S.Amdt. 1988

SA 1988. Mr. BLUNT (for himself and Mr. Brown) 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, 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. 738. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF ANNUAL MENTAL HEALTH
SCREENINGS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds that the Department of
Defense and the Defense Health Agency are currently
developing a standardized periodic health assessment tool
that incorporates a screening for depression, post-traumatic
stress, substance use, and risk for suicide through a person-
to-person dialogue using the same question set used for
mental health assessments provided to members of the Armed
Forces undergoing deployment.
(b) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit
to Congress a report on the implementation of mental health
assessments provided to members of the Armed Forces under
section 1074n of title 10, United States Code, that includes
a description of--
(1) the reliability of such assessments;
(2) any significant changes in mental health concerns among
members of the Armed Forces as a result of such assessments;
(3) any areas in which the provision of such assessments to
members of the Armed Forces needs to improve; and
(4) such additional information as the Secretary considers
necessary relating to mental health screening and treatment
of members of the Armed Forces.
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