Title: Recognizing LGBTQ+ suicide as a public health problem and expressing support for the designation of September as "National Suicide Prevention Month".
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This resolution

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 587 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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. Norton, Mr. Pocan, Mrs. 
 Lee of Nevada, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Cooper, 
   Mr. Sires, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Foster, Mr. 
 Lowenthal, Ms. Meng, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Kendra S. Horn of Oklahoma, 
Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Castor of 
  Florida, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Haaland, Mr. 
 Engel, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Sanchez, 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;
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 Survey data released in 
        2018, almost half of all lesbian, gay, and bisexual students seriously 
        consider attempting suicide, making them almost 4 times more likely to 
        do so than their straight peers;
Whereas the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found 40 percent of respondents had 
        attempted suicide in their lifetime--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 referred to as ``LGBTQ+'') youth seriously consider suicide 
        each year;
Whereas suicide is preventable, as 9 out of 10 suicide attempt survivors do not 
        go on to die by suicide;
Whereas, according to the CDC, suicide results in an estimated $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 discouraging persons at risk for 
        suicide from seeking lifesaving help and further traumatizes survivors 
        of suicide loss and people with lived experience of suicide; and
Whereas September would be an appropriate month to designate 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 Suicide 
        Prevention Month'';
            (3) supports declaring that suicide prevention should be a 
        priority;
            (4) acknowledges that no single suicide prevention program 
        or effort will be appropriate for all populations or 
        communities, and that particular attention 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 overwhelming hopelessness and 
        despair; and
            (6) develops and implements strategies to increase access 
        to quality mental health, substance abuse, and suicide 
        prevention services.
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