119-hres72

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 72 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
H. RES. 72

 Expressing support for the designation of January 30, 2025, as CTE 
 (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and RHI (repeated head impacts) 
 Awareness Day.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 28, 2025

 Mr. Fitzpatrick (for himself, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Cline, 
 Ms. Brownley, and Mr. Reschenthaler) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

 Expressing support for the designation of January 30, 2025, as CTE 
 (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and RHI (repeated head impacts) 
 Awareness Day.

Whereas chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a progressive degenerative 
 brain disease which appears in persons with a history of repeated head 
 injury sustained over a period of years;
Whereas, after decades of advancement in research related to repeated head 
 injuries, in October 2022, the National Institutes of Health

    (NIH) formally acknowledged that there is a causal link between repeated blows 
 to the head and CTE;
Whereas repetitive head impacts

    (RHI) have been shown to cause damage to the 
 white matter in developing brains;
Whereas researchers have found that in brains with CTE, there is buildup of an 
 abnormal protein, tau, in the brain leading to brain atrophy;
Whereas tau buildup is also found in Alzheimer's disease and other forms of 
 dementia, and people with CTE may show signs of another 
 neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer's, amyotrophic lateral 
 sclerosis

    (ALS) , Lewy body disease

    (LBD) , and Parkinson's disease;
Whereas the risk of developing CTE is greatest with athletes and military 
 veterans, who frequently endure repeated subconcussive blows to the head 
 from playing contact sports or suffer traumatic injury from military 
 training or blasting, but it has also appeared in survivors of domestic 
 abuse and those with epilepsy;
Whereas symptoms associated with CTE and RHI, such as memory loss, tremors, 
 addiction, progressive dementia, depression, suicidal thoughts, impaired 
 judgment, and paranoia, most often are present years or decades after 
 the brain trauma or hits stop, but have been found in a patient as young 
 as 17 years old;
Whereas, currently, CTE can only be definitively diagnosed after death through 
 postmortem neuropathological analysis;
Whereas advocacy organizations, health care providers, and institutional 
 researchers are dedicated to studying the causes and symptoms of CTE in 
 order to enable parents and families to make informed decisions 
 regarding the best interests of their children in youth sports and to 
 develop an earlier diagnostic tool so patients may address these 
 symptoms as early as possible; and
Whereas the Patrick Risha CTE Awareness Foundation, the Chandler Kimball 
 Foundation, the Mac Parkman Foundation, the Matthew Benedict's One Last 
 Goal foundation, the Zac Easter's CTE Hope foundation, and many other 
 organizations celebrate CTE and RHI Awareness Day across the United 
 States in order to reflect on those lost to CTE and RHI, how to help 
 those suffering with the disease, and most importantly how to stop the 
 disease: Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

    (1) supports the designation of CTE and RHI Awareness Day;

    (2) recognizes the doctors and researchers who advance the 
 study of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and RHI 
 (repeated head impacts), and thanks those who participate in 
 research studies and brain donations;

    (3) recognizes persons who may be suffering from symptoms 
 of CTE and RHI and their families and caregivers;

    (4) encourages the Centers for Disease Control and 
 Prevention
            (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health

    (NIH) to 
 publish information on CTE and RHI, in concussion education 
 materials, and educate the public on the symptoms and potential 
 contributing factors; and

    (5) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
 the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities that promote 
 awareness of CTE and RHI.
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