[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 89 (Thursday, June 4, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S3792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1638. Mr. BLUNT submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense and for military construction, to 
prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle A of title VII, add the following:

     SEC. 706. ENHANCEMENT OF ANNUAL MENTAL HEALTH SCREENINGS FOR 
                   MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

       (a) In General.--Section 1074n(b) of title 10, United 
     States Code is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
     semicolon;
       (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting a semicolon; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
       ``(3) include a thorough dialogue between the individual 
     conducting the mental health assessment and the member to 
     determine whether the member has had any experiences that 
     could lead to future mental health concerns;
       ``(4) include a thorough screening of the member for key 
     indicators of post-traumatic stress and mild to severe 
     traumatic brain injury; and
       ``(5) include the creation of a recorded, verified history 
     of events, including non-combat related events, for each 
     member to determine the cause and correlation of symptoms of 
     mild traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress that 
     may appear months or years after the causal incident.''.
       (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit 
     to Congress a plan for the implementation of paragraphs (3) 
     through (5) of section 1074n(b) of such title, as added by 
     subsection (a)(3) of this section.
       (c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the annual mental health assessment for members of the 
     Armed Forces provided under section 1074n of such title can 
     be improved by providing members undergoing such an 
     assessment with a record of events, including non-combat 
     related events, to substantiate latent mental health issues 
     that appear months or years after the causal incident;
       (2) some members do not know how to ask for help with 
     mental health concerns in connection with such assessment as 
     conducted as of the date of the enactment of this Act and not 
     all health care providers adequately discuss mental health 
     during such assessment;
       (3) the majority of mild traumatic brain injury inducing 
     incidents are not diagnosed during combat deployment, so when 
     symptoms do appear, there is no mechanism for health care 
     providers to link the injury back to the causal incident;
       (4) the provision of such assessment as conducted as of the 
     date of the enactment of this Act does not recognize 
     incidents described in paragraph (3) unless the member 
     indicates such incidents on a survey or has a very proactive 
     health care provider;
       (5) when latent mental health symptoms appear after a 
     member is discharged, the member is not eligible to receive 
     treatment from the Department without a record of causal 
     justification; and
       (6) the Secretary of Defense has an obligation to localize 
     as quickly and efficiently as possible without disrupting 
     military readiness the mental health concerns that persist 
     among members of the Armed Forces unbeknownst to those 
     members and the health care providers of those members.
                                 ______