Recognizing suicide as a serious public health problem and expressing support for the designation of September as "National Suicide Prevention Month" as well as September 10, 2025, as "World Suicide Prevention Day".

Bill: 119-hres-697
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13]
Introduced: 2025-09-10
Policy area: Health
Latest action: action_date: 2025-09-10
text: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Summaries:

tv_txt: IV 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 697 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 10, 2025 Mr. Thanedar (for himself, Mr. Lawler , Mr. Bell , Mrs. Watson Coleman , Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania , Mr. Thompson of Mississippi , Mrs. McIver , Ms. Brownley , Ms. McCollum , Mr. Huffman , Mr. Landsman , Mrs. Hayes , Ms. Moore of Wisconsin , Ms. Kelly of Illinois , Mr. Ryan , Mr. Johnson of Georgia , Ms. Crockett , Mr. Keating , Ms. Chu , Mr. Tran , Mr. Moulton , Ms. Norton , Mr. Torres of New York , Ms. Ansari , Mr. Krishnamoorthi , Ms. Budzinski , Mr. Fitzpatrick , Ms. Craig , Mrs. Dingell , Mr. Carson , Mr. Min , Mr. Mrvan , Ms. Tokuda , Mr. Gottheimer , Mr. Fields , Mr. Davis of Illinois , Ms. Clarke of New York , Ms. Brown , Ms. Matsui , Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania , Ms. Plaskett , Mrs. Foushee , Ms. Williams of Georgia , Ms. Friedman , Mr. Swalwell , Mr. Davis of North Carolina , Mr. Schneider , Ms. Sewell , and Mr. Tonko ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce RESOLUTION Recognizing suicide as a serious public health problem and expressing support for the designation of September as National Suicide Prevention Month as well as September 10, 2025, as World Suicide Prevention Day .

Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in this resolution referred to as CDC ), suicide was among the top 8 leading causes of death for people aged 10 to 64 in 2023; Whereas, according to the CDC, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 34 in 2023; Whereas, according to the CDC, in 2023, suicide was responsible for 49,316 deaths, or about 1 death every 11 minutes; Whereas the number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher; Whereas, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (in this resolution referred to as SAMHSA ) 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Report, an estimated 14,300,000 adults had serious thoughts about suicide, 4,600,000 planned a suicide attempt, and 1,700,000 attempted suicide in 2024; Whereas, according to SAMHSA, 2,600,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United States had serious thoughts of suicide, 1,200,000 made a suicide plan, and 700,000 attempted suicide the previous year; Whereas, according to SAMHSA, trends among adolescents aged 12 to 17 reporting having serious thoughts about suicide, making a suicide plan, and attempting suicide have decreased from 2021 to 2024, reflecting meaningful progress in prevention efforts; Whereas the estimates among adolescents are likely to be skewed due to additional survey options beyond those given to adults; Whereas, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (in this resolution referred to as VA ) 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, 6,407 veterans died by suicide in 2022; Whereas, according to the VA, suicide was the second-leading cause of death among veterans aged 45 or under and the 12th-leading cause of death for veterans overall in 2022; Whereas, according to the VA, the average number of veterans who died by suicide per day rose from 16.4 in 2001 to 17.6 in 2022; Whereas, according to the VA, among veterans with documented Veterans Crisis Line contact in 2022, the suicide rate in the following month was 22.5 percent lower than in 2019; Whereas, according to the VA, the number of veterans who died by suicide in 2022 was lower than in 12 of the previous 14 years, reflecting meaningful progress in prevention efforts; Whereas, according to the National Institutes of Health (in this resolution referred to as NIH ), men are more likely to die by suicide; Whereas, according to the NIH, the suicide rate among men was four times higher than among women in 2022; Whereas additional research must be conducted to better understand the relationship between gender and suicide; Whereas studies have shown that suicide is one of the leading causes of death during pregnancy and the first year postpartum; Whereas studies show that suicide accounts for between 20 and 39 percent of postpartum deaths, making suicide a leading cause of maternal mortality; Whereas the exclusion of suicide from the commonly accepted definition of maternal mortality creates a gap in data, and the actual rates may be higher; Whereas the stigma associated with mental health conditions and suicidal ideation hinders suicide prevention by discouraging at-risk individuals from seeking lifesaving help; and Whereas September is an appropriate month to designate as National Suicide Prevention Month , aligning with World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, a date recognized internationally and supported by the World Health Organization: Now, therefore, be it;

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 the designation of World Suicide Prevention Day ; (4) declares suicide prevention as a priority; (5) acknowledges that no single suicide prevention program or effort will be appropriate for all populations or communities; (6) recognizes 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; (7) recognizes that mental health is equally as important as physical health; and (8) supports the development and implementation of strategies to increase access to quality mental health, substance abuse, and suicide prevention services.