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119th CONGRESS
1st Session |
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”.
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
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;
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 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.