II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 479 

To reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2007 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Ms. SNOWE, 

Mr. DURBIN, Mr. SMITH, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. THUNE, Mr. KERRY, 

Mr. BROWNBACK, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which 

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

A BILL 

To reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans. 

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 ‘‘Joshua Omvig Vet5 erans Suicide Prevention Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) suicide among veterans suffering from post9 traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious prob10 lem; and 


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1 (2) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should 

2 take into consideration the special needs of veterans 

3 suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in de4 veloping and implementing the comprehensive pro5 gram required by section 3(a). 

6 SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM FOR SUICIDE PREVEN7 TION AMONG VETERANS. 

8 (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Vet9 erans Affairs shall develop and implement a comprehen10 sive program for reducing the incidence of suicide among 

11 veterans. 

12 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.— 

13 (1) DE-STIGMATIZING MENTAL HEALTH.—The 

14 program required by subsection (a) shall include a 

15 national mental health campaign to increase aware16 ness in the veteran community that mental health is 

17 essential to overall health and that very effective 

18 modern treatments can promote recovery from men19 tal illness. The campaign may include the following: 

20 (A) Activities targeted at veterans of Oper21 ation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring 

22 Freedom and the families of such veterans. 

23 (B) Monthly messages on the Internet 

24 website of the Department of Veterans Affairs 


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1 that express the theme that mental health is es2 sential to overall health. 

3 (C) Inclusion of the theme described in 

4 subparagraph (B) in public addresses, speeches, 

5 and veterans service organization convention 

6 addresses by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

7 and other senior officials of the Department. 

8 (2) TRAINING OF EMPLOYEES AND OTHER PER9 SONNEL.—The program shall provide for mandatory 

10 training on suicide and suicide prevention for appro11 priate employees and contractor personnel (including 

12 all medical personnel) of the Department of Vet13 erans Affairs who interact with veterans. Such train14 ing shall include information pertinent to the job of 

15 such employees and personnel, including information 

16 on the following: 

17 (A) Recognition of risk factors for suicide. 

18 (B) Protocols for responding to crisis situ19 ations involving veterans who may be at high 

20 risk for suicide. 

21 (C) Best practices for suicide prevention. 

22 (3) FAMILY EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.—The 

23 program shall include programs of outreach to, and 

24 education for, veterans and families of veterans (in25 cluding, in particular, veterans of Operation Iraqi 


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1 Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and the 

2 families of such veterans) in order to assist the fam3 ily members of veterans in— 

4 (A) eliminating or overcoming stigmas as5 sociated with mental illness; 

6 (B) understanding issues that arise in the 

7 readjustment of veterans to civilian life; 

8 (C) identifying signs and symptoms of 

9 mental health problems; and 

10 (D) encouraging veterans to seek assist11 ance for such problems. 

12 (4) PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The program shall pro14 vide support for the development of a program 

15 to enable veterans to serve as peer counselors 

16 to— 

17 (i) assist other veterans with mental 

18 health issues; and 

19 (ii) conduct outreach to veterans and 

20 families of veterans on mental health mat21 ters. 

22 (B) TRAINING.—The program supported 

23 by subparagraph (A) shall include appropriate 

24 training for peer counselors under the program, 


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1 including training in the identification of risk 

2 factors for suicide. 

3 (C) PEER SUPPORT COUNSELING AS SUP4 PLEMENTAL SERVICE.—The program supported 

5 by subparagraph (A) shall be offered in addi6 tion to other mental health services already of7 fered by the Department and services created 

8 pursuant to this Act. 

9 (5) HEALTH ASSESSMENTS OF VETERANS.— 

10 The program shall encourage all veterans, when they 

11 apply for benefits provided by the Department, to 

12 undergo a mental health assessment at a Depart13 ment of Veterans Affairs medical facility (including 

14 a center established under section 1712A of title 38, 

15 United States Code). 

16 (6) COUNSELING AND TREATMENT OF VET17 ERANS.—The program shall provide for referrals to 

18 appropriate counseling and treatment programs for 

19 veterans who show signs or symptoms of mental 

20 health problems. 

21 (7) SUICIDE PREVENTION COUNSELORS.—The 

22 program shall provide for the designation of a sui23 cide prevention counselor at each Department of 

24 Veterans Affairs medical facility other than centers 

25 established under section 1712A of title 38, United 


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1 States Code. Each counselor shall work with local 

2 emergency rooms, law enforcement agencies, local 

3 mental health organizations, and veterans service or4 ganizations to engage in outreach to veterans to in5 form them of mental health services that are avail6 able to them and to improve the coordination of 

7 mental health care to veterans at the local level. 

8 (8) RESEARCH ON BEST PRACTICES.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The program shall pro10 vide for research on best practices for suicide 

11 prevention among veterans. 

12 (B) STEERING COMMITTEE.—The Sec13 retary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a steer14 ing committee to advise the Secretary of Vet15 erans Affairs on the research described in sub16 paragraph (A). Such steering committee shall 

17 be comprised of representatives from the fol18 lowing: 

19 (i) National Institute of Mental 

20 Health. 

21 (ii) Substance Abuse and Mental 

22 Health Services Administration. 

23 (iii) Centers for Disease Control and 

24 Prevention. 


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1 (9) SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT.—The pro2 gram shall provide for referrals to appropriate coun3 seling and treatment programs of veterans who show 

4 signs or symptoms of substance abuse. 

5 (10) 24-HOUR MENTAL HEALTH CARE.—The 

6 program shall include mechanisms to ensure the 

7 availability of services for mental health care for vet8 erans on a 24-hour basis. 

9 (11) TELEPHONE HOTLINE.—The program 

10 may include a toll-free telephone number (commonly 

11 referred to as an ‘‘800 number’’) through which vet12 erans may obtain information on and referrals to ap13 propriate mental health services. The telephone 

14 number shall be serviced by personnel with appro15 priate mental health training, and shall be oper16 ational at all times. 

17 (12) OTHER ELEMENTS.—The program may 

18 provide for such other activities and programs to re19 duce the incidence of suicide among veterans as the 

20 Secretary of Veterans Affairs considers appropriate. 

21 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON SUICIDE PREVENTION 

22 PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES. 

23 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days 

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

25 of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on 


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1 the programs and activities of the Department of Veterans 

2 Affairs to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans. 

3 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report shall include the fol4 lowing: 

5 (1) A description of the status of the implemen6 tation of the program required by section 3(a). 

7 (2) A description of the scheduled implementa8 tion of the program during the two-year period be9 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, in10 cluding the costs of implementation of the program 

11 over that period. 

12 (3) A plan for additional programs and activi13 ties to reduce the incidence of suicide among vet14 erans. 

15 (4) Such recommendations for additional legis16 lative or administrative action as the Secretary con17 siders appropriate to improve and enhance the sui18 cide prevention programs and activities of the De19 partment. 

20 (c) CONSULTATION.—In developing the plan required 

21 by subsection (b)(3), the Secretary shall consult with the 

22 following: 

23 (1) The National Institute of Mental Health. 

24 (2) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

25 Services Administration. 


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1 (3) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Æ 


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