[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 20, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3187-S3188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI:
  S. 2357. A bill to provide for improvements in the consistency of 
data collection, reporting, and assessment in connection with the 
suicide prevention efforts of the Department of Defense; to the 
Committee on Armed Services.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President I have come to the floor today to 
introduce a piece of legislation that I feel is timely and critically 
necessary, the Department of Defense Suicide Tracking Act of 2014. As 
our Nation winds down involvement in the longest war in our history, it 
is incumbent on all of us to ensure that the men and women who have 
carried the burden of combat in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other parts of 
the world, as well as their family members, are taken care of to the 
fullest extent possible. That means we must address the tragic suicide 
epidemic in our military. While the services have focused on this 
problem for years, there still appears to be significant gaps, 
especially in reserve component and dependent tracking and analysis. 
This is a complex issue with no obvious solutions, but I intend to work 
with my colleagues in the Senate to develop comprehensive, meaningful 
ways to address this problem.
  The DoD recently released its 2012 DoD Suicide Event Report, which 
concluded that there were a total of 319 active component suicides and 
203 reserve

[[Page S3188]]

component suicides in 2012. That equates to 22.7 and 24.2 for every 
100,000 service members, respectively. Additionally, there were a total 
of 841 attempted suicides in 2012. While preliminary data suggests that 
2013 had an 18 percent drop in suicides, this is still a significant 
and tragic problem in the military that we need to tackle head-on. The 
report doesn't include any data for dependent suicide or attempted 
suicide, because currently only the U.S. Army even tries to track that 
information, so there is no comprehensive assessment of how years of 
combat and readiness have impacted military dependents in that way.
  The purpose of the DoD Suicide Tracking Act is to establish programs 
to consistently track and analyze information regarding suicides 
involving members of the reserve components and dependents of regular 
and reserve component members. Specifically, the bill would improve 
consistency in reserve component suicide prevention and resiliency 
programs by requiring the Secretary of Defense to develop a standard 
method for collecting, reporting, and assessing suicide data and 
suicide attempt data involving members of the National Guard and 
Reserves. Alaskans are extremely proud of the contributions of our 
National Guard and Reserve members, both home and abroad. They have 
endured the stress of readiness, deployments and combat like the active 
component, making us all very proud. As such, it is time that we ensure 
the Department of Defense is tracking and addressing their mental well-
being just like every other military member.
  According to an annual survey by the Blue Star Families military 
family advocacy group, of 5,100 military family members surveyed in 
2012, 9 percent of military spouses reported that they had considered 
suicide. Of those, nearly a quarter said they had not sought help. This 
bill would establish a Department of Defense suicide prevention program 
for military dependents that requires each service to implement 
programs to track, report and analyze information regarding suicides. 
We often talk about the burden placed on military family members, but 
when it comes to suicide we have simply cut them out of the 
conversation. This bill would ensure the DoD finally focuses on the 
hardship and emotional stress born by military dependents and keeps 
them in the picture when evaluating the problem and working towards a 
solution. Our military family members have endured countless 
deployments, cared for injured service members, and picked up the 
pieces when heroes have made the ultimate sacrifice. I intend to make 
sure our government cares for them and gives them options beyond 
suicide to recover from their pain and emotional stress.
  Suicide among the active military, reserve and veteran populations 
continues to be a problem that doesn't appear to be improving. Sadly, 
the problem will likely get worse before it improves as the war in 
Afghanistan winds down and the services downsize, sending veterans with 
complex mental issues into the private sector without the military for 
support. That is why we need to improve our efforts now to proactively 
identify and care for these service members and their families as soon 
as possible and with the full resourcing of the Department of Defense. 
Our military men and women, and their families, have endured years of 
conflict across the world. They embody the proud tradition of selfless 
service to our Nation and I cannot thank them enough for everything 
they do. I call on all of my colleagues in the Senate to help those who 
have dedicated their lives to helping others and who, day in and day 
out, make the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our freedoms.
  I would like to thank Representative Niki Tsongas for her leadership 
on this issue and introduction of the House companion bill, H.R. 4504.
                                 ______