II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 928 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prepare an annual report 

on suicide prevention, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2023 

Mr. TESTER (for himself and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prepare an 

annual report on suicide prevention, 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 ‘‘Not Just a Number 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL VETERAN SUICIDE PREVENTION AN7 NUAL REPORT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, and not later than 

10 September 30 of each year thereafter, the Secretary of 


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1 Veterans Affairs shall submit to the appropriate commit2 tees of Congress and publish on a publicly available 

3 website of the Department of Veterans Affairs a report 

4 to be known as the ‘‘National Veteran Suicide Prevention 

5 Annual Report’’. 

6 (b) EXTENSION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary requires an 

8 extension of the deadline for a report under sub9 section (a), the Secretary shall submit to the appro10 priate committees of Congress a written request for 

11 such an extension. 

12 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each written request under 

13 paragraph (1) for an extension for a report shall in14 clude the following: 

15 (A) The rationale for the delay in submit16 ting the report. 

17 (B) An explanation of the need for an ex18 tension. 

19 (C) A proposed amended date for the sub20 mittal and publication of the report. 

21 (c) BRIEFING.—Before submitting a report under 

22 subsection (a), the Secretary shall brief the appropriate 

23 committees of Congress on the report. 

24 (d) ELEMENTS OF REPORT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each report under sub2 section (a) shall include the findings of the national 

3 analysis of veteran suicide rates for the latest year 

4 data is available and shall include trends and com5 parisons to previous years. 

6 (2) ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS.—Each report 

7 under subsection (a) shall include, for the year cov8 ered by the report, the following: 

9 (A) Suicide rates of veterans disaggregated 

10 by age, gender, and race or ethnicity. 

11 (B) Trends in suicide rates of veterans 

12 compared to engagement of those veterans with 

13 health care from the Veterans Health Adminis14 tration, including an examination of trends in 

15 suicide rates or deaths among— 

16 (i) veterans who have recently received 

17 health care from the Veterans Health Ad18 ministration as compared to veterans who 

19 have never received health care from the 

20 Veterans Health Administration; 

21 (ii) veterans who are enrolled in the 

22 patient enrollment system of the Depart23 ment of Veterans Affairs under section 

24 1705(a) of title 38, United States Code, as 


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1 compared to veterans who have never en2 rolled in such system; 

3 (iii) veterans who have recently used 

4 services from a Vet Center as compared to 

5 veterans who have never used such serv6 ices; 

7 (iv) veterans who have a diagnosis of 

8 substance use disorder; and 

9 (v) other groups of veterans relating 

10 to engagement with health care from the 

11 Veterans Health Administration, as the 

12 Secretary considers practicable. 

13 (C) Trends in suicide rates of veterans 

14 compared to engagement of those veterans with 

15 benefits from the Veterans Benefits Administra16 tion, including an examination of trends in sui17 cide rates or deaths among— 

18 (i) veterans who are currently using, 

19 have previously used, or have never used 

20 educational assistance under the laws ad21 ministered by the Secretary; 

22 (ii) veterans who are currently receiv23 ing, have previously received, or have never 

24 received services or assistance under chap25 ter 31 of title 38, United States Code; 


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1 (iii) with respect to compensation 

2 under chapter 11 of such title— 

3 (I) veterans who were recipients 

4 of such compensation as compared to 

5 veterans who never applied for such 

6 compensation prior to death; 

7 (II) veterans who had a claim de8 nied for such compensation prior to 

9 death; 

10 (III) veterans who had a pending 

11 claim for such compensation at time 

12 of death; and 

13 (IV) veterans who had an entitle14 ment for such compensation reduced 

15 prior to death; 

16 (iv) veterans who are currently receiv17 ing or have never received pension under 

18 chapter 15 of title 38, United States Code; 

19 (v) veterans who are currently using, 

20 have previously used, or have never used 

21 programs or services provided by the 

22 Homeless Programs Office of the Depart23 ment, including an examination of trends 

24 in suicide rates or deaths among veterans 

25 who made contact with such office but 


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1 were denied or deemed ineligible for any 

2 such program or service; 

3 (vi) with respect to housing loans 

4 guaranteed by the Secretary under chapter 

5 37 of title 38, United States Code— 

6 (I) veterans who applied for such 

7 a loan, whether their application was 

8 accepted or not; 

9 (II) veterans who are current re10 cipients of, were previously recipients 

11 of, or have never received such a loan; 

12 and 

13 (III) veterans who were turned 

14 down for such a loan by a lender; 

15 (vii) with respect to financial hard16 ships— 

17 (I) veterans facing health care 

18 debts; 

19 (II) veterans owing debts to the 

20 Department; 

21 (III) veterans owing debts to for22 profit businesses assisting veterans 

23 with claims for benefits under the 

24 laws administered by the Secretary; 

25 and 


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1 (IV) veterans facing foreclosure 

2 or bankruptcy; 

3 (viii) veterans who were involved in a 

4 veterans treatment court program, whether 

5 they graduated successfully or not; and 

6 (ix) veterans who were successfully 

7 contacted, unsuccessfully contacted, or 

8 never contacted by the Department 

9 through the Solid Start program under 

10 section 6320 of title 38, United States 

11 Code. 

12 (3) STRATEGY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

13 (A) INITIAL REPORT.—The initial report 

14 under subsection (a) shall include a strategy 

15 and recommendations developed by the Sec16 retary of Veterans Affairs, in collaboration with 

17 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

18 and Prevention and the Secretary of Defense, 

19 for— 

20 (i) improving data collection at the 

21 State and local levels to accurately capture 

22 suicide deaths of veterans; 

23 (ii) improving the timeliness, efficacy, 

24 and standardization of data reporting on 

25 suicide deaths of veterans at the Federal 


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1 level, including by the Centers for Disease 

2 Control and Prevention, the Department of 

3 Defense, and the Department of Veterans 

4 Affairs; 

5 (iii) improving the timeliness of identi6 fication and analysis of suicide deaths of 

7 veterans by Federal agencies, including the 

8 Centers for Disease Control and Preven9 tion, the Department of Defense, and the 

10 Department of Veterans Affairs; and 

11 (iv) any other necessary process im12 provements for improving the timeliness, 

13 efficacy, and standardization of reporting 

14 of data relating to suicide deaths of vet15 erans, particularly with respect to the an16 nual report under this section. 

17 (B) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—Each report 

18 after the initial report under subsection (a) 

19 shall include updates on actions taken to meet 

20 the strategy and recommendations developed 

21 under subparagraph (A). 

22 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON24 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con25 gress’’ means the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 


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1 the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

2 of the House of Representatives. 

3 (2) VET CENTER.—The term ‘‘Vet Center’’ 

4 means a center for readjustment counseling and re5 lated mental health services for veterans under sec6 tion 1712A of title 38, United States Code. 

7 SEC. 3. REPORT ON ADDITIONAL BENEFITS AND SERVICES 

8 FROM DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

9 TO PREVENT VETERAN SUICIDE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three years after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

12 Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Vet13 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet14 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and publish 

15 on a publicly available website of the Department of Vet16 erans Affairs a report that analyzes which benefits and 

17 services from the Department, including the Veterans 

18 Benefits Administration, have the greatest impact on pre19 vention of suicide among veterans, including recommenda20 tions for potential expansion of services and benefits to 

21 reduce the number of veteran suicides. 

22 (b) ASSESSMENT OF SOLID START PROGRAM.—The 

23 report required by subsection (a) shall include an analysis 

24 of the effectiveness of the Solid Start program under secVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S928.IS S928

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1 tion 6320 of title 38, United States Code, on prevention 

2 of suicide among veterans. 

3 SEC. 4. TOOLKIT FOR STATE AND LOCAL CORONERS AND 

4 MEDICAL EXAMINERS ON BEST PRACTICES 

5 FOR IDENTIFYING AND REPORTING ON SUI6 CIDE DEATHS OF VETERANS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Af8 fairs, in collaboration with the Director of the Centers for 

9 Disease Control and Prevention, shall develop a toolkit for 

10 State and local coroners and medical examiners that con11 tains best practices for— 

12 (1) accurately identifying and reporting suicide 

13 deaths of veterans, including how to identify veteran 

14 status; and 

15 (2) reporting such deaths to the Centers for 

16 Disease Control and Prevention and other applicable 

17 entities. 

18 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Not later than two years after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

20 make the toolkit developed under subsection (a) available 

21 on a publicly available website of the Department of Vet22 erans Affairs. 

23 (c) OUTREACH.—The Secretary, in collaboration with 

24 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre25 vention, shall conduct outreach to appropriate State and 


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1 local agencies to promote the availability and use of the 

2 toolkit developed under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 5. STUDY ON FEASIBILITY AND ADVISABILITY OF CRE4 ATING A SUICIDE PREVENTION OFFICE OF 

5 THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—After the submittal by the Comp7 troller General of the United States to the Committee on 

8 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet9 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives of the man10 agement review required under section 403 of the Com11 mander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care 

12 Improvement Act of 2019 (Public Law 116–171; 134 

13 Stat. 810), which required a management review of the 

14 mental health and suicide prevention services provided by 

15 the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Vet16 erans Affairs shall— 

17 (1) review the findings and recommendations of 

18 the management review; and 

19 (2) conduct a study on the feasibility and advis20 ability of creating a suicide prevention office of the 

21 Department of Veterans Affairs at the level of the 

22 Office of the Secretary that would elevate suicide 

23 prevention as a top priority across the entire De24 partment, including with respect to the work and 

25 programs of the Veterans Benefits Administration 


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1 and under partnerships with other entities, including 

2 other Federal agencies and non-governmental part3 ners. 

4 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 

6 after the submittal by the Comptroller General of 

7 the management review described in subsection (a), 

8 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Vet9 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

10 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a 

11 report summarizing— 

12 (A) any actions planned or taken, includ13 ing reorganizations or changes to reporting or 

14 governance structures, in response to the man15 agement review, including any completion dates 

16 or targeted completion dates for any such ac17 tions; and 

18 (B) the results of the study required under 

19 subsection (a)(2), which shall include an exam20 ination of the considerations for creating a sui21 cide prevention office of the Department of Vet22 erans Affairs at the level of the Office of the 

23 Secretary, including— 

24 (i) benefits and potential drawbacks; 


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1 (ii) projected costs and staffing needs, 

2 including new full-time equivalent employ3 ees and transferred full-time equivalent 

4 employees; and 

5 (iii) suggested organizational and 

6 leadership structure and principal activities 

7 and functions of the suicide prevention of8 fice. 

9 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING ORGANIZA10 TION AND LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE.—In providing 

11 suggestions for organizational and leadership struc12 ture under the report under paragraph (1)(B)(iii), 

13 the Secretary shall— 

14 (A) assess whether the suicide prevention 

15 office of the Department should be led by a po16 litical appointee, a career employee in a Senior 

17 Executive Service position (as defined in section 

18 3132 of title 5, United States Code) or equiva19 lent, or another position type; and 

20 (B) detail which functions would remain in 

21 the current Office of Mental Health and Suicide 

22 Prevention of the Veterans Health Administra23 tion, including an assessment of where manage24 ment of the Veterans Crisis Line under section 


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1 1720F(h) of title 38, United States Code, 

2 should reside. 

Æ 


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