[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2780 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2780

 To require an electronic database of information on the incidence of 
               suicide among members of the Armed Forces.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 13, 2008

  Mrs. Boxer (for herself and Mr. Lieberman) introduced the following 
   bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require an electronic database of information on the incidence of 
               suicide among members of the Armed Forces.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF INFORMATION ON THE INCIDENCE OF 
              SUICIDE AMONG MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

    (a) Database Required.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall, acting 
through the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and in 
coordination with the Secretaries of the military departments, 
establish and maintain an electronic database on the incidence of 
suicide and attempted suicide among members of the Armed Forces on 
active duty, including the information specified in subsection (c).
    (b) Coverage of Demobilized Members of Reserve Components.--To the 
extent practicable, the members of the Armed Forces covered by the 
database required under subsection (a) shall include members of the 
National Guard and Reserve who are demobilized from active duty during 
the 720-day period beginning on the date of their demobilization.
    (c) Information.--The information to be included in the database 
required by subsection (a) shall include, to the extent practicable, 
the following:
            (1) For each Armed Force--
                    (A) the number of members on active duty who have 
                attempted suicide; and
                    (B) the number of members on active duty who have 
                committed suicide.
            (2) For each member who commits or attempts suicide, the 
        following:
                    (A) The sex of the member.
                    (B) The race or ethnicity of the member.
                    (C) The Armed Force of the member.
                    (D) The grade, military occupational specialty, 
                duty status, and duty location of the member at the 
                time of the attempt.
                    (E) The physical location of the member at the time 
                of the attempt.
                    (F) A descriptive summary of any combat experience 
                of the member, including the location of such 
                experience, the intensity and duration of such 
                experience, and the time between the last such 
                experience and the attempt.
                    (G) The highest level of education achieved by the 
                member.
                    (H) Any mental health condition, including Post-
                Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain 
                Injury (TBI), or substance use disorder, diagnosed or 
                otherwise detected in the member.
                    (I) A descriptive summary of any previous 
                psychological care or treatment received by the member 
                for a condition under subparagraph (H) or another 
                mental health condition.
                    (J) A descriptive summary of any family history of 
                the member of mental illness, suicide, or both.
                    (K) A descriptive summary of any physical or sexual 
                abuse suffered by the member.
                    (L) A descriptive summary of any recent marital or 
                other relationship difficulties of the member.
                    (M) A descriptive summary of any recent 
                disciplinary actions taken against the member.
                    (N) A descriptive summary of any recent legal 
                difficulties of the member.
                    (O) A descriptive summary of any recent financial 
                or employment difficulties of the member.
                    (P) A description of any prior communications of 
                suicidal intent by the member.
            (3) Such other information as the Secretary considers 
        appropriate for purposes of the database.
    (d) Separate Information on Each Attempt.--Each attempted suicide 
of a member of the Armed Forces (whether or not completed) shall be 
treated as a separate attempt at suicide for purposes of subsection 
(c)(2).
    (e) Updates.--The database required by subsection (a) shall be 
updated on a continuing basis.
    (f) Reports.--
            (1) Reports to congress.--Not later than 90 days after the 
        establishment of the database required by subsection (a), and 
        every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on 
        Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report setting 
        forth the following:
                    (A) Aggregated data on the incidence of suicide 
                among members of the Armed Forces on active duty.
                    (B) An assessment of recent trends in suicides and 
                attempted suicides among members of the Armed Forces on 
                active duty.
            (2) Availability to public.--Each report under paragraph 
        (1) shall be made available to the public through the Internet 
        website of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health 
        Affairs that is available to the public.
            (3) Protection of personal information.--The information in 
        any report under paragraph (1) shall not include any personal 
        information or personally-identifying information on any member 
        of the Armed Forces covered by the database.
                                 <all>