Key senators, including the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, are renewing a push for an in-depth study of how brain injuries affect veterans' mental health.
Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who also sits on the committee, reintroduced a bill this week that would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to partner with the National Academies of Sciences to conduct a 10-year study on the effects of repetitive low-level blast injuries.
"The Precision Brain Health Research Act will help us better understand why and how blast injuries are impacting veterans' mental health and make certain VA is able to quickly incorporate these findings into care for veterans and enable them to receive an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan," Moran said in a statement. "This legislation is a step toward providing veterans the evidence-based health care and benefits they have earned and deserve, and I look forward to its passage."
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The pair previously introduced the bill in December, but lawmakers did not have enough time to act on it before the end of the congressional session, necessitating its reintroduction. Moran, who became chairman in January, has identified veterans' mental health care as one of his priorities, and the blast injury bill is expected to be one of the pillars of his efforts in that area.
Lawmakers across the political spectrum have ramped up efforts to understand, prevent and treat traumatic brain injuries, or TBI, among service members and veterans amid a growing body of evidence that injuries and devastating symptoms are caused not just by enemy attacks but also from routine military activities such as repeatedly firing artillery.
Military.com has reported extensively on evidence that TBI is linked to an increased risk of suicide among veterans and that Pentagon officials squandered opportunities to get ahead of the issue.
Several high-profile tragedies also heightened lawmakers' interest in the issue, including reports that the Green Beret who died by suicide in a Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas on New Year's Day may have suffered from TBI and evidence that an Army reservist who carried out a mass shooting in Maine in 2023 had TBI.
"The bottom line is we must expand our understanding of the impact all blasts have on mental health, so that we can take proactive measures and protect the long-term health and well-being of our military community," King said in a statement about reintroducing his bill with Moran. "Here in Maine, we know all too well the horrible tragedies that can occur when brain injuries are left untreated."
Last year, Congress and the Pentagon did extensive work tackling the issue from the military side.
In August, the Pentagon rolled out a new brain health strategy that included giving new recruits baseline cognitive testing and requiring training instructors to stand farther away when some weapons are being fired.
Then, in December, Congress built on that and added sweeping new brain health efforts to its annual defense policy bill. Among the requirements in the defense bill are mandates to modify existing weapons to reduce blast exposure both for those using the weapons and those standing close by, and to develop future weapons systems with brain safety in mind.
Moran and King's bill would turn the focus to the VA side of the issue.
Under the bill, the VA would have to study data on treatments that are "illustrating positive outcomes for patients within the health system of the Veterans Health Administration with likely low-level repetitive blast injuries," according to bill text. The data assessment would also have to include a categorization of military occupational specialties and units known to experience higher levels of low-level repetitive blast injuries.
The VA would also have to research how to improve the diagnosis and care of veterans with likely low-level repetitive blast injuries, according to the bill. It would also need to study whether growth hormone replacement therapy, which some studies have found to be an effective TBI treatment, improves "cognitive function, quality of life, brain structure and other negative symptoms" for veterans with blast injuries.
The bill would also create a data-sharing partnership between the VA and the Pentagon, and allocate $5 million annually to fund the 10-year study.
The bill is endorsed by several veterans groups, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Wounded Warrior Project, according to Moran's office.
"Part of keeping our promise to veterans is making sure that the Department of Veterans Affairs is prepared to deliver the best possible care and support to those who suffered brain injuries in service," Brian Dempsey, director of government affairs at Wounded Warrior Project, said in a statement provided by Moran's office. "The Precision Brain Health Research Act of 2025 would set VA on a course to more effectively treat TBI and better understand the impact of repetitive low-level blast exposure on veterans' mental and brain health."
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