[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 81 (Tuesday, May 11, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2175-H2176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT SUICIDE ACT

  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2862) to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to conduct a national suicide prevention media campaign, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2862

       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: ``, under the 
     universal telephone number designated under Section 251(e)(4) 
     of the Communications Act of 1934,''.

     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 consultation 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 consulting 
     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 certain local 
     areas or populations at disproportionate risk for suicide.
       (c) Use of Funds.--
       (1) Required uses.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary shall, if reasonably 
     feasible with the funds made available under subsection (f), 
     carry out the following, with respect to the national media 
     campaign:
       (i) Testing and evaluation of advertising.
       (ii) Evaluation of the effectiveness of the national media 
     campaign.
       (iii) Operational and management expenses.
       (iv) 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)(i), 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)(ii), 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;

[[Page H2176]]

       (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 2022 
     through 2026.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 2862.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2862, the Campaign to 
Prevent Suicide Act.
  Suicide, Madam Speaker, continues to be one of the leading causes of 
death in the United States. Last year alone, we lost more than 44,000 
people to suicide deaths, placing a heavy toll on the families and 
friends of victims, as well as on our communities.
  To help prevent suicides, we have created a lifeline that people can 
call when they are in crisis to get the help they need. This suicide 
prevention hotline has been available since 2004 through funding we 
have provided to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration, and the call-in line has taken millions of calls since 
its inception.
  Unfortunately, the call-in line was started as a 10-digit number that 
is hard to remember, and this could potentially be preventing essential 
access to support for those in crisis. In 2018, the National Suicide 
Hotline Improvement Act was passed with the goal of launching a new 3-
digit number similar to 911 that is easy to remember during a time of 
crisis.
  The Federal Communications Commission is now finalizing the process 
to launch this new 3-digit call-in line, 988, next year. Now we need to 
ensure people are aware of the new 3-digit number through a marketing 
of 988.
  H.R. 2862 provides this essential next step in communicating the new 
lifeline number to the public, and will also evaluate the effectiveness 
of the marketing to better understand how best to reach communities in 
need.
  Madam Speaker, suicide deaths are a preventible tragedy, and this 
call-in line has the potential to help people in crisis and to save 
lives, but we need to educate people about this important resource.
  Madam Speaker, I want to commend the lead sponsors of this 
legislation, Representatives Beyer and Kinzinger, and their staff, for 
their tireless work on this bill.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2862, the Campaign to 
Prevent Suicide Act, introduced by Representatives Beyer and Kinzinger.
  This bill directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to 
conduct a national suicide prevention education campaign, this includes 
promotion of the new 988 number for the National Suicide Prevention 
Lifeline.
  The bill also helps educate Americans on ways to engage people 
showing signs of suicidal behavior, in order to provide them with the 
support they need. The bill is desperately needed as we work as a 
nation to emerge from an unprecedented health and economic crisis.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to come together here today and 
advance this legislation.
  Again, this is important in terms of having the 988 number, people 
can reach out and have intervention. We know intervention and 
prevention and recognition is key to preventing people from committing 
suicide.
  Madam Speaker, I appreciate my friends, Mr. Beyer and Mr. Kinzinger, 
for bringing this forward. I urge its passage.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, as my colleague from Kentucky explained, 
this is a very important piece of legislation to make people aware of 
this 988 number to prevent suicide.
  Madam Speaker, I would urge my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to 
support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2862, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion 
are postponed.

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