IB 

Union Calendar No. 416 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4585 

[Report No. 116–516] 

To require the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

to conduct a national suicide prevention media campaign, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 1, 2019 

Mr. BEYER (for himself and Mr. GIANFORTE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 

Reported with amendments; committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 1, 2019] 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4585 RH

A BILL 

To require the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention to conduct a national suicide prevention 

media campaign, and for other purposes. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4585 RH

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 ‘‘Campaign to Prevent 

5 Suicide Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE. 

7 Section 520E–3(b)(2) of the Public Health Service Act 

8 (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c(b)(2)) is amended by inserting after 

9 ‘‘suicide prevention hotline’’ the following: ‘‘, which, begin10 ning not later than one year after the date of the enactment 

11 of the Campaign to Prevent Suicide Act, shall be a 3-digit 

12 nationwide toll-free telephone number,’’. 

13 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION MEDIA CAMPAIGN. 

14 (a) NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION MEDIA CAM15 PAIGN.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that 

17 is three years after the date of the enactment of this 

18 Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (re19 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in co20 ordination with the Assistant Secretary for Mental 

21 Health and Substance Use (referred to in this section 

22 as the ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’) and the Director of the 

23 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (referred 

24 to in this section as the ‘‘Director’’), shall conduct a 

25 national suicide prevention media campaign (referred 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4585 RH

1 to in this section as the ‘‘national media campaign’’), 

2 in accordance with the requirements of this section, 

3 for purposes of— 

4 (A) preventing suicide in the United States; 

5 (B) educating families, friends, and com6 munities on how to address suicide and suicidal 

7 thoughts, including when to encourage individ8 uals with suicidal risk to seek help; and 

9 (C) increasing awareness of suicide preven10 tion resources of the Centers for Disease Control 

11 and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and 

12 Mental Health Services Administration (includ13 ing the suicide prevention hotline maintained 

14 under section 520E–3 of the Public Health Serv15 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c)), any suicide pre16 vention mobile application of the Centers for 

17 Disease Control and Prevention or the Substance 

18 Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, 

19 and other support resources determined appro20 priate by the Secretary. 

21 (2) ADDITIONAL CONSULTATION.—In addition to 

22 coordinating with the Assistant Secretary and the Di23 rector under this section, the Secretary shall consult 

24 with, as appropriate, State, local, Tribal, and terri25 torial health departments, primary health care proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Sep 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4585.RH H4585

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 4585 RH

1 viders, hospitals with emergency departments, mental 

2 and behavioral health services providers, crisis re3 sponse services providers, first responders, suicide pre4 vention and mental health professionals, patient ad5 vocacy groups, survivors of suicide attempts, and rep6 resentatives of television and social media platforms 

7 in planning the national media campaign to be con8 ducted under paragraph (1). 

9 (b) TARGET AUDIENCES.— 

10 (1) TAILORING ADVERTISEMENTS AND OTHER

11 COMMUNICATIONS.—In conducting the national media 

12 campaign under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary may 

13 tailor culturally competent advertisements and other 

14 communications of the campaign across all available 

15 media for a target audience (such as a particular geo16 graphic location or demographic) across the lifespan. 

17 (2) TARGETING CERTAIN LOCAL AREAS.—The 

18 Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

19 use amounts made available under subsection (f) for 

20 media that targets individuals in local areas with 

21 higher suicide rates. 

22 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

23 (1) REQUIRED USES.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to 

25 the extent reasonably feasible with the funds 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 4585 RH

1 made available under subsection (f), carry out 

2 the following, with respect to the national media 

3 campaign: 

4 (i) The purchase of advertising time 

5 and space, including the strategic planning 

6 for, and accounting of, any such purchase. 

7 (ii) Creative services and talent costs. 

8 (iii) Advertising production costs. 

9 (iv) Testing and evaluation of adver10 tising. 

11 (v) Evaluation of the effectiveness of 

12 the national media campaign. 

13 (vi) Operational and management ex14 penses. 

15 (vii) The creation of an educational 

16 toolkit for television and social media plat17 forms to use in discussing suicide and rais18 ing awareness about how to prevent suicide. 

19 (B) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 (i) TESTING AND EVALUATION OF AD21 VERTISING.—In testing and evaluating ad22 vertising under subparagraph (A)(iv), the 

23 Secretary shall test all advertisements after 

24 use in the national media campaign to 

25 evaluate the extent to which such advertiseVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Sep 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4585.RH H4585

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 4585 RH

1 ments have been effective in carrying out 

2 the purposes of the national media cam3 paign. 

4 (ii) EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS

5 OF NATIONAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN.—In evalu6 ating the effectiveness of the national media 

7 campaign under subparagraph (A)(v), the 

8 Secretary shall take into account— 

9 (I) the number of unique calls 

10 that are made to the suicide prevention 

11 hotline maintained under section 

12 520E–3 of the Public Health Service 

13 Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c) and assess 

14 whether there are any State and re15 gional variations with respect to the 

16 capacity to answer such calls; 

17 (II) the number of unique encoun18 ters with suicide prevention and sup19 port resources of the Centers for Dis20 ease Control and Prevention and the 

21 Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

22 Services Administration and assess en23 gagement with such suicide prevention 

24 and support resources; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 4585 RH

1 (III) whether the national media 

2 campaign has contributed to increased 

3 awareness that suicidal individuals 

4 should be engaged, rather than ignored; 

5 and 

6 (IV) such other measures of eval7 uation as the Secretary determines are 

8 appropriate. 

9 (2) OPTIONAL USES.—The Secretary may use 

10 amounts made available under subsection (f) for the 

11 following, with respect to the national media cam12 paign: 

13 (A) Partnerships with professional and 

14 civic groups, community-based organizations, in15 cluding faith-based organizations, and Govern16 ment or Tribal organizations that the Secretary 

17 determines have experience in suicide prevention, 

18 including the Substance Abuse and Mental 

19 Health Services Administration and the Centers 

20 for Disease Control and Prevention. 

21 (B) Entertainment industry outreach, inter22 active outreach, media projects and activities, 

23 public information, news media outreach, out24 reach through television programs, and corporate 

25 sponsorship and participation. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 4585 RH

1 (d) PROHIBITIONS.—None of the amounts made avail2 able under subsection (f) may be obligated or expended for 

3 any of the following: 

4 (1) To supplant current suicide prevention cam5 paigns. 

6 (2) For partisan political purposes, or to express 

7 advocacy in support of or to defeat any clearly identi8 fied candidate, clearly identified ballot initiative, or 

9 clearly identified legislative or regulatory proposal. 

10 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 months 

11 after implementation of the national media campaign has 

12 begun, the Secretary, in coordination with the Assistant 

13 Secretary and the Director, shall, with respect to the first 

14 year of the national media campaign, submit to Congress 

15 a report that describes— 

16 (1) the strategy of the national media campaign 

17 and whether specific objectives of such campaign were 

18 accomplished, including whether such campaign im19 pacted the number of calls made to lifeline crisis cen20 ters and the capacity of such centers to manage such 

21 calls; 

22 (2) steps taken to ensure that the national media 

23 campaign operates in an effective and efficient man24 ner consistent with the overall strategy and focus of 

25 the national media campaign; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 4585 RH

1 (3) plans to purchase advertising time and 

2 space; 

3 (4) policies and practices implemented to ensure 

4 that Federal funds are used responsibly to purchase 

5 advertising time and space and eliminate the poten6 tial for waste, fraud, and abuse; and 

7 (5) all contracts entered into with a corporation, 

8 a partnership, or an individual working on behalf of 

9 the national media campaign. 

10 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur11 poses of carrying out this section, there is authorized to be 

12 appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

13 through 2024. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to require the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a 

national suicide prevention media campaign, and for 

other purposes.’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 416 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4585 

[Report No. 116–516] 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the Centers for Disease 

purposes. cide prevention media campaign, and for other Control and Prevention to conduct a national suiSEPTEMBER 18, 2020 

Reported with amendments; committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union and orVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Sep 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H4585.RH H4585

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS