IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 587 
Recognizing LGBTQ+ suicide as a public health problem and expressing 
support for the designation of September as ‘‘National Suicide Prevention 
Month’’. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 
York, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. WILD, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 
PRESSLEY, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. NOR-
TON, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. GAR-
CIA of Texas, Mr. COOPER, Mr. SIRES, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. LEE of Cali-
fornia, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MENG, Ms. JACKSON LEE, 
Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. BLU-
MENAUER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. NAPOLI-
TANO, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. NADLER, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. 
SERRANO, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. LYNCH, and 
Mr. CORREA) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing LGBTQ+ suicide as a public health problem 
and expressing support for the designation of September 
as ‘‘National Suicide Prevention Month’’. 
Whereas, since 2008, suicide is the 10th leading cause of 
death in the United States for all ages and the second 
leading cause of death among individuals between the 
ages of 10 to 34; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Sep 25, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR587.IH
HR587
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 587 IH 
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (in this resolution referred to as ‘‘CDC’’), on 
average there are 129 suicides per day, resulting in over 
47,000 deaths each year in the United States; 
Whereas, from 1999 through 2017, the age-adjusted suicide 
rate in the United States increased 33 percent from 10.5 
to 14.0 per 100,000; 
Whereas, according to the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Sur-
vey data released in 2018, almost half of all lesbian, gay, 
and bisexual students seriously consider attempting sui-
cide, making them almost 4 times more likely to do so 
than their straight peers; 
Whereas the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found 40 per-
cent of respondents had attempted suicide in their life-
time—nearly nine times the attempted suicide rate in the 
United States population at large; 
Whereas it is estimated that there are over 1,300,000 suicide 
attempts each year in the United States, and The Trevor 
Project estimates that more than 1,800,000 lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, transgender, and queer (in this resolution re-
ferred to as ‘‘LGBTQ+’’) youth seriously consider sui-
cide each year; 
Whereas suicide is preventable, as 9 out of 10 suicide at-
tempt survivors do not go on to die by suicide; 
Whereas, according to the CDC, suicide results in an esti-
mated $44,600,000,000 in combined medical and work- 
loss costs nationally; 
Whereas the stigma associated with mental health conditions 
and suicidality works against suicide prevention by dis-
couraging persons at risk for suicide from seeking life-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Sep 25, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR587.IH
HR587
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 587 IH 
saving help and further traumatizes survivors of suicide 
loss and people with lived experience of suicide; and 
Whereas September would be an appropriate month to des-
ignate as ‘‘National Suicide Prevention Month’’ which 
overlaps World Suicide Prevention Day, September 10, 
recognized internationally and supported by the World 
Health Organization: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes suicide as a preventable national 
public health problem; 
(2) supports the designation of ‘‘National Sui-
cide Prevention Month’’; 
(3) supports declaring that suicide prevention 
should be a priority; 
(4) acknowledges that no single suicide preven-
tion program or effort will be appropriate for all 
populations or communities, and that particular at-
tention should be paid to communities known to be 
at heightened risk, including LGBTQ+ youth and 
LGBTQ+ youth of color; 
(5) promotes awareness that there is no single 
cause for suicide, and that suicide is most often an 
impulsive act that occurs during a moment of over-
whelming hopelessness and despair; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Sep 25, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR587.IH
HR587
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 587 IH 
(6) develops and implements strategies to in-
crease access to quality mental health, substance 
abuse, and suicide prevention services. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Sep 25, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR587.IH
HR587
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS