[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 191 (Monday, November 1, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4071. Ms. SINEMA (for herself and Mr. Portman) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3867 submitted by Mr.
Reed and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 4350, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2022 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. 744. TASK FORCE TO REVIEW SMART DEVICE MENTAL HEALTH
RESILIENCY APPLICATIONS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
establish a task force to review mental health resiliency
applications currently available for smart devices.
(b) Mental Health Resiliency Applications.--Mental health
resiliency applications to be reviewed under subsection (a)
may include evidence-based applications such as Virtual Hope
Box.
(c) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the
establishment of the task force under subsection (a), the
task force, in consultation with the Director of the Defense
Health Agency and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall
submit to the Secretary of Defense and the congressional
defense committees a report on the findings of the task
force.
(2) Elements.--The report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall include the following:
(A) An assessment of the efficacy of the mental health
resiliency applications reviewed under subsection (a) at
improving behavioral health outcomes.
(B) A description of any trials or pilot programs completed
or underway at the Department of Defense with respect to the
use of such applications.
(C) An assessment of the cost associated with such
applications.
(D) An assessment of the compatibility of the use of such
applications with other initiatives of the Department.
(E) Such recommendations as the task force may have on
forming a pilot program to encourage the use of one or more
of such applications among members of the Armed Forces.
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