Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee House Bill HJR0001 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	<BillNo> <Sponsor>
3	3
4	4	HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 1
5	5	By Reedy
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8	8	HJR0001
9	9	000110
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12	12	A RESOLUTION to urge the United States Congress to enact
13	13	legislation and request that the Veterans
14	14	Administration work to expand and improve
15	15	efforts to treat traumatic brain injuries and post-
16	16	traumatic stress disorder.
17	17
18	18	WHEREAS, national veteran suicide crises data indicates that as many as twenty-two
19	19	veterans commit suicide every day; and
20	20	WHEREAS, traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder can be causes of
21	21	suicide; and
22	22	WHEREAS, data collected from 2000 to 2019 from Department of Defense numbers for
23	23	Active, Guard, and Reserve members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines indicate that
24	24	for all severities of traumatic brain injuries, a total of 413,858 service members suffer from
25	25	traumatic brain injuries; and
26	26	WHEREAS, the number of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder varies by service
27	27	era but ranges from approximately eleven percent to approximately thirty percent; and
28	28	WHEREAS, among the many societal costs of traumatic brain injury among the veteran
29	29	population in Tennessee are the fiscal impacts, with lost sales tax revenue related to veterans
30	30	suffering from traumatic brain injuries recently estimated at $37,549,847 annually; and
31	31	WHEREAS, traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder both involve
32	32	physical injury to brain tissue; and
33	33	WHEREAS, a tragically high number of veterans with traumatic brain injury and chronic
34	34	pain have become victims of the opioid use disorder epidemic; and
35	35	WHEREAS, current standards of care approved for veterans for traumatic brain injuries
36	36	and post-traumatic stress disorder focus on medication and counseling; and
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41	41	WHEREAS, additional treatments, vocational counseling, and rehabilitation therapies
42	42	exist that have been clinically proven to mitigate symptoms and improve recovery when used
43	43	alone or integrated with counseling. Additional therapies to treat traumatic brain injuries and
44	44	post-traumatic stress disorder include physical therapy, occupational therapy, cognitive therapy,
45	45	speech therapy, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy; and
46	46	WHEREAS, hyperbaric oxygen therapy couples hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatment,
47	47	which promotes oxygen for healing and restoring injured brain tissue, together with counseling;
48	48	and
49	49	WHEREAS, access to a variety of treatments improves a veteran's opportunities for
50	50	healing and recovery; and
51	51	WHEREAS, the Veterans' National Traumatic Injury Treatment Act (2023 H.R. 3649)
52	52	would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot program to furnish hyperbaric
53	53	oxygen therapy to veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress
54	54	disorder; now, therefore,
55	55	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED
56	56	FOURTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE
57	57	CONCURRING, that we strongly urge the United States Congress to swiftly enact legislation to
58	58	provide for veterans' access to treatments for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress
59	59	disorder that include hyperbaric oxygen therapy, such as the Veterans' National Traumatic
60	60	Injury Treatment Act, and any other legislation improving or authorizing access to other
61	61	important therapies and counseling, and legislation fostering research and development of
62	62	additional therapies.
63	63	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to
64	64	the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the President and the
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68	68
69	69	Secretary of the United States Senate, and each member of the Tennessee Congressional
70	70	delegation.