II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 579 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense 

to provide members of the Individual Ready Reserve, Individual Mobilization Augmentees, and inactive members of the National Guard who 

served in Afghanistan or Iraq with information on counseling to prevent 

suicide, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2011 

Mr. LAUTENBERG introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense to provide members of the Individual 

Ready Reserve, Individual Mobilization Augmentees, and 

inactive members of the National Guard who served in 

Afghanistan or Iraq with information on counseling to 

prevent suicide, 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 ‘‘Sergeant Coleman S. 

5 Bean Reserve Component Suicide Prevention Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUICIDE AMONG MEMBERS OF THE INDIVIDUAL 

2 READY RESERVE AND INDIVIDUAL MOBILIZA3 TION AUGMENTEES. 

4 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that a veteran who is 

5 either a member of the Individual Ready Reserve, an Indi6 vidual Mobilization Augmentee, or an inactive member of 

7 the National Guard and is not assigned to a unit that 

8 musters regularly and has an established support struc9 ture is less likely to be helped by existing suicide preven10 tion programs carried out by the Secretary of Defense and 

11 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

12 (b) IN GENERAL.— 

13 (1) SUICIDE PREVENTION.—Chapter 55 of title 

14 10, United States Code, is amended by adding after 

15 section 1074l the following new section: 

16 ‘‘§ 1074m. Suicide prevention for members of the In17 dividual Ready Reserve, individual mobi18 lization augmentees, and inactive mem19 bers of the National Guard 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

21 ensure that each covered member receives a telephone call 

22 described in subsection (b) not less than once every 90 

23 days during the period in which— 

24 ‘‘(1) the covered member is a member of the In25 dividual Ready Reserve; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the Secretary determines that the covered 

2 member is an individual mobilization augmentee; or 

3 ‘‘(3) the covered member is a member of the in4 active National Guard. 

5 ‘‘(b) COUNSELING CALL.—A telephone call described 

6 in this subsection is a call from properly trained personnel 

7 to determine the emotional, psychological, medical, and ca8 reer needs and concerns of the covered member. 

9 ‘‘(c) REFERRAL.—(1) The personnel making a tele10 phone call described in subsection (b) shall refer a covered 

11 member identified as being at-risk of self-caused harm to 

12 the nearest military medical treatment facility, accredited 

13 TRICARE provider, or other private provider in accord14 ance with paragraph (3) for immediate evaluation and 

15 treatment by a qualified mental health care provider. 

16 ‘‘(2) If a covered member is referred under paragraph 

17 (1), the Secretary shall confirm that the member has re18 ceived the evaluation and any necessary treatment.

19 ‘‘(3) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary 

20 shall refer a covered member to a qualified private mental 

21 health care provider if the Secretary determines that such 

22 private provider will ensure that such member will receive 

23 treatment and assistance without delay. 


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1 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.—Not later than January 31 of each 

2 year, beginning in 2013, the Secretary shall submit to 

3 Congress a report on— 

4 ‘‘(1) the number of covered members who have 

5 been referred for counseling or mental health treat6 ment under this section, as well as the health and 

7 career status of such members; and 

8 ‘‘(2) any resource, regulatory, or statutory 

9 issues that may be impeding the counseling calls 

10 under this section from reaching all covered mem11 bers. 

12 ‘‘(e) COVERED MEMBER DEFINED.—In this section, 

13 the term ‘covered member’ means— 

14 ‘‘(1) a member of the Individual Ready Reserve 

15 described in section 10144(b) of this title who has 

16 deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq in support of a con17 tingency operation on or after September 11, 2001; 

18 ‘‘(2) a member of a reserve component who the 

19 Secretary determines is an individual mobilization 

20 augmentee who has deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq 

21 in support of a contingency operation on or after 

22 September 11, 2001; or 

23 ‘‘(3) a member of the inactive National Guard 

24 who has deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq in support 


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1 of a contingency operation on or after September 11, 

2 2001.’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec4 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

5 by inserting after the item relating to section 1074l 

6 the following new item: 

‘‘1074m. Suicide prevention for members of the Individual Ready Reserve, individual mobilization augmentees, and inactive members of the 

National Guard.’’. 

7 (c) GAO REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

8 United States, in cooperation with the Secretary of De9 fense, shall submit to Congress a report on suicide among 

10 covered members (as defined in section 1074m(e) of title 

11 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (b)), in12 cluding how many such members who have separated from 

13 service have committed suicide. 

14 (d) USE OF PEER COUNSELING.—Consistent with 

15 the findings of the August 2010 report titled ‘‘The Final 

16 Report of the Department of Defense Task Force on the 

17 Prevention of Suicide by Members of the Armed Forces’’, 

18 the Secretary of Defense shall develop, evaluate, and more 

19 widely disseminate programs (including peer-to-peer coun20 seling) that promote— 

21 (1) connectedness between members of the 

22 Armed Forces and the family, peers, and the imme23 diate chain of command of the members; and 


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1 (2) suicide risk identification and response with 

2 particular emphasis on members of the Reserve 

3 Components. 

Æ 


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