[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 99 (Thursday, June 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 634. Mr. CASSIDY (for himself and Mr. Tester) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1790, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2020 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, 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 C of title VII, add the following:
SEC. 729. REVIEW OF RECORDS OF FORMER MEMBERS OF THE ARMED
FORCES WHO DIE BY SUICIDE WITHIN ONE YEAR OF
SEPARATION FROM THE ARMED FORCES.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs shall jointly and retrospectively review
the records of each former member of the Armed Forces who
died by suicide within one year of separation from the Armed
Forces during the five-year period preceding the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(b) Elements.--The review required by subsection (a) with
respect to a former member of the Armed Forces shall include
consideration of the following:
(1) Whether or not the Department of Defense had previously
identified the former member as being at risk for suicide and
if so, what risk factors were present and how those risk
factors correlated to the circumstances of the death of the
former member.
(2) If the former member was eligible to receive health
care services from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(3) If the former member received health care services,
including mental health care services and Readjustment
Counseling Services, from a facility of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, following their separation from the Armed
Forces.
(4) If the former member had received a mental health
waiver during service in the Armed Forces.
(5) The employment status, housing status, marital status,
age, rank within the Armed Forces (such as enlisted and
officer), and branch of the Armed Services of the former
member.
(6) If support services, specified by the type of service
(such as employment, mental health, etc.), were provided to
the former member during the one-year period after separation
from the Armed Forces, disaggregated by--
(A) services from the Department of Defense;
(B) services from the Department of Veterans Affairs; and
(C) services provided by another entity.
(c) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress a report on the aggregate
results of the review performed under subsection (a).
(2) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--In this
subsection, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(A) The Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) The Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives.
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