H504 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE February 3, 2016 have every year, where our Nation fo- league Dr. PHIL ROE, who has worked ally detected 8 to 10 years after the cuses on praying for our Nation. I want with each of us as we have pulled provi- original trauma and include disorienta- to welcome my guests, Dr. and Mrs. sions into this bill to make certain tion, dizziness, and headaches. Franklin Page, who will join us this that we return to the principles of af- As the disease progresses, individuals week to recognize this time and to set fordability, accessibility, and account- with CTE can experience memory loss, aside time to celebrate our religious ability in patient-centered health care. social instability, erratic behavior, and liberty and the individual freedom that We think it is time for these moves to poor judgment. The worst cases of CTE becomes the focus of this week. take place. show symptoms of dementia, vertigo, There is also another focus that Mr. Speaker, I would like to return impeded speech, tremors, deafness, comes into mind as we talk about this everyone’s attention to the need to ad- slowing of muscular movements, and religious liberty. I want to take a mo- dress the issue of replacing the suicidal tendencies. ment and welcome and recognize the ObamaCare legislation so that we re- Dr. Omalu’s continued research on arrival of my new nephew, Grayson Lee duce the cost and increase the access of brain injuries and CTE has given us a Hunter. He is joining brothers Worth health care for all Americans. greater understanding of the long-term and Preston, his cousin Georgia Kate, f effects of repeated brain trauma. and his cousins Jack and Chase, who According to the CDC, approximately DR. OMALU’S DISCOVERIES AND are my grandsons. We know that being 3.8 million Americans every year suffer ACHIEVEMENTS able to grow up in freedom is such a from concussions and approximately wonderful gift, and we are excited The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 208,000 people seek treatment in emer- about that and excited about what in- Chair recognizes the gentleman from gency rooms for traumatic brain inju- dividual freedom means to each of us. California (Mr. MCNERNEY) for 5 min- ries. I want to turn our attention now to utes. b 1045 something that constricts that free- Mr. MCNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise dom, and that is what we see through today to recognize the medical Approximately two-thirds of those the President’s healthcare law. Again, achievements and discoveries of an ex- emergency room visits are children yesterday we came to the floor to push traordinary man from my district, Dr. ages 5 to 18. The rate of recurrence to repeal that law. This is something Bennet Omalu. with traumatic brain injuries is high. that we will continue. There is a rea- Dr. Omalu’s medical achievements, An athlete who sustains a concussion son for this. focusing primarily on brain injuries, is four to six times more likely to sus- Let me give you some examples. Last have recently come to prominence with tain a second concussion. week I was out in my district. I visited the movie ‘‘Concussion,’’ which chron- Of course, CTE research will also with constituents who are employers. I icles Dr. Omalu’s career and the con- apply to veterans who suffer from trau- want to cite three examples. One, an troversies that his discoveries have matic brain injuries from combat ac- employer of 76 people, another an em- created within the National Football tivity. ployer of 400 people, and another a League. Dr. Omalu’s medical research Dr. Omalu has advocated for more franchise owner, 3,000 people that are is also particularly relevant as we pre- education among athletes who play in this group. pare to watch Super Bowl 50 this week- high-contact sports, teaching them Let me tell you what I heard from end. about the risks associated with repet- each and every one of these individ- Dr. Omalu was born in Nnokwa, Nige- itive brain trauma. He has committed uals. Their employees, many of whom ria, and was the sixth of seven siblings. himself to advancing the medical un- are my constituents, want to see a re- His mother was a seamstress, and his derstanding of CTE, brain injuries, and turn to patient-centered, affordable father was a mining engineer and re- their effects on the people who suffer health care. They do not want more spected community leader who encour- from them. Big Government and more unfunded aged Omalu’s career in medicine. His Today, Dr. Omalu has eight advanced mandates that they are being forced to long medical career began at the age of degrees and board certifications, in- deal with. It changes the kind of health 16 when he started attending medical cluding master of public health and ep- care that they can get. school at the University of . idemiology and master of business ad- Now, when it comes to health insur- Omalu earned a bachelor of medicine ministration. He resides in Lodi, Cali- ance, what we have found is the esca- and a bachelor of surgery in 1990. fornia, and serves as the chief medical lation of cost to the individual because In 1994, Dr. Omalu moved to , examiner of San Joaquin County, Cali- of what is happening with the mandate. Washington, and completed an epide- fornia, and as a professor at the UC The insurance cost has gone up, the miology fellowship at the University of Davis Department of Medical Pathol- out-of-pocket deductibles, all of this is Washington. In 1995, he moved to New ogy and Laboratory Medicine. going up. What we also see is a cramp- York to complete his residency train- The Bennet Omalu Foundation is ing of access because of narrowed net- ing in anatomic and clinical pathology. committed to funding research, raising works. After completing his residency, Dr. awareness, providing care, and finding Another thing that is happening is Omalu trained as a forensic pathologist cures for people who suffer from CTE what is taking place through the over- at the Allegheny County Coroner’s Of- and traumatic brain injuries. It is im- sight boards, the preventive service fice in . perative, as a Nation, that we support task forces. These could also be called It was here, after conducting an au- research on CTE and brain injuries and some of those oxymoronic Federal topsy on former Pittsburgh Steeler figure out how much high-impact agencies because instead of opening up , that Dr. Omalu made a sports are affecting the health of our the healthcare process, what we see is groundbreaking discovery that would children and athletes. I ask my col- they are reducing what you have access forever change our understanding of leagues to join me in honoring the re- to, and it is also a slowdown in pay- brain injuries. Dr. Omalu was the first search and achievements of Dr. Bennet ment reimbursements for so many of to identify and diagnose and name Omalu and all he has done to further our Medicare recipients. That is what chronic traumatic encephalopathy. the understanding of the human brain. is happening in health care, and we are Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or f hearing about it from our employers. CTE, is a disease prevalent in athletes Now, there are options that are out who participate in high-contact sports HUD OVER-INCOME HOUSING there. Let me cite just a couple for my like football, boxing, and wrestling. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. colleagues. H.R. 2300, Empowering Pa- Since Dr. Omalu’s discovery, we now WOODALL). The Chair recognizes the tients First Act, that is the bill from know that CTE is a progressive, degen- gentleman from Florida (Mr. JOLLY) Dr. PRICE, and also, special attention erative disease that is found in people for 5 minutes. to, the Republican Study Committee who have suffered repetitive brain Mr. JOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today plan, the American Health Care Re- trauma, including subconcussive hits in support of bipartisan legislation form Act. It is H.R. 2653. Leading this that do not show any immediate symp- that the House recently passed, H.R. charge has been my Tennessee col- toms. Early symptoms of CTE are usu- 3700, the Housing Opportunity Through

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