I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3405 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate a week as ‘‘Battle 

Buddy Check Week’’ for the purpose of outreach and education concerning peer wellness checks for veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2021 

Ms. JACKSON LEE (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. 

ZELDIN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. RYAN, Mr. KILMER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. AXNE, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, 

Ms. TENNEY, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. SOTO, and Mr. 

BACON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate 

a week as ‘‘Battle Buddy Check Week’’ for the purpose 

of outreach and education concerning peer wellness 

checks for veterans, 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. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find5 ings: 


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1 (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs is the 

2 Federal agency charged with managing benefits and 

3 health care for the Nation’s veterans. 

4 (2) In recent years, the Department of Vet5 erans Affairs made the prevention of veteran suicide 

6 among the highest priorities of the Department and 

7 has developed data models to continually improve 

8 and tailor suicide prevention strategies and initia9 tives. 

10 (3) Among the recent suicide prevention initia11 tives are— 

12 (A) an expanded Veterans Crisis Line to 

13 three call centers; 

14 (B) launching the S.A.V.E. suicide preven15 tion training video; 

16 (C) implementing the Mayor’s Challenge, 

17 which engages local elected officials in veteran 

18 suicide prevention; and 

19 (D) partnering with the Department of 

20 Defense and the Department of Homeland Se21 curity to support veterans during their transi22 tion from military to civilian life. 

23 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that the Department of Veterans Affairs should— 


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1 (1) remain focused on screening transitioning 

2 members of the Armed Forces for factors associated 

3 with suicide and providing treatment and other serv4 ices needed to reduce suicides; 

5 (2) undertake suicide prevention through a 

6 multi-pronged strategy that addresses the many fac7 tors that are known to contribute to suicide; and 

8 (3) continue to regard suicide prevention as one 

9 of the highest priorities of the Department; and 

10 (4) provide guidance to other agencies and vet11 eran service organizations on the factors that are as12 sociated with suicide. 

13 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF BATTLE BUDDY CHECK WEEK BY 

14 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

16 shall designate one week per year to organize outreach 

17 events and educate veterans on how to conduct peer 

18 wellness checks, which shall be known as ‘‘Battle Buddy 

19 Check Week’’. 

20 (b) EVENTS AND EDUCATION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—During Battle Buddy Check 

22 Week, the Secretary, in consultation with organiza23 tions that represent veterans, non-profits that serve 

24 veterans, mental health experts, members of the 

25 Armed Forces, and such other entities and individVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Jul 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3405.IH H3405

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1 uals as the Secretary considers appropriate, shall 

2 collaborate with organizations that represent vet3 erans to provide educational opportunities for vet4 erans to learn how to conduct peer wellness checks. 

5 (2) TRAINING MATTERS.—As part of the edu6 cational opportunities provided under paragraph (1), 

7 the Secretary shall provide the following: 

8 (A) A script for veterans to use to conduct 

9 peer wellness checks that includes information 

10 on appropriate referrals to resources veterans 

11 might need. 

12 (B) Online and in-person training, as ap13 propriate, on how to conduct a peer wellness 

14 check. 

15 (C) Opportunities for members of organi16 zations that represent veterans to learn how to 

17 train individuals to conduct peer wellness 

18 checks. 

19 (D) Training for veterans participating in 

20 Battle Buddy Check Week on how to transfer 

21 a phone call directly to the Veterans Crisis 

22 Line. 

23 (E) Resiliency training for veterans partici24 pating in Battle Buddy Check Week on han25 dling a veteran in crisis. 


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1 (3) ONLINE MATERIALS.—All training materials 

2 provided under the educational opportunities under 

3 paragraph (1) shall be made available on a website 

4 of the Department. 

5 (c) OUTREACH.—The Secretary, in collaboration with 

6 organizations that represent veterans, may conduct out7 reach regarding educational opportunities under sub8 section (b) at— 

9 (1) public events where many veterans are ex10 pected to congregate; 

11 (2) meetings of organizations that represent 

12 veterans; 

13 (3) facilities of the Department of Veterans Af14 fairs; and 

15 (4) such other locations as the Secretary, in col16 laboration with organizations that represent vet17 erans, considers appropriate. 

18 (d) VETERANS CRISIS LINE PLAN.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 

20 that the Veterans Crisis Line has a plan for han21 dling the potential increase of calls that may occur 

22 during Battle Buddy Check Week. 

23 (2) SUBMITTAL OF PLAN.—The head of the 

24 Veterans Crisis Line shall submit to the Secretary a 

25 plan for how to handle excess calls during Battle 


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1 Buddy Check Week, which may include the fol2 lowing: 

3 (A) Additional hours for staff. 

4 (B) The use of a backup call center. 

5 (C) Any other plan to ensure that calls 

6 from veterans in crisis are being answered in a 

7 timely manner by an individual trained at the 

8 same level as a Veterans Crisis Line responder. 

9 (e) VETERANS CRISIS LINE DEFINED.—In this sec10 tion, the term ‘‘Veterans Crisis Line’’ means the toll-free 

11 hotline for veterans established under section 1720F(h) of 

12 title 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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