Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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, begin-
ning 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 CAMPAIGN. 
(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 (re-
ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in co-
ordination with the Assistant Secretary for Mental 
Health and Substance Use (referred to in this section 
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 campaign (referred 
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to in this section as the ‘‘national media campaign’’), 
in accordance with the requirements 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 Control 
and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administration (includ-
ing the suicide prevention hotline maintained 
under section 520E–3 of the Public Health Serv-
ice Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c)), any suicide pre-
vention mobile application of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention or the Substance 
Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, 
and other support resources determined appro-
priate by the Secretary. 
(2) ADDITIONAL CONSULTATION.—In addition to 
coordinating with the Assistant Secretary and the Di-
rector under this section, the Secretary shall consult 
with, as appropriate, State, local, Tribal, and terri-
torial health departments, primary health care pro-
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viders, hospitals with emergency departments, mental 
and behavioral health services providers, crisis re-
sponse services providers, first responders, suicide pre-
vention and mental health professionals, patient ad-
vocacy groups, survivors of suicide attempts, and rep-
resentatives of television and social media platforms 
in planning the national media campaign to be con-
ducted under paragraph (1). 
(b) TARGET AUDIENCES.— 
(1) TAILORING
ADVERTISEMENTS
AND
OTHER 
COMMUNICATIONS.—In conducting the national media 
campaign under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary may 
tailor culturally competent advertisements and other 
communications of the campaign across all available 
media for a target audience (such as a particular geo-
graphic location or demographic) 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.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to 
the extent reasonably feasible with the funds 
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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 suicide. 
(B) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.— 
(i) TESTING AND EVALUATION OF AD-
VERTISING.—In testing and evaluating ad-
vertising under subparagraph (A)(iv), the 
Secretary shall test all advertisements after 
use in the national media campaign to 
evaluate the extent to which such advertise-
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ments have been effective in carrying out 
the purposes of the national media cam-
paign. 
(ii) EVALUATION
OF
EFFECTIVENESS 
OF NATIONAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN.—In evalu-
ating the effectiveness of the national media 
campaign under subparagraph (A)(v), the 
Secretary shall take into account— 
(I) the number of unique calls 
that are made to the suicide prevention 
hotline 
maintained 
under 
section 
520E–3 of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c) and assess 
whether there are any State and re-
gional variations with respect to the 
capacity to answer such calls; 
(II) the number of unique encoun-
ters with suicide prevention and sup-
port resources of the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention and the 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration and assess en-
gagement with such suicide prevention 
and support resources; 
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(III) whether the national media 
campaign has contributed to increased 
awareness that suicidal individuals 
should be engaged, rather than ignored; 
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, in-
cluding faith-based organizations, and Govern-
ment or Tribal organizations that the Secretary 
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, inter-
active outreach, media projects and activities, 
public information, news media outreach, out-
reach through television programs, and corporate 
sponsorship and participation. 
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(d) PROHIBITIONS.—None of the amounts made avail-
able under subsection (f) may be obligated or expended for 
any of the following: 
(1) To supplant current suicide prevention cam-
paigns. 
(2) For partisan political purposes, or to express 
advocacy in support of or to defeat any clearly identi-
fied candidate, clearly identified ballot initiative, or 
clearly identified legislative or regulatory proposal. 
(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 months 
after implementation of the national media campaign 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 im-
pacted the number of calls made to lifeline crisis cen-
ters and the capacity of such centers to manage such 
calls; 
(2) steps taken to ensure that the national media 
campaign operates in an effective and efficient man-
ner consistent with the overall strategy and focus of 
the national media campaign; 
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(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 corporation, 
a partnership, or an individual working on behalf 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 2020 
through 2024. 
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to require the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a 
national suicide prevention media campaign, and for 
other purposes.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 416 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4585 
[Report No. 116–516] 
A BILL 
To require the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention to conduct a national sui-
cide prevention media campaign, and for other 
purposes. 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 
Reported with amendments; committed to the Committee 
of the Whole House on the State of the Union and or-
dered to be printed 
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