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Last updated on Wednesday, September 19, 2018
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Tuesday, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly spoke on the Senate floor to observe September as National Suicide Prevention Month.
Donnelly discussed bipartisan progress made over the last five years to improve access to mental health resources for servicemembers, veterans, law enforcement, and their families, and emphasized the importance of ongoing efforts to prevent suicide in every community.
Donnelly said, in part, in his speech, "It can't just be about a day, or a week, or a month that we pause to reflect. This is a heartbreaking challenge for our communities. We must be working year-round, and across the aisle - there's no Democrats or Republicans in this - to find the solutions that provide Americans with the help they need to get through their most trying times. Over the past several years, Congress has found a number of bipartisan solutions to help address this tragic problem, but our work is far, far from done. There are still 45,000 Americans every year, their families, their friends - they need our help. They need our action."
Since coming to the Senate, Donnelly has worked successfully to get numerous bipartisan suicide prevention and mental health legislative efforts enacted into law. In 2013, Donnelly introduced his bipartisan Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act, which was signed into law as part of the national defense bill in 2014, and requires all servicemembers, including the Active, Guard, and Reserve components, to receive an annual mental health assessment. It was implemented throughout the Armed Forces in 2017. In 2015, Donnelly introduced his bipartisan "Care Package" aimed at improving access and outcomes for mental health care services for servicemembers. Provisions from the Care Package were signed into law as part of the 2015 and 2016 national defense bills.
In early 2017, Donnelly and Senator Todd Young introduced the bipartisan Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act, aimed at helping law enforcement agencies establish or enhance mental health services for their officers. It also made grants available to initiate peer mentoring pilot programs and supported the study of crisis hotlines and annual mental health checks for officers. It was signed into law in January 2018.
In May 2017, Donnelly and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the bipartisan National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act, to improve the effectiveness of the current suicide hotline, including to see if a 3-digit number would better connect those in need of assistance. The legislation was signed into law last month by President Trump.
According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, nearly 45,000 Americans are lost to suicide each year, a rate of one life lost every 12 minutes. Suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death in Indiana and second-leading cause for Hoosiers under 35.
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