WASHINGTON, D.C., November 10, 2025 — Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA), a West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran, has introduced bipartisan legislation with Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), which aims to improve treatments for traumatic brain injury (TBI) among veterans.
The Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Adaptive Care Opportunities Nationwide Act establishes a new grant program through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to fund research and development of innovative treatments for chronic mild TBI among veterans, with a focus on neurorehabilitation, mental health outcomes, and suicide prevention. This new program will develop pilot programs, partnerships, and independent studies to test and validate new therapies to support innovative treatments of brain injury or mental health care.
“Members of our nation’s military put their lives on the line in defense of our freedom and far too often are plagued by the physical and mental wounds of war when they return home,” said Senator McCormick. “As I think about the soldiers I served alongside, I feel this issue deeply. Our veterans deserve access to innovative and groundbreaking TBI treatments that will enhance their quality of life and finally address the suicide epidemic among servicemembers.”
“Our veterans put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms, and they deserve every resource available to heal from the invisible wounds of service,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan bill to expand access to innovative treatments to improve long-term recovery and enhance the quality of life for veterans living with Traumatic Brain Injuries. As long as I’m in the Senate, I’ll always work across party lines to provide the men and women who serve our nation with the support and resources they deserve.”
Senator McCormick is also the lead cosponsor of Senator Rosen’s VA Zero Suicide Demonstration Project Act of 2025. Below is a list of additional measures Senator McCormick has supported to improve the lives of America’s veterans and their families:
- The Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act (HUDVA) to permanently exclude disability payments received by veterans from annual income for housing assistance eligibility purposes under the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program.
- The Dennis and Lois Krisfalusy Act to expands burial benefits for veterans’ families by expanding eligibility for a memorial headstone or marker for the spouse, surviving spouse, child, or dependent of a veteran or member of the Armed Forces. Currently, for individuals whose remains are unavailable, such benefit is only available for individuals who died on or after November 11, 1998. The bill makes such individuals eligible regardless of the date they died.
- The Pay Our Military Act of 2025 to provide continuing appropriations for military pay for any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for FY2026 are not in effect (i.e., a government shutdown). The bill includes pay and allowances for (1) members of the Armed Forces, including reserve components, who perform active service during the period; and (2) civilian personnel and contractors of the Department of Defense (and the Department of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard) who are providing support to such members of Armed Services.
- The Military Spouses Hiring Act to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make employers of spouses of military personnel eligible for the work opportunity credit.
- The Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act to require the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to establish the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Program to identify deceased members of the Armed Forces who were Jewish and buried in a U.S. military cemetery located outside of the United States under a marker indicating the member was not Jewish.
- The Major Richard Start Act to provide for concurrent receipt of veterans’ disability compensation and retired pay for disability retirees with combat-related disabilities, and for other purposes.
BACKGROUND
- Since 2000, more than 400,000 veterans have sustained TBI. According to a 2024 Department of War report, Report on Incidence of Military Suicides by Military Job Code”, between 2011-2022 troops regularly exposed to blasts and explosions faced suicide rates roughly twice as high as those service members who work in noncombat roles such as data processing or food service.
- According to the New York Times, the suicide rate for explosive ordnance disposal team members who disable roadside bombs and are exposed to repeated blasts had the highest suicide rate — 34.77 deaths per 100,000 people per year. Infantry and special operations forces, armor crews, and artillery troops have rates closer to 30 deaths per 100,000. The current suicide rate for civilians nationally is about 14 deaths per 100,000 per year.
- Current treatments for TBI often fall short in addressing associated mental health conditions and long-term recovery. The integrative treatments of this program will target the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being factors critical to ensuring veterans are receiving the holistic care and treatment they deserve.
- By prioritizing cutting-edge research and treatment for veterans who have suffered TBI, this initiative aims to proactively reduce underlying depression and substance use disorders which can lead to suicidality and will complement existing VA efforts such as the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grants program.
###