,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #addc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #i1 #bjac ,mr4
 ,michaud introduced the following bill2
 which was referred to the ,committee on
 ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to    
direct the ,secretary of ,veterans      
,affairs to recognize tinnitus as a     
mandatory condition for research and    
treatment by the ,department of         
,veterans ,affairs1 and for other       
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,tinnitus ,research 
and ,treatment ,act of #bjac4  #b4      
,recognition and treatment of tinnitus  
at ,department of ,veterans ,affairs    
,auditory ,centers of ,excellence ,the  
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
recognize tinnitus as a mandatory       
condition for research and treatment by 
the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs   
,auditory ,centers of ,excellence4  #c4 
,research on prevention and treatment of
 tinnitus ,the ,secretary of ,veterans  
,affairs shall ensure that research is  

conducted at ,department of ,veterans   
,affairs facilities on the prevention   
and treatment of tinnitus4 ,such        
research shall include--  7#a7 an       
assessment of the efficacy of           
multidisciplinary tinnitus treatment    
modalities on different subsets of      
patients2  7#b7 studies on the          
underlying etiology of tinnitus in      
veteran populations that occur as a     
result of different causal factors1     
including blast-related tinnitus where  
there is no measurable hearing loss     
versus other forms of noise-induced     
tinnitus where there is hearing loss2   
and  7#c7 a study of the underlying     
mechanisms between hearing loss and     
tinnitus1 including cases in which one  
or the other condition is present1 but  
not both4  #d4 ,interdepartmental       
cooperation ,the ,secretary of ,veterans
 ,affairs shall ensure the cooperation  
of the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs
 with the ,hearing ,center of           
,excellence established by the          

,department of ,defense to further      
research on tinnitus4