[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3995-S3997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           SUICIDE IN AMERICA

  Mr. REID. Madam President, in the wrap-up, in the final business that 
will take place here today, Senate Resolution 84 will pass. This is a 
resolution that deals with suicide prevention. Currently, there are 
31,000 suicides every year in the United States; 83 people a day kill 
themselves.
  I made some remarks earlier today that will be in the Record of the 
Senate on this subject. I just want to express my appreciation to those 
that are sponsoring this resolution. It is a bipartisan resolution. 
Senator Coverdell has been the lead Republican on this issue. Madam 
President, he is the lead sponsor on this because in his State there is 
a very courageous man, a man named Jerry Weyrauch. Jerry is leading a 
national effort in this country to draw attention to this issue. He is 
doing it after having gone through the trauma of losing his daughter by 
suicide.
  Suicide is something that affects many people. As indicated, 31,000 
people a year kill themselves in this country. In my Senate office here 
in Washington, about 2 months ago, during a period of 4 weeks, three of 
my employees had relatives that killed themselves. One was an 11-year-
old boy that hanged himself.
  Suicide is something we have learned can be avoided. I became vocal 
about suicide after having participated in a hearing before the Senate 
Aging Committee last year. Mike Wallace, a person those of us in 
Government hate to get a call from, appeared before our Aging 
Committee. The hearing was on senior depression. Mike Wallace, in my 
opinion, Madam President, showed a lot of courage when he came before 
our

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committee and acknowledged--this very articulate TV personality 
appeared before our committee with a lot of humility--there were times 
in his life when he felt like he wanted to die, he was so depressed. 
The message he gave our committee was that there was no reason for him 
to feel this way. With a little bit of counseling and some medication, 
his life was changed.
  It was at that hearing that I said to myself, and I indicated 
publicly, that it was time I acknowledged the fact that my father 
killed himself. It was something our family was embarrassed about, 
maybe even a little ashamed about. But with Mike Wallace talking the 
way he did, I thought it was something I should be more vocal about, 
and try to prevent others from going through the trauma that my family 
went through.
  So, at that hearing, I said to the now Secretary of Defense, then 
Chairman Cohen, that I thought it would be a good idea if we held a 
hearing on senior suicide. We did. It was a remarkable hearing. We 
learned it is a problem. We learned, of course, with that hearing 
centering on senior suicide, what a tremendous problem it is across 
this country, especially in Nevada. Nevada leads the Nation in suicide 
and is twice--two times--the average for senior suicide. Nevada has a 
real problem.
  We came to learn in that hearing that suicide cuts across all ages, 
it cuts across all economic lines, all social and economic boundaries. 
More people die from suicide in the United States than from homicide. 
That says a lot because there are tens of thousands of people, about 
24,000 people a year in this country, who are murdered.
  On an average day in this country, almost 2,000 adults attempt 
suicide. For young people, ages 15 to 24, suicide is the third leading 
cause of death, only behind unintentional injury and homicide. In 1992, 
more teenagers and young adults died from suicide than died from 
cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, 
influenza, and chronic lung disease combined. We can take all of the 
people age 15 to 24 who died from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth 
defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and lung disease, and they do 
not equal the number of young people that killed themselves. Suicide is 
the eighth leading cause of death in the United States.

  One of the things we have learned in these hearings, Madam President, 
is we do not know the cause of suicide. Why are the 10 leading States 
in the Nation all Western States? We do not know why. We need to know 
why. Why do males commit suicide, at rates and numbers for suicides, 
four times more than females?
  Elderly adults have rates of suicide more than 50 percent higher than 
the Nation as a whole. We also know that seniors are much more adept at 
killing themselves. We know a youngster is not very good. About every 1 
in 200 who attempts suicide is able to be successful; yet, 1 in 4 
seniors are successful. Suicide is preventable.
  As I indicated, we learned from the Mike Wallace hearing that a 
little bit of counseling and a little bit of medication is all that is 
needed. Most suicidal persons desperately want to live; they are just 
unable to see alternatives to their problems. Understanding and 
identifying the risk factors for this phenomenon and evaluating 
potential suicide prevention interventions must become a public health 
priority. So we must do something about this preventable public health 
tragedy. It is irresponsible and insensitive to allow victims and 
families to suffer in silence or to nationally hide our heads in the 
sand.

  Those of us who have had experience with suicide wonder, is there 
more we could have done? Why did he do it? Why did she do it? But I 
think the important thing is to recognize the progress that has been 
made. It wasn't long ago, Madam President, that someone that committed 
suicide could not be buried in a public cemetery. They simply would not 
allow it. There were many religious boundaries that the family of 
someone that committed suicide could not go beyond. Things are changing 
for the better. They will become better, and this resolution is really 
an outstanding step in that direction.
  I have acknowledged Senator Coverdell and I appreciate his support, 
along with the two Senators from Louisiana, Breaux and Landrieu, 
Senator Murray, and Senator Wellstone, those who have cosponsored this 
legislation. The lead person in the House of Representatives is John 
Lewis from Georgia. I am grateful to him for taking the lead in this.
  But the most important thing we can do is not be insensitive. Again, 
it is irresponsible and insensitive to allow families and victims to 
suffer in silence or to nationally hide our heads in the sand and 
pretend it doesn't exist. We have to acknowledge the problem and we 
need to take the critical first step in doing something about it.
  Today the Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network--the organization Jerry 
Weyrauch formulated, sponsored and pushed--delivered over 20,000 signed 
petitions from 47 States calling for the action that was accomplished 
here today. It is time to lift the veil of secrecy and begin the effort 
to heal the wounds and take the steps to prevent unnecessary loss of 
life. It is time to continue the effort for mental health parity and to 
ensure that all those who need assistance get the assistance they need, 
without stigma.
  The resolution I offered today, I hope, will be the first step in 
focusing awareness on the need for suicide prevention and addressing 
the need for a national strategy. No life should be lost when there is 
an opportunity to prevent its loss.
  Not one of the nearly 31,000 lives lost to suicide annually is 
insignificant. These are the children, parents, grandparents, brothers, 
sisters, friends, coworkers, and neighbors of each and every one of us. 
There are some things, I repeat, that we don't know. We have multiple 
suicides in families--families that appear to be the normal families. 
We have fathers committing suicide and sons committing suicide. We need 
to know more about this. Few of us can say we don't know someone who 
has been touched personally by this tragedy.
  In addition to this legislation, I am going to continue to offer 
legislation which will be vital in taking necessary steps by calling 
for the establishment of injury control research centers, which will 
deal exclusively with the subject of suicide. We need a focal point 
where we can develop expertise on suicide, both of seniors and of 
children, and share this expertise with others interested in getting 
involved.
  I also intend to ask the National Institutes of Health to conduct 
research into the treatment of clinical depression and suicide 
generally.
  Again, I express my appreciation to Members on both sides of the 
aisle for supporting this resolution. It will be, I believe, the first 
step in acknowledging suicide as a national problem.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that a statement from the 
American Association of Suicidology and the American Psychological 
Association be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:




                            American Psychological Association

                                      Washington, DC, May 5, 1997.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Reid: On behalf of over 150,000 members and 
     affiliates of the American Psychological Association (APA), I 
     am writing to express support and appreciation to you and 
     Senators Murray, Wellstone and Coverdell for the introduction 
     of a Senate resolution recognizing suicide as a national 
     problem.
       The APA shares your concern that suicide rates among the 
     elderly, adolescents, and young adults have increased 
     dramatically in recent years. Since the 1950s, suicide rates 
     among youth have nearly tripled. Between 1980 and 1990, the 
     suicide rate increased by 30% in the 10 to 19 year-old age 
     group. For older Americans over 65, the suicide rate 
     increased nine percent between 1980 and 1992. Elderly 
     Americans make up about 13 percent of the country's 
     population, but account for about 20 percent of all suicides.
       Although the reasons for this sharp increase are unclear, 
     depression, living longer with chronic illness, and 
     increasing social isolation of the elderly may play a role in 
     the growing numbers of elderly Americans who take their own 
     lives. In addition, alcohol abuse and substance abuse can 
     dramatically raise the suicide risk, especially among youth. 
     Alcohol and drugs, separately or in combination, are potent 
     disinhibiting agents that foster impulsive and dangerous 
     acts.
       As the suicide rate can clearly be reduced and as mental 
     and behavioral disorders which lead to suicide are 
     increasingly treatable, the APA strongly supports the 
     resolution and recommends funding for additional

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     research, demonstration, evaluation, and intervention 
     projects to reduce the rate of youth and elderly suicide.
       Thank you again for your leadership on this critical issue.
           Sincerely,

                                     Raymond D. Fowler, Ph.D.,

                                      Executive Vice President and
     Chief Executive Officer.
                                                                    ____



                          American Association of Suicidology,

                                      Washington, DC, 5 May, 1997.
     Senator Harry Reid,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Reid: I am writing on behalf of the American 
     Association of Suicidology in support of your thoughtful, 
     timely, and compassionate resolution recognizing suicide as a 
     national problem and suicide prevention a national priority.
       For too long we in America have suffered from the imported 
     burden of stigmatizing both those who are suicidal and those 
     affected by suicidal deaths. Suicides are often wrongly 
     considered to be volitional deaths; this in spite of the fact 
     that they are motivated by mental disorders and irrational 
     thinking. Until we better educate our population to what we 
     know about suicide and make a more concerted effort to 
     prevent these tragic, premature, and often preventable 
     deaths, we will continue to needlessly devastate thousands of 
     newly bereaved family members, friends, and colleagues 
     annually. Moreover, we can seriously impact the associated 
     cost and burden of suicide to the American economy which is 
     estimated to run into the tens of billions of dollars each 
     year.
       The operative word here is needless. We need not suffer 
     these losses. We can make a difference.
       Your resolution has long been needed and represents the 
     type of initiative Congress can make for the public health of 
     our nation. We applaud your efforts.
           Sincerely,
                                            Alan L. Berman, Ph.D.,
     Executive Director.
                                                                    ____

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brownback). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________