U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) unveiled a bill on Tuesday that would study the impact of "repetitive low-level blast injuries" on the military and how they could impact brain health.
The bill, the Precision Health Research Act, co-sponsored by King and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) would be companion legislation to the Blast Overpressure Safety Act, which would direct the Defense Department "to enact a range of measures to help mitigate and protect servicemembers from high-intensity blast overpressure."
The Precision Health Research Act would examine the role of all military weapons that could impact the brain, including gunfire, breaching charges (used to clear doorways or other small passages), and other weapons. The bill, if approved, would unlock $5 million in funding per year over 10 years, and would research veterans who were exposed to various forms of brain impacts, according to King's office.
"Traumatic brain injuries are a common, yet misunderstood and often undetectable, injury -- and they can be traced to large blasts in small amounts or smaller blasts that add up over time, so we need to address them in all their forms," King said in a statement. "We have a duty to expand our understanding of the impact these blasts have on mental health, and to protect the long-term health and well-being of our military community. Here in Maine, we know all too well the horrible tragedies that can occur when TBIs are left untreated."
Robert Card, the Lewiston shooter who killed 18 people in October, 2023, was "exposed to thousands of low-level blasts" during years of U.S. Army reservist grenade training in New York state, according to personnel records and a 2024 forensic analysis of Card's brain tissue conducted by Boston University. Brain injury likely played a role in his declining mental health, including hearing voices and a July 2024 mental health hospitalization in New York state, in the months before the shooting, according to the Boston University report.
The bill would direct the Veterans Administration to "establish the effects of repetitive low-level blast injuries, where benchmarks must be reported to Congress, in order to develop further legislation for veterans who suffer from the effects of these repetitive blast exposures."
The Blast Overpressure Safety Act, if approved, would mandate brain testing for active military, establish training protocols to emphasize brain safety and change the design of weapons during the manufacturing process to lessen their impact during training.
"Recent studies have tied low-level blasts, which servicemembers are exposed to during training and in combat, to high rates of brain and mental health conditions, as well as suicides," Moran said in a statement.
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