I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4282 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a training session 

and a counseling session in suicide prevention and lethal means tailored 

to veterans who served in the Armed Forces after September 11, 2001, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 

Ms. UNDERWOOD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a 

training session and a counseling session in suicide prevention and lethal means tailored to veterans who served 

in the Armed Forces after September 11, 2001, 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. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TRAIN4 ING AND COUNSELING IN SUICIDE PREVEN5 TION AND LETHAL MEANS. 

6 (a) TRAINING SESSION.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 


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1 of Veterans Affairs shall develop a suicide prevention and 

2 lethal means training session tailored to veterans who 

3 served in the Armed Forces any time after September 11, 

4 2001. Such training shall— 

5 (1) be provided to all primary care practitioners 

6 of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and to other 

7 Department employees, as directed by the Secretary, 

8 by not later than 270 days after the date of the en9 actment of this Act and at least once every five 

10 years thereafter; 

11 (2) be integrated into the whole health initiative 

12 of the Department; and 

13 (3) be updated at least once every two years. 

14 (b) COUNSELING SESSION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 360 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec17 retary shall develop a suicide prevention and lethal 

18 means counseling session tailored to veterans who 

19 served in the Armed Forces any time after Sep20 tember 11, 2001. Such counseling shall— 

21 (A) be provided by primary care practi22 tioners of the Department to— 

23 (i) all veterans enrolled in the patient 

24 enrollment system under section 1705 of 

25 title 38, United States Code, who served in 


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1 the Armed Forces after September 11, 

2 2001; and 

3 (ii) other veterans, as determined by 

4 the Secretary; 

5 (B) be provided during the veterans’ first 

6 primary care appointment following develop7 ment of the counseling session and subsequently 

8 as clinically appropriate; and 

9 (C) be integrated into the whole health ini10 tiative of the Department. 

11 (2) LETHAL MEANS COUNSELING.—In this sub12 section, the term ‘‘lethal means counseling’’ means 

13 counseling designed to— 

14 (A) assess whether a person at risk for sui15 cide has access to lethal means; and 

16 (B) work with such person and the family 

17 and support system of such person to limit the 

18 access of the person to lethal means until the 

19 person is no longer at elevated risk of suicide. 

20 (c) CONSULTATION.—In developing the training and 

21 counseling sessions required by this section, the Secretary 

22 shall consult with the Secretary of Health and Human 

23 Services, the National Institutes of Health, public and pri24 vate institutions of higher education, educators, experts in 


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1 suicide assessment, treatment, and management, and af2 fected professional associations. 

Æ 


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