II 

Calendar No. 279 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 479 

Report No. 110–132 

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, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. REID, Mr. 

BROWN, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. COLEMAN, Ms. CANTWELL, 

Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

OBAMA, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. DORGAN, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. 

JOHNSON, Mr. STEVENS, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. BIDEN, and Mr. ENZI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

JULY 23, 2007 

Reported by Mr. Akaka, without amendment 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Joshua Omvig Vet3 erans Suicide Prevention Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) suicide among veterans suffering from post7 traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious prob8 lem; and 

9 (2) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should 

10 take into consideration the special needs of veterans 

11 suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in de12 veloping and implementing the comprehensive pro13 gram required by section 3(a). 

14 SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM FOR SUICIDE PREVEN15 TION AMONG VETERANS. 

16 (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Vet17 erans Affairs shall develop and implement a comprehen18 sive program for reducing the incidence of suicide among 

19 veterans. 

20 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.— 

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

22 program required by subsection (a) shall include a 

23 national mental health campaign to increase aware24 ness in the veteran community that mental health is 

25 essential to overall health and that very effective 


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1 modern treatments can promote recovery from men2 tal illness. The campaign may include the following: 

3 (A) Activities targeted at veterans of Oper4 ation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring 

5 Freedom and the families of such veterans. 

6 (B) Monthly messages on the Internet 

7 website of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

8 that express the theme that mental health is es9 sential to overall health. 

10 (C) Inclusion of the theme described in 

11 subparagraph (B) in public addresses, speeches, 

12 and veterans service organization convention 

13 addresses by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

14 and other senior officials of the Department. 

15 (2) TRAINING OF EMPLOYEES AND OTHER PER16 SONNEL.—The program shall provide for mandatory 

17 training on suicide and suicide prevention for appro18 priate employees and contractor personnel (including 

19 all medical personnel) of the Department of Vet20 erans Affairs who interact with veterans. Such train21 ing shall include information pertinent to the job of 

22 such employees and personnel, including information 

23 on the following: 

24 (A) Recognition of risk factors for suicide. 


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1 (B) Protocols for responding to crisis situ2 ations involving veterans who may be at high 

3 risk for suicide. 

4 (C) Best practices for suicide prevention. 

5 (3) FAMILY EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.—The 

6 program shall include programs of outreach to, and 

7 education for, veterans and families of veterans (in8 cluding, in particular, veterans of Operation Iraqi 

9 Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and the 

10 families of such veterans) in order to assist the fam11 ily members of veterans in— 

12 (A) eliminating or overcoming stigmas as13 sociated with mental illness; 

14 (B) understanding issues that arise in the 

15 readjustment of veterans to civilian life; 

16 (C) identifying signs and symptoms of 

17 mental health problems; and 

18 (D) encouraging veterans to seek assist19 ance for such problems. 

20 (4) PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The program shall pro22 vide support for the development of a program 

23 to enable veterans to serve as peer counselors 

24 to— 


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1 (i) assist other veterans with mental 

2 health issues; and 

3 (ii) conduct outreach to veterans and 

4 families of veterans on mental health mat5 ters. 

6 (B) TRAINING.—The program supported 

7 by subparagraph (A) shall include appropriate 

8 training for peer counselors under the program, 

9 including training in the identification of risk 

10 factors for suicide. 

11 (C) PEER SUPPORT COUNSELING AS SUP12 PLEMENTAL SERVICE.—The program supported 

13 by subparagraph (A) shall be offered in addi14 tion to other mental health services already of15 fered by the Department and services created 

16 pursuant to this Act. 

17 (5) HEALTH ASSESSMENTS OF VETERANS.— 

18 The program shall encourage all veterans, when they 

19 apply for benefits provided by the Department, to 

20 undergo a mental health assessment at a Depart21 ment of Veterans Affairs medical facility (including 

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

23 United States Code). 

24 (6) COUNSELING AND TREATMENT OF VET25 ERANS.—The program shall provide for referrals to 


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1 appropriate counseling and treatment programs for 

2 veterans who show signs or symptoms of mental 

3 health problems. 

4 (7) SUICIDE PREVENTION COUNSELORS.—The 

5 program shall provide for the designation of a sui6 cide prevention counselor at each Department of 

7 Veterans Affairs medical facility other than centers 

8 established under section 1712A of title 38, United 

9 States Code. Each counselor shall work with local 

10 emergency rooms, law enforcement agencies, local 

11 mental health organizations, and veterans service or12 ganizations to engage in outreach to veterans to in13 form them of mental health services that are avail14 able to them and to improve the coordination of 

15 mental health care to veterans at the local level. 

16 (8) RESEARCH ON BEST PRACTICES.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The program shall pro18 vide for research on best practices for suicide 

19 prevention among veterans. 

20 (B) STEERING COMMITTEE.—The Sec21 retary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a steer22 ing committee to advise the Secretary of Vet23 erans Affairs on the research described in sub24 paragraph (A). Such steering committee shall 


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1 be comprised of representatives from the fol2 lowing: 

3 (i) National Institute of Mental 

4 Health. 

5 (ii) Substance Abuse and Mental 

6 Health Services Administration. 

7 (iii) Centers for Disease Control and 

8 Prevention. 

9 (9) SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT.—The pro10 gram shall provide for referrals to appropriate coun11 seling and treatment programs of veterans who show 

12 signs or symptoms of substance abuse. 

13 (10) 24-HOUR MENTAL HEALTH CARE.—The 

14 program shall include mechanisms to ensure the 

15 availability of services for mental health care for vet16 erans on a 24-hour basis. 

17 (11) TELEPHONE HOTLINE.—The program 

18 may include a toll-free telephone number (commonly 

19 referred to as an ‘‘800 number’’) through which vet20 erans may obtain information on and referrals to ap21 propriate mental health services. The telephone 

22 number shall be serviced by personnel with appro23 priate mental health training, and shall be oper24 ational at all times. 


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1 (12) OTHER ELEMENTS.—The program may 

2 provide for such other activities and programs to re3 duce the incidence of suicide among veterans as the 

4 Secretary of Veterans Affairs considers appropriate. 

5 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON SUICIDE PREVENTION 

6 PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES. 

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

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

9 of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on 

10 the programs and activities of the Department of Veterans 

11 Affairs to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans. 

12 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report shall include the fol13 lowing: 

14 (1) A description of the status of the implemen15 tation of the program required by section 3(a). 

16 (2) A description of the scheduled implementa17 tion of the program during the two-year period be18 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, in19 cluding the costs of implementation of the program 

20 over that period. 

21 (3) A plan for additional programs and activi22 ties to reduce the incidence of suicide among vet23 erans. 

24 (4) Such recommendations for additional legis25 lative or administrative action as the Secretary conVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:09 Jul 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S479.RS S479

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1 siders appropriate to improve and enhance the sui2 cide prevention programs and activities of the De3 partment. 

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

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

6 following: 

7 (1) The National Institute of Mental Health. 

8 (2) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

9 Services Administration. 

10 (3) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 


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Calendar No. 279 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 479 

Report No. 110

–132 

A BILL 

To reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans. 

JULY 23, 2007 

Reported without amendment 


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