IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4585 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions 
AN ACT 
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to conduct a national suicide prevention media campaign, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Campaign to Prevent 
Suicide Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE. 
Section 520E–3(b)(2) of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c(b)(2)) is amended by inserting 
after ‘‘suicide prevention hotline’’ the following: ‘‘, which, 
beginning not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of the Campaign to Prevent Suicide Act, shall 
be a 3-digit nationwide toll-free telephone number,’’. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION MEDIA CAM-
PAIGN. 
(a) NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION MEDIA CAM-
PAIGN.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that 
is three years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in 
coordination with the Assistant Secretary for Mental 
Health and Substance Use (referred to in this sec-
tion as the ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’) and the Director 
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(referred to in this section as the ‘‘Director’’), shall 
conduct a national suicide prevention media cam-
paign (referred to in this section as the ‘‘national 
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media campaign’’), in accordance with the require-
ments of this section, for purposes of— 
(A) preventing suicide in the United 
States; 
(B) educating families, friends, and com-
munities on how to address suicide and suicidal 
thoughts, including when to encourage individ-
uals with suicidal risk to seek help; and 
(C) increasing awareness of suicide preven-
tion resources of the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention and the Substance Abuse 
and Mental Health Services Administration (in-
cluding the suicide prevention hotline main-
tained under section 520E–3 of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c)), 
any suicide prevention mobile application of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or 
the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services 
Administration, and other support resources de-
termined appropriate by the Secretary. 
(2) ADDITIONAL CONSULTATION.—In addition 
to coordinating with the Assistant Secretary and the 
Director under this section, the Secretary shall con-
sult with, as appropriate, State, local, Tribal, and 
territorial health departments, primary health care 
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providers, hospitals with emergency departments, 
mental and behavioral health services providers, cri-
sis response services providers, first responders, sui-
cide prevention and mental health professionals, pa-
tient advocacy groups, survivors of suicide attempts, 
and representatives of television and social media 
platforms in planning the national media campaign 
to be conducted under paragraph (1). 
(b) TARGET AUDIENCES.— 
(1) TAILORING ADVERTISEMENTS AND OTHER 
COMMUNICATIONS.—In 
conducting 
the 
national 
media campaign under subsection (a)(1), the Sec-
retary may tailor culturally competent advertise-
ments and other communications of the campaign 
across all available media for a target audience 
(such as a particular geographic location or demo-
graphic) across the lifespan. 
(2) TARGETING CERTAIN LOCAL AREAS.—The 
Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 
use amounts made available under subsection (f) for 
media that targets individuals in local areas with 
higher suicide rates. 
(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 
(1) REQUIRED USES.— 
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(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to 
the extent reasonably feasible with the funds 
made available under subsection (f), carry out 
the following, with respect to the national media 
campaign: 
(i) The purchase of advertising time 
and space, including the strategic planning 
for, and accounting of, any such purchase. 
(ii) Creative services and talent costs. 
(iii) Advertising production costs. 
(iv) Testing and evaluation of adver-
tising. 
(v) Evaluation of the effectiveness of 
the national media campaign. 
(vi) Operational and management ex-
penses. 
(vii) The creation of an educational 
toolkit for television and social media plat-
forms to use in discussing suicide and rais-
ing awareness about how to prevent sui-
cide. 
(B) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.— 
(i) TESTING AND EVALUATION OF AD-
VERTISING.—In testing and evaluating ad-
vertising under subparagraph (A)(iv), the 
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Secretary shall test all advertisements 
after use in the national media campaign 
to evaluate the extent to which such adver-
tisements have been effective in carrying 
out the purposes of the national media 
campaign. 
(ii) EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS 
OF NATIONAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN.—In eval-
uating the effectiveness of the national 
media 
campaign 
under 
subparagraph 
(A)(v), the Secretary shall take into ac-
count— 
(I) the number of unique calls 
that are made to the suicide preven-
tion hotline maintained under section 
520E–3 of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c) and as-
sess whether there are any State and 
regional variations with respect to the 
capacity to answer such calls; 
(II) the number of unique en-
counters with suicide prevention and 
support resources of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention and 
the Substance Abuse and Mental 
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Health Services Administration and 
assess engagement with such suicide 
prevention and support resources; 
(III) whether the national media 
campaign has contributed to increased 
awareness that suicidal individuals 
should be engaged, rather than ig-
nored; and 
(IV) such other measures of eval-
uation as the Secretary determines 
are appropriate. 
(2) OPTIONAL USES.—The Secretary may use 
amounts made available under subsection (f) for the 
following, with respect to the national media cam-
paign: 
(A) Partnerships with professional and 
civic groups, community-based organizations, 
including faith-based organizations, and Gov-
ernment or Tribal organizations that the Sec-
retary determines have experience in suicide 
prevention, including the Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administration and the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
(B) 
Entertainment 
industry 
outreach, 
interactive outreach, media projects and activi-
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ties, public information, news media outreach, 
outreach through television programs, and cor-
porate sponsorship and participation. 
(d) PROHIBITIONS.—None of the amounts made 
available under subsection (f) may be obligated or ex-
pended for any of the following: 
(1) To supplant current suicide prevention cam-
paigns. 
(2) For partisan political purposes, or to ex-
press advocacy in support of or to defeat any clearly 
identified candidate, clearly identified ballot initia-
tive, or clearly identified legislative or regulatory 
proposal. 
(e) REPORT
TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 
months after implementation of the national media cam-
paign has begun, the Secretary, in coordination with the 
Assistant Secretary and the Director, shall, with respect 
to the first year of the national media campaign, submit 
to Congress a report that describes— 
(1) the strategy of the national media campaign 
and whether specific objectives of such campaign 
were accomplished, including whether such campaign 
impacted the number of calls made to lifeline crisis 
centers and the capacity of such centers to manage 
such calls; 
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(2) steps taken to ensure that the national 
media campaign operates in an effective and effi-
cient manner consistent with the overall strategy 
and focus of the national media campaign; 
(3) plans to purchase advertising time and 
space; 
(4) policies and practices implemented to ensure 
that Federal funds are used responsibly to purchase 
advertising time and space and eliminate the poten-
tial for waste, fraud, and abuse; and 
(5) all contracts entered into with a corpora-
tion, a partnership, or an individual working on be-
half of the national media campaign. 
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur-
poses of carrying out this section, there is authorized to 
be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 
through 2025. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 21, 
2020. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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