Jan Schakowsky: Committee On Energy & Commerce Wants Formal Congressional Hearing Regarding Football Safety, Head Injuries
(CBS) The ranking Democratic member on the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce has asked for a formal Congressional hearing regarding concussion research and how to increase the safety of football that it wants the NFL to appear for, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, said on the Laurence Holmes Show on 670 The Score on Tuesday evening.
Schakowsky's the Congresswoman whose forceful questioning on Monday led to a senior NFL health and safety official to admit on the league's behalf, for the first time ever, that there's a link between football-related head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The revelation came at an roundtable discussion on concussions convened by Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Now, that group wants something more formal to push for more progress, with legislation a possibility too, Schakowsky said.
"I hope we can continue this conversation and explore the research that's going on, the kinds of things that we might be able to implement for kids, if they're ought to be changes to the game," Schakowsky told Laurence Holmes. "Not even necessarily legislation-- and maybe there would be legislation like passing an appropriation so that we can get more information from the national institutes of health, more research."
Four committee members have written commissioner Roger Goodell and the league office to ask "where we can go from here, what kinds of things does he have in mind that we might be able to do to increase the safety of the game," Schakowsky said.
"I'm grateful if they're agreeing that there is this link," Schakowsky said. "I think we need to delve deeper."
Listen to Schakowsky's full interview below.