I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2219 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to award a grant to a private, 

nonprofit entity to establish, publicize, and operate a national toll-free 

suicide prevention telephone hotline targeted to and staffed by veterans 

of the Armed Forces. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2007 

Mr. MORAN of Virginia (for himself, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 

LOEBSACK, Mr. HILL, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, and Mr. 

GILCHREST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to award a grant 

to a private, nonprofit entity to establish, publicize, and 

operate a national toll-free suicide prevention telephone 

hotline targeted to and staffed by veterans of the Armed 

Forces. 

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 ‘‘Veterans Suicide Pre5 vention Hotline Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE VET2VET NATIONAL SUI2 CIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

4 (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall award 

5 1 grant for a period of not more than 3 years to an eligible 

6 entity to establish, publicize, and operate a national toll7 free telephone number to serve as a suicide prevention hot8 line targeted to and staffed predominately by veterans of 

9 the Armed Forces. 

10 (b) HOTLINE ACTIVITIES.—The entity receiving the 

11 grant under subsection (a) shall— 

12 (1) enter into a contract with a telecommuni13 cations carrier for the use of a national toll-free tele14 phone number; 

15 (2) select, train, and supervise personnel (con16 sisting predominately of veterans of the Armed 

17 Forces) to answer incoming telephone calls and pro18 vide counseling and referral services to callers; 

19 (3) ensure that sufficient staffing is provided so 

20 that hotline services are available to callers at all 

21 times; 

22 (4) assemble and maintain a current database 

23 of information to be used to refer callers to local 

24 service providers, such as information about mental 

25 health service providers located throughout the 

26 United States (including regional mental health clinVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:40 May 09, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2219.IH H2219

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1 ics and Department of Veterans Affairs medical cen2 ters) and information about the availability of shel3 ters for homeless callers; 

4 (5) publicize the hotline to potential callers; and 

5 (6) to the extent that the entity receiving the 

6 grant provides hotline services through a local crisis 

7 center operating as a subcontractor, certify the ca8 pacity of and provide supplemental training for that 

9 local crisis center. 

10 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible to receive 

11 the grant under this section, a private, nonprofit entity 

12 shall prepare and submit an application at such time, in 

13 such form, and with such information and assurances as 

14 the Secretary may require, including a description of— 

15 (1) the training that will be provided by the en16 tity to ensure that personnel will be able to effec17 tively provide counseling and referral services and 

18 operate any technological systems used by the hot19 line; 

20 (2) the selection criteria for hotline personnel; 

21 (3) the recruitment process for obtaining vet22 erans to serve as hotline answering personnel; 

23 (4) the plan for— 

24 (A) creating, maintaining, and using the 

25 database described in subsection (b)(4), 


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1 (B) publicizing the availability of the hot2 line to potential callers through targeted mar3 keting to veterans, and 

4 (C) facilitating access to the hotline for 

5 people with hearing impairments; 

6 (5) the entity’s recognized expertise— 

7 (A) in the area of suicide prevention, and 

8 (B) in working with individuals who have 

9 served in the Armed Forces; and 

10 (6) the entity’s commitment to diversity and to 

11 the provision of appropriate services to ethnic mi12 norities, racial minorities, elderly individuals, and in13 dividuals with disabilities. 

14 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The entity receiving the 

15 grant under subsection (a) shall submit an annual report 

16 to the Secretary at such time, in such form, and with such 

17 information as the Secretary may require, including the 

18 hotline’s call volume, the demand for specific types of re19 ferrals, and the number of trained volunteers answering 

20 the hotline. 

21 (e) ANNUAL APPROVAL.—Payments of the grant 

22 awarded under this section shall be subject to annual ap23 proval by the Secretary and to the availability of appro24 priations for each fiscal year. 


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1 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro3 priated $2,500,000 each year for fiscal years 2008, 2009, 

4 and 2010 for grants under section 2. 

5 (b) CARRY OVER.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

6 to the authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) 

7 shall remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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