S.Amdt. 616

SA 616. Mr. WARNER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 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. 727. PROGRAM TO ASSIST MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AT
RISK OF SUICIDE.

(a) Program Required.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense,
in consultation with the Director of the Defense Health
Agency, shall develop and implement a centralized program to
monitor and provide assistance to members of the Armed Forces
at risk of suicide who have been recently discharged from
health care, as outlined in Recommendation 6.29 of the final
report issued by the Suicide Prevention and Response
Independent Review Committee.
(b) Matters to Be Included.--The centralized program
required under subsection (a) shall specify the following:
(1) The individual and agency responsible for conducting
follow-up with members of the Armed Forces at risk of
suicide.
(2) The time when initial follow-up will occur.
(3) The times when subsequent follow-ups will occur.
(4) The manner in which such members will be contacted.
(5) The process for documentation of follow-up attempts.
(6) The procedures for ensuring the safety of the member if
the member is unreachable.
(7) The processes for military medical treatment facilities
to link mortality data to health care delivery data--
(A) to better identify settings and patients at higher risk
of suicide;
(B) to further inform local suicide prevention strategies
for targeted high-risk groups; and
(C) to ensure compliance with reporting and investigating
suicides occurring within 72 hours of discharge from a
hospital.
(c) Members of the Armed Forces at Risk of Suicide
Defined.--In this section, the term ``members of the Armed
Forces at risk of suicide'' includes members of the Armed
Forces who have attempted suicide and members of the Armed
Forces who have been discharged as patients and who have been
clinically assessed as benefitting from follow-up support
related to suicide prevention.
______