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Congresswoman Beatty Attends White House Concussion Summit

May 29, 2014

Congresswoman Beatty Attends White House Concussion Summit

Sponsor of Concussion Awareness and Education Act, H.R. 3964

Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03) attended the White House Healthy Kids & Safe Sports Concussion Summit. Rep. Beatty was invited due to her leadership on improving education, research, and awareness about concussion injuries.

"This Summit was about protecting our nation's student athletes. We can, and must, do better coordinating research on the treatment and prevention of concussive injuries and protecting the overall brain health of our student athletes and military trainees. This is a top priority for me," said Rep. Beatty.

Rep. Beatty introduced the Concussion Awareness and Education Act, H.R. 3954, which parallels the goals of the Summit and would require the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense to conduct systemic research and formulate recommendations to address key components on the treatment, surveillance and prevention of concussion injuries. She is also the lead Democrat on the National Collegiate Athletics Accountability Act, H.R. 2903, that would require annual baseline concussion testing of certain collegiate athletes in addition to providing student aid assurances to student athletes who become injured and unable to play. To educate Members of Congress and their staffs, Rep. Beatty and Rep. Dent (PA-15) held a bi-partisan Congressional briefing on the effects of concussion injuries on student athletes which featured prominent doctors and researchers, from the National Institutes of Health, world-renounced facilities, as well as Member of Congress who were former student athletes.

At the Summit, President Obama was joined by athletes, parents, coaches, academics and experts, military service members, and other key stakeholders. During the event, the White House announced two core goals to reduce instances and impacts of concussions: 1) to raise awareness about how to identify and prevent concussions; and 2) to conduct additional research in the field of sports-related concussions to better address concussions among student athletes.

"Today's Summit represents a huge step forward in creating an environment where all stakeholders, including coaches, trainers, parents and student athletes do their part to decrease instances of sports-related brain injuries and effectively treat those who are injured," said Rep. Beatty. "I will continue to push forward on this important issue because it is in our nation's interest to ensure that our athletes and military trainees stay safe and healthy."