Bennet Champions HAVANA Act at White House Bill Signing Ceremony

Legislation Will Support U.S. Intelligence and Diplomatic Staff Who Have Suffered Head Injuries from Probable Directed Energy Attacks Abroad

Washington, D.C. – Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet attended President Joe Biden’s bill signing ceremony at the White House for the Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA) Act. This bipartisan legislation will support American public servants who have incurred brain injuries likely from directed energy attacks and authorize additional financial support for injured individuals. 

“Our diplomats and intelligence professionals put themselves in harm's way every day. But when they came under attack, our government met them with bureaucracy instead of the care they needed," said Bennet. "I’m glad the president signed our bipartisan legislation into law today to ensure treatment for public servants and their families who sustain traumatic brain injuries while working on behalf of our country. This is an important step forward in modernizing the way we confront evolving threats.”

Background

“Havana Syndrome” is the term given to an illness that first surfaced among more than 40 U.S. Embassy staff in Havana, Cuba, beginning in 2016. Since then, dozens more U.S. diplomats and members of the intelligence community at other locations have suffered symptoms that a study by the National Academy of Sciences found are consistent with the effects of directed, pulsed, radiofrequency energy. Symptoms have included dizziness, tinnitus, visual problems, vertigo, and cognitive difficulties, and many affected personnel continue to suffer from health problems years later. The HAVANA Act would give the CIA Director, the Secretary of State, and other agency heads additional authority to provide financial support to those suffering from brain injuries as a result of these attacks.

The legislation was authored by U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).