I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2189 

To require pre- and post-deployment mental health screenings for members 

of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2007 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. DOGGETT, 

Mr. PASTOR, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Ms. CASTOR, Mrs. CAPPS, 

Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. STARK, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. CARSON, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

ELLISON, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. TIERNEY, Ms. BORDALLO, 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, and Mrs. JONES of Ohio) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require pre- and post-deployment mental health 

screenings for members of the Armed Forces, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sgt. Jonathan Schulze 

5 Military Health Services Improvement Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) More than 250,000 United States 

4 servicemembers are serving their country in Oper5 ation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Free6 dom. 

7 (2) There currently are more than 100,000 ac8 tivated National Guard and reserve component 

9 forces engaged in the war on terrorism. 

10 (3) According to the Department of Veterans 

11 Affairs, nearly one in three veterans who served in 

12 Operation Iraqi Freedom sought mental health care 

13 within one year after their return from combat in 

14 Iraq or Afghanistan. 

15 (4) The Department of Defense reports that 

16 more than 10 percent of all medical evacuations 

17 from Iraq and Afghanistan are for mental health 

18 reasons. The Department of Veterans Affairs has al19 ready seen and diagnosed more than 73,000 vet20 erans with a mental health condition at Veterans Af21 fairs hospitals, and more than 144,000 were pro22 vided mental health counseling for post-combat read23 justment problems. 

24 (5) The stigma associated with mental health 

25 treatment remains a significant obstacle to seeking 

26 mental health care and the Department of Defense 


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1 has not yet instituted a meaningful antistigma cam2 paign. 

3 (6) Untreated post-traumatic stress disorder 

4 and other mental health illnesses have been linked to 

5 severe social problems, including alcohol and drug 

6 abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, familial dis7 integration, and homelessness. 

8 SEC. 3. PRE- AND POST-DEPLOYMENT SCREENING PRO9 GRAM FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

10 FORCES. 

11 (a) PRE- AND POST-DEPLOYMENT EVALUATIONS.— 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe in 

14 regulations— 

15 (1) a requirement that members of the Armed 

16 Forces deploying to a combat theater receive a men17 tal health evaluation conducted in person by a quali18 fied mental health professional before their deploy19 ment; and 

20 (2) a requirement that members of the Armed 

21 Forces returning from service of more than 30 days 

22 in a combat theater or who were injured in a combat 

23 theater receive a combat stress evaluation conducted 

24 in person by a qualified mental health professional 


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1 within 30 days after the date on which the member 

2 returns from the combat theater. 

3 (b) MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS PROGRAM.— 

4 (1) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

5 implement a program designed to— 

6 (A) raise awareness about mental health 

7 issues that members of the Armed Forces and 

8 their families may encounter during and after 

9 deployment of the member; and 

10 (B) reduce the stigma associated with 

11 mental health care. 

12 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary, pursu13 ant to regulations, may enter into arrangements 

14 with an accredited college, university, hospital-based, 

15 or community-based mental health center to carry 

16 out the program under this subsection. The Sec17 retary shall ensure that the program is made avail18 able in foreign languages if necessary to aid com19 prehension among persons to be helped by the pro20 gram. 

21 (3) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall carry out 

22 this subsection not later than 180 days after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act. 

24 (c) HOLD-HARMLESS FOR MENTAL HEALTH TREAT25 MENT.—In carrying out any mental health-related proVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:07 May 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2189.IH H2189

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1 gram, the Secretary shall ensure that inquiries about men2 tal health services shall not adversely affect an individual’s 

3 career. 

4 SEC. 4. MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS FOR DEPENDENTS. 

5 (a) PROGRAM.—Not later than one year after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

7 shall develop a program to improve awareness of the avail8 ability of mental health services for, and warning signs 

9 about mental health problems in, dependents of members 

10 of the Armed Forces whose sponsor served or will serve 

11 in a combat theater during the previous or next 60 days. 

12 (b) MATTERS COVERED.—The program developed 

13 under subsection (a) shall be designed to— 

14 (1) increase awareness of mental health services 

15 available to dependents of members of the Armed 

16 Forces on active duty; 

17 (2) increase awareness of mental health services 

18 available to dependents of Reservists and National 

19 Guard members whose sponsors have been activated; 

20 and 

21 (3) increase awareness of mental health issues 

22 that may arise in dependents referred to in para23 graphs (1) and (2) whose sponsor is deployed to a 

24 combat theater. 


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1 (c) TOLL-FREE NUMBER.—In carrying out this sec2 tion, the Secretary of Defense shall establish a toll-free 

3 informational telephone number and website devoted to 

4 helping members of the Armed Forces and their depend5 ents recognize, and locate treatment providers for, post6 traumatic stress disorder and other forms of combat 

7 stress. 

8 (d) COORDINATION.—The Secretary may permit the 

9 Department of Defense to coordinate the program devel10 oped under subsection (a) with an accredited college, uni11 versity, hospital-based, or community-based mental health 

12 center or engage mental health professionals to develop 

13 programs to help implement this section. 

14 (e) AVAILABILITY IN OTHER LANGUAGES.—The Sec15 retary shall ensure that the program developed under sub16 section (a) is made available in foreign languages if nec17 essary to aid comprehension among persons to be helped 

18 by the program. 

19 SEC. 5. IMPROVED COORDINATION BETWEEN THE DEPART20 MENT OF DEFENSE AND THE DEPARTMENT 

21 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

22 (a) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—Not later 

23 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

24 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 

25 Affairs shall enter into a memorandum of understanding 


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1 to improve the transition of mental health-related cases 

2 from the Department of Defense to the Department of 

3 Veterans Affairs. 

4 (b) MATTERS COVERED.—The memorandum of un5 derstanding under subsection (a) shall specifically include 

6 requirements— 

7 (1) that the Department of Defense report to 

8 the Department of Veterans Affairs any case or sus9 pected case of post-traumatic stress disorder, or 

10 other disorders or symptoms that result from deploy11 ment to a combat theater, in a member of the 

12 Armed Forces upon the member’s discharge from 

13 the Armed Forces; 

14 (2) that the Department of Defense report to 

15 the Department of Veterans Affairs any disciplinary 

16 measures taken against a member of the Armed 

17 Forces during or after service in a combat theater 

18 upon the member’s discharge from the Armed 

19 Forces; and 

20 (3) that the Department of Defense and the 

21 Department of Veterans Affairs ensure that a mem22 ber of the Armed Forces who is discharged for rea23 sons relating to mental health is automatically en24 rolled by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in the pa25 tient enrollment system under section 1705 of title 


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1 38, United States Code, and classified in the same 

2 manner as a veteran with a service-connected dis3 ability rated 50 percent or greater for purposes of 

4 determining such discharged member’s priority cat5 egory under such system. 

6 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

8 shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation 

9 of this section. 

10 SEC. 6. PILOT PROGRAM RELATING TO COMBAT STRESS. 

11 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

13 implement a pilot program specifically designed to treat 

14 female victims of combat stress, including post-traumatic 

15 stress disorder. 

16 SEC. 7. CLEARINGHOUSE FOR INFORMATION RELATING TO 

17 COMBAT STRESS TREATMENT PROFES18 SIONALS. 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall create 

21 an information clearinghouse to improve the availability 

22 of information about mental health professionals who treat 

23 combat stress. 


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1 SEC. 8. AVAILABILITY OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 

2 UNDER TRICARE FOR CERTAIN RESERVE 

3 MEMBERS AFTER DEACTIVATION. 

4 (a) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

5 prescribe regulations to provide for the availability of men6 tal health services under the TRICARE program under 

7 chapter 55 of title 10, United States Code, for an eligible 

8 member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces and 

9 the family members of the member, during the 48-month 

10 period following the date of termination of the member’s 

11 service in the reserve component. 

12 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this section, a 

13 member of a reserve component is eligible if— 

14 (1) the member was called or ordered to active 

15 duty for a period of more than 30 days under a pro16 vision of law referred to in section 101(a)(13)(B) of 

17 title 10, United States Code; and 

18 (2) the member served continuously on active 

19 duty for 90 or more days in a combat zone pursuant 

20 to such call or order or was injured at any time in 

21 a combat zone during such active duty. 

22 SEC. 9. DEFINITION. 

23 In this Act, the term ‘‘qualified mental health profes24 sional’’ means— 


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1 (1) an accredited psychologist, psychiatrist, 

2 child psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse, or clinical social 

3 worker; or 

4 (2) a student seeking a post-graduate degree in 

5 one of the following mental health-related fields: psy6 chiatry, psychology, psychiatric nursing, or clinical 

7 social work. 

Æ 


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