Collins, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Officers’ Access to Care at Walter Reed Medical Center

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced the WIRe Act, bipartisan legislation that would ensure wounded officers and their families have immediate access to specialized facilities at Walter Reed Medical Center.

“It is unacceptable that some victims of probable directed energy attacks did not receive the medical support they should have expected from our government when they were injured,” said Senator Collins. “American personnel who have undergone these attacks while serving our country should be treated the same way we would treat a soldier who suffered a traumatic injury on the battlefield. Walter Reed Medical Center has a world-renowned treatment center for TBIs, and our bipartisan legislation would ensure non-DOD personnel have prompt access to this top-notch care.”

Walter Reed Army National Military Medical Center and its National Intrepid Center of Excellence has been the nation’s premier institution for the treatment of traumatic brain injuries for more than a decade. The WIRe Act would ensure that all U.S. government personnel who may have suffered a brain injury as the result of an attack during the course of their duties receives immediate treatment at this facility. It also directs elements of the departments and agencies of the federal government to remove any bureaucratic impediments to the immediate delivery of needed services.

Earlier this month, Senator Collins led a bipartisan effort in introducing the Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA) Act, legislation that would support American public servants who have incurred brain injuries from probable directed energy attacks by authorizing additional financial support.

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