[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 163 (Monday, September 21, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H4631-H4633]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT SUICIDE ACT
Mrs. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4585) to require the Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention to conduct a national suicide prevention media
campaign, and for other purposes, as amended.
[[Page H4632]]
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4585
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Campaign to Prevent Suicide
Act''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE.
Section 520E-3(b)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 290bb-36c(b)(2)) is amended by inserting after
``suicide prevention hotline'' the following: ``, which,
beginning not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of the Campaign to Prevent Suicide Act, shall be a
3-digit nationwide toll-free telephone number,''.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION MEDIA CAMPAIGN.
(a) National Suicide Prevention Media Campaign.--
(1) In general.--Not later than the date that is three
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this
section as the ``Secretary''), in coordination with the
Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use
(referred to in this section as the ``Assistant Secretary'')
and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (referred to in this section as the ``Director''),
shall conduct a national suicide prevention media campaign
(referred to in this section as the ``national media
campaign''), in accordance with the requirements of this
section, for purposes of--
(A) preventing suicide in the United States;
(B) educating families, friends, and communities on how to
address suicide and suicidal thoughts, including when to
encourage individuals with suicidal risk to seek help; and
(C) increasing awareness of suicide prevention resources of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(including the suicide prevention hotline maintained under
section 520E-3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
290bb-36c)), any suicide prevention mobile application of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Substance
Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, and other
support resources determined appropriate by the Secretary.
(2) Additional consultation.--In addition to coordinating
with the Assistant Secretary and the Director under this
section, the Secretary shall consult with, as appropriate,
State, local, Tribal, and territorial health departments,
primary health care providers, hospitals with emergency
departments, mental and behavioral health services providers,
crisis response services providers, first responders, suicide
prevention and mental health professionals, patient advocacy
groups, survivors of suicide attempts, and representatives of
television and social media platforms in planning the
national media campaign to be conducted under paragraph (1).
(b) Target Audiences.--
(1) Tailoring advertisements and other communications.--In
conducting the national media campaign under subsection
(a)(1), the Secretary may tailor culturally competent
advertisements and other communications of the campaign
across all available media for a target audience (such as a
particular geographic location or demographic) across the
lifespan.
(2) Targeting certain local areas.--The Secretary shall, to
the maximum extent practicable, use amounts made available
under subsection (f) for media that targets individuals in
local areas with higher suicide rates.
(c) Use of Funds.--
(1) Required uses.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall, to the extent
reasonably feasible with the funds made available under
subsection (f), carry out the following, with respect to the
national media campaign:
(i) The purchase of advertising time and space, including
the strategic planning for, and accounting of, any such
purchase.
(ii) Creative services and talent costs.
(iii) Advertising production costs.
(iv) Testing and evaluation of advertising.
(v) Evaluation of the effectiveness of the national media
campaign.
(vi) Operational and management expenses.
(vii) The creation of an educational toolkit for television
and social media platforms to use in discussing suicide and
raising awareness about how to prevent suicide.
(B) Specific requirements.--
(i) Testing and evaluation of advertising.--In testing and
evaluating advertising under subparagraph (A)(iv), the
Secretary shall test all advertisements after use in the
national media campaign to evaluate the extent to which such
advertisements have been effective in carrying out the
purposes of the national media campaign.
(ii) Evaluation of effectiveness of national media
campaign.--In evaluating the effectiveness of the national
media campaign under subparagraph (A)(v), the Secretary shall
take into account--
(I) the number of unique calls that are made to the suicide
prevention hotline maintained under section 520E-3 of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb-36c) and assess
whether there are any State and regional variations with
respect to the capacity to answer such calls;
(II) the number of unique encounters with suicide
prevention and support resources of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration and assess engagement with
such suicide prevention and support resources;
(III) whether the national media campaign has contributed
to increased awareness that suicidal individuals should be
engaged, rather than ignored; and
(IV) such other measures of evaluation as the Secretary
determines are appropriate.
(2) Optional uses.--The Secretary may use amounts made
available under subsection (f) for the following, with
respect to the national media campaign:
(A) Partnerships with professional and civic groups,
community-based organizations, including faith-based
organizations, and Government or Tribal organizations that
the Secretary determines have experience in suicide
prevention, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
(B) Entertainment industry outreach, interactive outreach,
media projects and activities, public information, news media
outreach, outreach through television programs, and corporate
sponsorship and participation.
(d) Prohibitions.--None of the amounts made available under
subsection (f) may be obligated or expended for any of the
following:
(1) To supplant current suicide prevention campaigns.
(2) For partisan political purposes, or to express advocacy
in support of or to defeat any clearly identified candidate,
clearly identified ballot initiative, or clearly identified
legislative or regulatory proposal.
(e) Report to Congress.--Not later than 18 months after
implementation of the national media campaign has begun, the
Secretary, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary and
the Director, shall, with respect to the first year of the
national media campaign, submit to Congress a report that
describes--
(1) the strategy of the national media campaign and whether
specific objectives of such campaign were accomplished,
including whether such campaign impacted the number of calls
made to lifeline crisis centers and the capacity of such
centers to manage such calls;
(2) steps taken to ensure that the national media campaign
operates in an effective and efficient manner consistent with
the overall strategy and focus of the national media
campaign;
(3) plans to purchase advertising time and space;
(4) policies and practices implemented to ensure that
Federal funds are used responsibly to purchase advertising
time and space and eliminate the potential for waste, fraud,
and abuse; and
(5) all contracts entered into with a corporation, a
partnership, or an individual working on behalf of the
national media campaign.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--For purposes of
carrying out this section, there is authorized to be
appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021
through 2025.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Michigan (Mrs. Dingell) and the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Gianforte)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Michigan.
General Leave
Mrs. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on H.R. 4585.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Mrs. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4585, the Campaign to
Prevent Suicide Act. This legislation will further facilitate access to
existing Federal resources on suicide prevention by creating a national
suicide prevention media campaign to help raise awareness of the
lifeline as well as advertise the new 988 number when it becomes
available.
Additionally, the Campaign to Prevent Suicide Act will also provide
guidance to TV and social media companies on how effectively to
communicate about suicide prevention through the creation of a media
and best practices tool kit.
Given the significant mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,
ensuring that Americans have access to the support they need during
these trying times is more important than ever. With multiple studies
pointing to the pandemic's significant impact on mental health,
including a fourfold increase in depression reported by the
[[Page H4633]]
CDC this summer, we cannot lose sight of this longstanding public
health issue.
I appreciate Representatives Beyer's and Gianforte's work on this
legislation, which will provide resources for outreach on suicide
prevention during a time when it is needed more than ever. We need to
lift the stigma from people talking about this. It happens in every
family and in every place.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support passage of this bill,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GIANFORTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4585, the Campaign to
Prevent Suicide Act introduced by Representative Beyer and me. I want
to thank my friend, Don Beyer, for leading the effort on the bill.
Our bill directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as
well as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
to conduct a national suicide prevention education campaign. This
includes advertising the new 988 number for the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline.
The measure also encourages individuals to engage people showing
signs of suicidal behavior to provide them with the support that they
need.
We introduced this legislation to complement the efforts of both the
legislation to designate 988 as the suicide hotline and Mr. Katko's
legislation to ensure funding to implement the designation. These bills
are badly needed by a nation working to emerge from an unprecedented
health and economic crisis.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to come together here today and
advance these bills, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer).
Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to urge my colleagues to
support the bipartisan bill, H.R. 4585, the Campaign to Prevent Suicide
Act, that I introduced with my friend, Greg Gianforte.
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and for that very
reason, this bill couldn't be more important. Suicide is the 10th
leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading
cause of death for 15- to 34-year-olds. Overall suicide rates increased
35 percent from 1999 through 2018.
Suicide can be prevented, but unfortunately, it is still a taboo
topic for much of American society. The stigma against discussing
suicide and seeking help is a significant barrier to prevention. It is
one of those things where if suicide happened in a family, then no one
would ever talk about it.
It is important to tackle this head-on. I can't tell you how many
times I bring this up at an event--it is something that I have been
working on with good friends like Greg--and there is this discomfort.
People look away; they shuffle their feet; and some people slip out of
the back of the room. Yet, every time at the end of the event people
will come up and say: Thank you so much for talking about that. I lost
my aunt. I lost my brother.
Nobody talks about it. A change in social norms from a culture of
avoidance to a culture of engagement is needed in order to ensure that
those who need help can actually seek it.
The United States Air Force has developed a similar initiative
tailored to the Air Force in order to change the culture surrounding
suicide, and researchers found that it is associated with a 33 percent
drop in the relative risk reduction in suicide. This reflects the
importance of engaging, but the second piece is knowing how to do it.
The Federal Communications Commission has the new 988 number we all
talked about, but of course, we have to tell people about it, which is
why it is so time sensitive.
The Campaign to Prevent Suicide would, number one, act to change the
culture around suicide so Americans know to intervene rather than to
ignore. Again, when I was growing up, you were not supposed to say,
``Debbie, are you feeling suicidal?'' because you might give her the
idea to do it. Now, we say, ``Debbie, do you feel like hurting
yourself?'' or, ``Do you want to kill yourself?''
I was so thrilled when I went to the emergency room last year. I got
something in my eye. I just had something in my eye, and the first
thing they said is: Do you feel like killing yourself?
I thanked the nurse, and I thanked the doctor for making sure that I
was okay.
Of course, it will be an awareness campaign for the new 988 number,
but also it will educate media and social media because the world has
changed. Today, often it will be a Facebook post or a tweet or an
Instagram that might be the first hint that somebody is thinking about
killing themselves.
We are dealing with a suicide epidemic made worse during the pandemic
because the very stress of the pandemic exacerbated it for all of us.
With 200,000 dead who are in the news all the time, we have a death
anxiety that mostly only people in battle have. So, this is really,
really important.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this good bipartisan
bill to save lives and to save the enormous burden of grief that
families feel.
Mr. GIANFORTE. Madam Speaker, in closing, I just want to thank my
friend, Don Beyer, again for his partnership on this and his real
leadership.
This is an important piece of legislation, Madam Speaker. I urge my
colleagues to adopt it today, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I want to thank both of my colleagues
for their leadership on this issue and for the willingness to talk
about it publicly because we do need for people to acknowledge that it
is a normal feeling, and it is okay. I have seen it in my own family
and wish that we had been willing to talk about it before it had been
too late.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Dingell) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4585, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to require
the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a national
suicide prevention media campaign, and for other purposes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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