Bill Pascrell: “I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6615, the Traumatic Brain…”

“I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6615, the Traumatic Brain Injury Program Reauthorization Act of 2018. I join the traumatic brain injury community in expressing my gratitude to both Chairman Walden and our incoming Chairman Frank Pallone for their work to swiftly move this important legislation forward. Millions of Americans living with a traumatic brain injury can be assured that better treatments and potential cures are in the not too distant future. While the House passed legislation unanimously just last week, the Senate made some minor changes that are both welcome and nonsubstantive before they passed the bill yesterday. There is one semantic change that does not have any impact on definitions or programs, as well as a regrouping of funding in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention TBI budget. While the bill includes the same amount of funding that was included before, it will give the CDC more flexibility to use and sustain their funding to implement the National Concussion Surveillance System. As the lead sponsor of this bill, I fought hard to ensure it contain the increase in funding that we secured in the fiscal year 2018 omnibus, as well as enough funding for CDC to finally be able to implement the Nation's first surveillance program. I might add to the Speaker and to Mr.…”