic brain injury, acquired brain 
injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder from first re-
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sponder, brain injury, veteran, and mental health organi-
zations, health care and mental health providers, hospital 
emergency departments, and other relevant stakeholders, 
and shall develop crisis intervention training tools for use 
by first responders (as such term is defined in section 
3025) that provide— 
‘‘(1) information on the conditions and symp-
toms of traumatic brain injury, acquired brain in-
jury, and post-traumatic stress disorder; 
‘‘(2) techniques to interact with persons who 
have a traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain in-
jury, or post-traumatic stress disorder; and 
‘‘(3) information on how to recognize persons 
who have a traumatic brain injury, an acquired 
brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder. 
‘‘(b) USE OF TRAINING TOOLS AT LAW ENFORCE-
MENT MENTAL HEALTH LEARNING SITES.—The Attor-
ney General shall ensure that not less than one Law En-
forcement Mental Health Learning Site designated by the 
Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in consulta-
tion with the Council of State Governments Justice Cen-
ter, utilizes the training tools developed under subsection 
(a). 
‘‘(c) POLICE MENTAL HEALTH COLLABORATION 
TOOLKIT.—The Attorney General shall make the training 
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tools developed under subsection (a) available as part of 
the Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit provided 
by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.’’. 
SEC. 4. SURVEILLANCE AND REPORTING FOR FIRST RE-
SPONDERS WITH TBI. 
Section 393C of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 280b–1d) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) LAW ENFORCEMENT AND FIRST RESPONDER 
SURVEILLANCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, shall implement concussion 
data collection and analysis to determine the preva-
lence and incidence of concussion among first re-
sponders (as such term is defined in section 3025 of 
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 
1968 (34 U.S.C. 10705)). 
‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 
Secretary, acting through the Director of the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention and the Di-
rector of the National Institutes of Health and in 
consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the 
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relevant committees of Congress a report that con-
tains the findings of the surveillance conducted 
under paragraph (1). The report shall include sur-
veillance data and recommendations for resources 
for first responders who have experienced traumatic 
brain injury.’’. 
Æ 
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