[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1463 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1463

  To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the mental health 
assessments provided to members of the Armed Forces deployed in support 
                      of a contingency operation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 10, 2013

    Mr. Carson of Indiana (for himself, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Hastings of 
 Florida, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Grijalva, 
 Mr. Takano, and Mr. Enyart) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the mental health 
assessments provided to members of the Armed Forces deployed in support 
                      of a contingency operation.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Military Suicide Reduction Act''.

SEC. 2. MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 
              DEPLOYED IN SUPPORT OF A CONTINGENCY OPERATION.

    (a) Increased Assessments.--Subsection (a) of section 1074m of 
title 10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as 
                subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the 
                following new subparagraph (B):
            ``(B) Once during each 180-day period in which the member 
        is so deployed.''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``subparagraph (B) and 
        (C)'' and inserting ``subparagraphs (C) and (D)''.
    (b) Deployment Assessments by Medical Professionals.--Subsection 
(c) of such section is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``The mental health'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided by paragraph (3), the mental 
        health''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(3)(A) If the Secretary determines that a mental health 
assessment conducted under subsection (a)(1)(B) cannot be performed by 
an individual described in clause (i) or (ii) of paragraph (1)(A), the 
Secretary shall ensure that the mental health assessment is conducted 
using an Internet-based questionnaire.
    ``(B) After a member completes a questionnaire conducted under 
subparagraph (A), the immediate commanding officer of the member shall 
complete a separate Internet-based questionnaire regarding the 
observations of the commanding officer with respect to the mental 
health of the member. The commanding officer may not have access to the 
questionnaire of the member conducted under subparagraph (A).
    ``(C) The Secretary shall ensure that the questionnaires conducted 
under subparagraphs (A) and (B) to assess a member are combined and 
such combined document is reviewed and acted upon by personnel 
described in paragraph (1)(A) in the same manner as an assessment 
conducted pursuant to subparagraph (A), (C), or (D) of subsection 
(a)(1).
    ``(D) Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to treat a 
questionnaire conducted under subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (B) as 
being exempt from Department of Defense Directive 6025.18, a successor 
directive, or any other relevant regulation regarding privacy 
prescribed pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and 
Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191).''.
    (c) Uniform Standards Assessments.--Such section is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)(1)(D), by striking ``consistent'' and 
        inserting ``uniform''; and
            (2) in subsection (f)(1), by adding at the end the 
        following new sentence: ``Such regulations shall ensure that 
        this section is carried out in a uniform manner among the 
        military departments.''.
    (d) Conforming Amendment.--Subsection (d) of such section is 
amended by striking ``subsection (a)(1)(C)'' and inserting ``subsection 
(a)(1)(D)''.
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