Last Wednesday, at the Democratic National Convention, former President Bill Clinton spoke, explaining why he believes his wife, Hillary Clinton, is the best candidate to lead this country for the next 4 years. He spoke of their courtship, their time as new parents, her time as a Senator, etc. Bill’s speech was long, many say too long, but interesting. Of particular interest was Bill’s statement that, “she worked for more extensive care for people with traumatic brain injury.”
Mr. Clinton’s statement came right after he discussed Hillary’s time on the Armed Services Committee. Because of her time on the Committee, many of the TBI-related pieces of legislation she sponsored were directed to those in Service. For example, she sponsored the Heroes at Home Act of 2007 (S.1065) which “directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program on training and certification of family caregivers of veterans and member with traumatic brain injury”. However, the TBI-related legislation that she co-sponsored was not necessarily directed solely towards the troops. As an example, the Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 2008, which includes 6 Sections, “authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of CDC, to conduct a study to (1) determine the incidence of traumatic brain injury and prevalence of traumatic brain injury related disability; (2) report national trends in traumatic brain injury; (3) identify common therapeutic interventions which are used for the rehabilitation of individuals with such injuries; (4) identify interventions and therapies that can prevent or re-mediate the development of secondary neurologic conditions related to traumatic brain injury; and (5) develop practice guidelines for such rehabilitation”.
Given that former President Clinton stated that Clinton worked tirelessly for those suffering from traumatic brain injury, one would think her efforts would be more evident. However, legislation review seems to show that former President Clinton’s statement is correct. It is those who suffer from traumatic brain injury and their caregivers to decide if public knowledge of legislation or the legislation itself is of more import.