H.R. 6823

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6823 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6823

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to 
facilitate the development of certain traumatic brain injury 
diagnostics for members of the Armed Forces.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 17, 2025

Mrs. Trahan (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Keating, and Ms. McBride) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to 
facilitate the development of certain traumatic brain injury 
diagnostics for members of the Armed Forces.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PILOT PROGRAM TO FACILITATE DEVELOPMENT OF CERTAIN TRAUMATIC 
BRAIN INJURY DIAGNOSTICS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

(a) Pilot Program.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, acting through the 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, shall establish a 
pilot program to--
(1) assess the feasibility of providing support to eligible 
entities engaged in the research, development, test, 
evaluation, or production of covered diagnostic technologies 
that may be procured by the Secretary and used in the diagnosis 
of traumatic brain injuries among members of the Armed Forces 
in connection with operational deployments, including in combat 
zones;
(2) assess covered diagnostic technologies to determine--
(A) whether such technologies are capable of 
distinguishing mild traumatic brain injury from 
moderate or severe traumatic brain injury;
(B) how such technologies may be used with other 
diagnostics or diagnostic aids for traumatic brain 
injury (including neuroimaging biomarkers used in 
computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging or 
molecular imaging, blood-based biomarkers, 
electrophysiological biomarkers, oculomotor tracking 
systems, and environmental sensors);
(C) how such technologies may be integrated with 
the detection of other indicators of physiological 
deficit, to enhance the health, survival, and long-term 
prognosis of members of the Armed Forces;
(D) how such technologies may improve military 
readiness through the improved brain health of members 
of the Armed Forces; and
(E) the extent to which such technologies may 
address concerns regarding the growing medical burden 
of traumatic brain injury by more accurately assessing 
and quantifying acute exposure; and
(3) facilitate the research, development, test, evaluation, 
and production of safe and effective covered diagnostic 
technologies, including by facilitating the research and 
development of new or updated manufacturing processes for such 
technologies and the transitioning of such technologies from 
the prototyping phase to the production phase.
(b) Designation.--The pilot program established under subsection 
(a) shall be known as the ``Warfighter Traumatic Brain Injury 
Diagnostics Project'' (in this section referred to as the ``pilot 
program'').
(c) Activities.--The pilot program shall include--
(1) the conduct of research studies to make the assessments 
specified in subsection (a), including studies conducted by, or 
in consultation with--
(A) trauma, primary care, and traumatic brain 
injury experts of the Department of Defense;
(B) emergency medical technicians of the 
Department;
(C) members of the Armed Forces diagnosed with 
traumatic brain injuries; and
(D) personnel of the Department who are experts in 
the covered diagnostic technologies assessed under such 
studies; and
(2) such activities as the Secretary determines may be 
necessary to incentivize participation in such studies by 
military medical treatment facilities, units of the United 
States Special Operations Command, civilian level one trauma 
centers, and such other entities as the Secretary determines 
appropriate.
(d) Grants.--
(1) Award of grants.--In carrying out the pilot program, 
the Secretary of Defense may award a grant to an eligible 
entity engaged in the research, development, test, evaluation, 
or production of covered diagnostics, consistent with 
subsection (a)(3).
(2) Priority of awards.--In awarding grants under paragraph 
(1), the Secretary shall give preference to an eligible entity 
that the Secretary determines meets one or more of the 
following criteria:
(A) The eligible entity has a demonstrated history 
of researching, developing, testing, evaluating, or 
producing a covered diagnostic technology.
(B) The eligible entity has a demonstrated history 
of researching, developing, testing, evaluating, or 
producing a covered diagnostic technology or other 
related capability in the national technology and 
industrial base (as such term is defined in section 
4801 of title 10, United States Code).
(C) The covered diagnostic technology researched, 
developed, tested, evaluated, or produced by such 
eligible entity provides modularity to support diverse 
applications.
(3) Use of grant amounts.--An eligible entity awarded a 
grant under paragraph (1) may only use such grant amounts to 
carry out one or more of the following activities:
(A) Conducting research, development, testing, or 
evaluation activities to validate a covered diagnostic 
technology (including through experimentation, 
prototyping, or adapting such technology), to determine 
or improve the potential operational use to the 
Department of Defense of such technology, or to 
integrate such technology with other technologies and 
systems, including with respect to new or existing 
pathways of care.
(B) Addressing manufacturing or other production 
challenges relating to a covered diagnostic technology.
(C) Providing commercially available covered 
diagnostic technologies to any Secretary of a military 
department, or commander of a combatant command, to 
support use assessments or other testing by members of 
the Armed Forces.
(D) Building or strengthening relationships with 
nontraditional defense contractors in the technology 
industry that may be capable of providing unused or 
underused solutions to specific operational challenges 
of the Department relating to traumatic brain injury 
diagnostics technology.
(e) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date on which the 
pilot program terminates under subsection (g), the Secretary of Defense 
shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the 
results of the pilot program. Such report shall include--
(1) a summary of the results of the pilot program;
(2) a determination of the Secretary regarding whether to 
procure and adopt covered diagnostic technologies in addition 
to tools already used by medical providers of the Department of 
Defense to screen for traumatic brain injury at the point of 
injury; and
(3) any recommendations of the Secretary regarding 
necessary steps to promote the use of covered diagnostic 
technologies that meet the needs of the Armed Forces, including 
any legislative solutions that may be necessary.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $5,000,000 to the Secretary of Defense for each of fiscal 
years 2026 through 2029 to carry out this section.
(g) Termination.--The authority to carry out the program shall 
terminate on September 30, 2029.
(h) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``congressional defense committees'' has the 
meaning given that term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, 
United States Code.
(2) The term ``covered diagnostic technology'' means a 
device that aids in the diagnosis of traumatic brain injury, 
including by assisting clinicians in making such a diagnosis.
(3) The term ``civilian level one trauma center'' has the 
meaning given that term in section 708 of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328; 10 
U.S.C. 1071 note).
(4) The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) any entity organized under the laws of the 
United States or any jurisdiction within the United 
States; or
(B) any entity that is owned by an entity described 
in subparagraph (A).
(5) The term ``nontraditional defense contractor'' has the 
meaning given that term in section 3014 of title 10, United 
States Code.
<all>