From: The Honorable Cedric L. Richmond
Sent By: joseph.lustig@mail.house.gov
Bill: H.R. 3986
Date: 11/12/2015
Co-Sponsor H.R. 3986, the High School Football Safety Study Act of 2015
Dear Colleague,
I write today to invite you to join me as a co-sponsor of H.R. 3986, the High School Football Safety Study Act of 2015. The bill directs the Centers for Disease Control, in consultation with the Department of Education and the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, to conduct a study on the causes of deaths in high school football, and to develop recommendations to prevent death and serious injury in the future, including innovative ways of harnessing technology and data analytics to keep student-athletes healthy.
In the wake of a recent spate of on-field deaths of high school football players, this bill will start a national conversation about how best to protect our students by bringing together government agencies, parents, coaches, athletic trainers, healthcare professionals, and all relevant stakeholders to offer their ideas to make high school football safer.
To date in 2015, seven high school football players have passed away from causes directly or indirectly related to football. Since these tragedies began to be recorded in 1931, 1,207 high school football players have passed away from such injuries. As Representatives, we all agree that our children are our greatest national treasure, and protecting them is our most important purpose in Congress. It is our responsibility to ensure that the federal government is doing what it can to prevent these deaths from happening in the future.
I invite you to join me as a co-sponsor of the High School Football Safety Study Act of 2015 so that we can make our beloved game of football safer for our students to play. Please contact my staffer at joseph.lustig@mail.house.gov to co-sponsor the bill or to ask any questions. Thank you for considering this request, and I hope you can join me in this critical effort!
Sincerely,
Cedric L. Richmond
Member of Congress