Brycen Gray and Ben Price Covid-19 Cognitive Research Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, the Brycen Gray and Ben Price COVID-19 Cognitive Research Act. I was proud to introduce this legislation alongside my friends Ms. Wild, Mr. Kinzinger, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Meijer, Mr. Peters, Mr. Joyce, and Mr. Gibbs, and I thank each of them for their leadership on the issue. I also thank the two wonderful leaders of our committee, Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas, and their staffs for moving this important legislation forward.

Before I get into the heart of the bill, I will take a minute to share a little bit about who Brycen Gray and Ben Price were.

Brycen Gray was a 17-year-old young man from my district in northeast Ohio. Adored by his parents, Shawn and Tara, as well as his brothers, Ricky and Patrick, Brycen sadly passed a little over a year ago. Known for his quick wit and sense of humor with just the right amount of sarcasm, Brycen could inspire the kind of laughter that makes you cry. Brycen was loving, charismatic, and selfless. Brycen was the kind of kid every parent dreams of.

Ben Price was a 48-year-old loving husband to his wife Jennifer, and a devoted father to their two amazing children Jett and Maya. Sadly, we lost Ben at the beginning of last year. Ben was a busy small business owner and farmer from the outskirts of Chicago, but his life revolved around his family, friends, and community. One of his passions was to jump-start the Special Connections of Grundy County, whose mission is to connect people with disabilities, like his beloved son Jett, to their community. Ben led by example and loved without reservation.

Both Brycen and Ben tragically passed after battles with cognitive impairments caused by COVID-19. Despite having no history of mental illness, each of them began to battle symptoms such as anxiety, panic, and paranoia. The disease took Brycen and Ben from two of the healthiest, most vibrant people you could find to individuals so debilitated that they could not bear to live another day. While they fought to the bitter end, each chose to end their pain.

There is no greater joy than being a parent. For those of us blessed to have children, we know it is the most important job any of us will ever have. To be sure, there are plenty of challenges attributed to the job. There is nothing more rewarding than watching your children grow, while at the same time there is nothing more terrifying than watching your children experience the tragedies that befell Brycen and Ben.

That is why the health and safety of our children should always come first. That is exactly why I started working on this bill. If we believe in protecting our families, we need to act now and start finding answers to why COVID-19 can have such a significant impact on the brain.

The legislation before us today is another important step in that effort. Thus far, we have learned that as many as one in three COVID-19 survivors experience a cognitive impairment following their acute infection. More alarming, nearly one in eight COVID-19 survivors are diagnosed with an illness for the first time. With nearly 80 million documented cases of infection in the U.S., the health implications could be massive.

While anxiety, mood, and brain fog are among the most common symptoms, researchers have also uncovered a prevalence of serious complications such as psychosis, dementia, paralysis, and brain hemorrhages. Moreover, additional impairments related to cognitive syndrome like impairments in memory, executive function, attention, and speed of information are common among COVID-19 survivors.

Despite the significant progress made by researchers to improve our understanding of COVID-19, it remains unclear how the virus alters brain function, who is most at risk, and what can be done to quickly diagnose and treat impacted patients.

The Brycen Gray and Ben Price COVID-19 Cognitive Research Act aims to close these gaps by accelerating our research efforts. Specifically, it authorizes the NSF to award grants on a competitive basis to support interdisciplinary research on the disruption of regular cognitive processes associated with both short-term and long-term COVID-19 infections.

Grantees will be tasked with carrying out foundational studies on the effects of cognition, emotion, neural structure, and function related to COVID-19 infections, developing new tools to evaluate cognitive disruptions from COVID-19, and examining the relevance of psychological and psychosocial factors. In addition, the bill stands up a team at the National Academies to study and produce a report on the issue.

We can't bring Brycen and Ben back, but we can ensure that their memories live on. I don't want to lose any more Americans because we weren't bold enough to take on an issue that might scare us, an issue we don't fully understand, an issue that is far more common than many in this body realize.

No family should have to endure the tragedy of losing a loved one from COVID-19's cognitive impacts. The Brycen Gray and Ben Price COVID- 19 Cognitive Research Act ensures we will do everything in our power to find answers and deliver solutions. We cannot afford to lose any more time.

Again, I thank Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas for their constant, incredible leadership on our committee. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

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