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109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1639

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

of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 14, 2005

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. EVANS, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

OBERSTAR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. CASE, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. 

GUTIERREZ, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, 

Ms. HOOLEY, Mr. STARK, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. SERRANO, 

Mr. HINCHEY, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

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 ‘‘Military Health Serv5 ices Improvement Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) More than 160,000 United States 

2 servicemembers are serving their country in Oper3 ation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Free4 dom. 

5 (2) There currently are more than 100,000 ac6 tivated National Guard and reserve component 

7 forces engaged in the war on terrorism. 

8 (3) According to the Department of the Army, 

9 nearly one in six soldiers who have served in Oper10 ation Iraqi Freedom suffers from post-traumatic 

11 stress disorder. 

12 (4) More than 900 soldiers have been evacuated 

13 from Iraq since the beginning of Operation Iraqi 

14 Freedom because of mental health problems. 

15 (5) The stigma associated with mental health 

16 treatment remains a significant obstacle to seeking 

17 mental health care. 

18 (6) Untreated post-traumatic stress disorder 

19 and other mental health illnesses have been linked to 

20 severe social problems, including alcohol and drug 

21 abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, familial dis22 integration, and homelessness. 
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1 SEC. 3. PRE- AND POST-DEPLOYMENT SCREENING PRO2 GRAM FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

3 FORCES. 

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

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

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

7 regulations—

8 (1) a requirement that members of the Armed 

9 Forces deploying to a combat theater receive a men10 tal health evaluation conducted in person by a quali11 fied mental health professional before their deploy12 ment; and 

13 (2) a requirement that members of the Armed 

14 Forces returning from service of more than 30 days 

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

16 theater receive a combat stress evaluation conducted 

17 in person by a qualified mental health professional 

18 within 30 days after the date on which the member 

19 returns from the combat theater. 

20 (b) MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS PROGRAM.—

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

22 implement a program designed to—

23 (A) raise awareness about mental health 

24 issues that members of the Armed Forces and 

25 their families may encounter during and after 

26 deployment of the member; and 
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1 (B) reduce the stigma associated with 

2 mental health care. 

3 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary, pursu4 ant to regulations, may enter into arrangements 

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

6 or community-based mental health center to carry 

7 out the program under this subsection. The Sec8 retary shall ensure that the program is made avail9 able in foreign languages if necessary to aid com10 prehension among persons to be helped by the pro11 gram. 

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

13 this subsection not later than 180 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (c) HOLD-HARMLESS FOR MENTAL HEALTH TREAT16 MENT.—In carrying out any mental health-related pro17 gram, the Secretary shall ensure that neither the provision 

18 of mental health services nor inquiries about mental health 

19 services shall adversely affect an individual’s career. 

20 SEC. 4. MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS FOR DEPENDENTS. 

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

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

23 shall develop a program to improve awareness of the avail24 ability of mental health services for, and warning signs 

25 about mental health problems in, dependents of members 
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1 of the Armed Forces whose sponsor served or will serve 

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

3 (b) MATTERS COVERED.—The program developed 

4 under subsection (a) shall be designed to— 

5 (1) increase awareness of mental health services 

6 available to dependents of members of the Armed 

7 Forces on active duty; 

8 (2) increase awareness of mental health services 

9 available to dependents of Reservists and National 

10 Guard members whose sponsors have been activated; 

11 and 

12 (3) increase awareness of mental health issues 

13 that may arise in dependents referred to in para14 graphs (1) and (2) whose sponsor is deployed to a 

15 combat theater. 

16 (c) TOLL-FREE NUMBER.—In carrying out this sec17 tion, the Secretary of Defense shall establish a toll-free 

18 informational telephone number and website devoted to 

19 helping members of the Armed Forces and their depend20 ents recognize, and locate treatment providers for, post21 traumatic stress disorder and other forms of combat 

22 stress. 

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

24 Department of Defense to coordinate the program devel25 oped under subsection (a) with an accredited college, uni-
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1 versity, hospital-based, or community-based mental health 

2 center or engage mental health professionals to develop 

3 programs to help implement this section. 

4 (e) AVAILABILITY IN OTHER LANGUAGES.—The Sec5 retary shall ensure that the program developed under sub6 section (a) is made available in foreign languages if nec7 essary to aid comprehension among persons to be helped 

8 by the program. 

9 SEC. 5. IMPROVED COORDINATION BETWEEN THE DEPART10 MENT OF DEFENSE AND THE DEPARTMENT 

11 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

12 (a) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—Not later 

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

14 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 

15 Affairs shall enter into a memorandum of understanding 

16 to improve the transition of mental health-related cases 

17 from the Department of Defense to the Department of 

18 Veterans Affairs. 

19 (b) MATTERS COVERED.—The memorandum of un20 derstanding under subsection (a) shall specifically include 

21 requirements—

22 (1) that the Department of Defense report to 

23 the Department of Veterans Affairs any case or sus24 pected case of post-traumatic stress disorder, or 

25 other disorders or symptoms that result from deploy-
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1 ment to a combat theater, in a member of the 

2 Armed Forces upon the member’s discharge from 

3 the Armed Force; and 

4 (2) that the Department of Defense report to 

5 the Department of Veterans Affairs any disciplinary 

6 measures taken against a member of the Armed 

7 Forces during or after service in a combat theater 

8 upon the member’s discharge from the Armed 

9 Forces. 

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

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

12 shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation 

13 of this section. 

14 SEC. 6. CLEARINGHOUSE FOR INFORMATION RELATING TO 

15 COMBAT STRESS TREATMENT PROFES16 SIONALS. 

17 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall create 

19 an information clearinghouse to improve the availability 

20 of information about mental health professionals who treat 

21 combat stress. 
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1 SEC. 7. AVAILABILITY OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 

2 UNDER TRICARE FOR CERTAIN RESERVE 

3 MEMBERS AFTER DEACTIVATION. 

4 The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations 

5 to provide for the availability of mental health services 

6 under the TRICARE program under chapter 55 of title 

7 10, United States Code, for an eligible member of a re8 serve component of the Armed Forces and the family 

9 members of the member, during the 24-month period fol10 lowing the date of termination of the member’s service in 

11 the reserve component. In this section, a member of a re12 serve component is eligible if the member was called or 

13 ordered to active duty for a period of more than 30 days 

14 under a provision of law referred to in section 

15 101(a)(13)(B) of title 10, United States Code, and who 

16 served continuously on active duty for 90 or more days 

17 in a combat zone pursuant to such call or order. 

18 SEC. 8. DEFINITION. 

19 In this Act, the term ‘‘qualified mental health profes20 sional’’ means—

21 (1) an accredited psychologist, psychiatrist, 

22 child psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse, or clinical social 

23 worker; or 

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

25 one of the following mental health-related fields: psy-
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1 chiatry, psychology, psychiatric nursing, or clinical 

2 social work.

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