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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 697 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 697
Recognizing suicide as a serious public health problem and expressing
support for the designation of September as ``National Suicide
Prevention Month'' as well as September 10, 2025, as ``World Suicide
Prevention Day''.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 10, 2025
Mr. Thanedar (for himself, Mr. Lawler, Mr. Bell, Mrs. Watson Coleman,
Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mrs. McIver, Ms.
Brownley, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Landsman, Mrs. Hayes, Ms.
Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Johnson of
Georgia, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Keating, Ms. Chu, Mr. Tran, Mr. Moulton, Ms.
Norton, Mr. Torres of New York, Ms. Ansari, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms.
Budzinski, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Craig, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Carson, Mr.
Min, Mr. Mrvan, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Fields, Mr. Davis of
Illinois, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Brown, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Evans of
Pennsylvania, Ms. Plaskett, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms.
Friedman, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Mr. Schneider, Ms.
Sewell, and Mr. Tonko) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing suicide as a serious public health problem and expressing
support for the designation of September as ``National Suicide
Prevention Month'' as well as September 10, 2025, as ``World Suicide
Prevention Day''.
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in this
resolution referred to as ``CDC''), suicide was among the top 8 leading
causes of death for people aged 10 to 64 in 2023;
Whereas, according to the CDC, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for
people aged 10 to 34 in 2023;
Whereas, according to the CDC, in 2023, suicide was responsible for 49,316
deaths, or about 1 death every 11 minutes;
Whereas the number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher;
Whereas, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration's (in this resolution referred to as ``SAMHSA'') 2024
National Survey on Drug Use and Health Report, an estimated 14,300,000
adults had serious thoughts about suicide, 4,600,000 planned a suicide
attempt, and 1,700,000 attempted suicide in 2024;
Whereas, according to SAMHSA, 2,600,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United
States had serious thoughts of suicide, 1,200,000 made a suicide plan,
and 700,000 attempted suicide the previous year;
Whereas, according to SAMHSA, trends among adolescents aged 12 to 17 reporting
having serious thoughts about suicide, making a suicide plan, and
attempting suicide have decreased from 2021 to 2024, reflecting
meaningful progress in prevention efforts;
Whereas the estimates among adolescents are likely to be skewed due to
additional survey options beyond those given to adults;
Whereas, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs' (in this resolution
referred to as ``VA'') 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual
Report, 6,407 veterans died by suicide in 2022;
Whereas, according to the VA, suicide was the second-leading cause of death
among veterans aged 45 or under and the 12th-leading cause of death for
veterans overall in 2022;
Whereas, according to the VA, the average number of veterans who died by suicide
per day rose from 16.4 in 2001 to 17.6 in 2022;
Whereas, according to the VA, among veterans with documented Veterans Crisis
Line contact in 2022, the suicide rate in the following month was 22.5
percent lower than in 2019;
Whereas, according to the VA, the number of veterans who died by suicide in 2022
was lower than in 12 of the previous 14 years, reflecting meaningful
progress in prevention efforts;
Whereas, according to the National Institutes of Health (in this resolution
referred to as ``NIH''), men are more likely to die by suicide;
Whereas, according to the NIH, the suicide rate among men was four times higher
than among women in 2022;
Whereas additional research must be conducted to better understand the
relationship between gender and suicide;
Whereas studies have shown that suicide is one of the leading causes of death
during pregnancy and the first year postpartum;
Whereas studies show that suicide accounts for between 20 and 39 percent of
postpartum deaths, making suicide a leading cause of maternal mortality;
Whereas the exclusion of suicide from the commonly accepted definition of
maternal mortality creates a gap in data, and the actual rates may be
higher;
Whereas the stigma associated with mental health conditions and suicidal
ideation hinders suicide prevention by discouraging at-risk individuals
from seeking lifesaving help; and
Whereas September is an appropriate month to designate as ``National Suicide
Prevention Month'', aligning with ``World Suicide Prevention Day'' on
September 10, a date recognized internationally and supported by the
World Health Organization: Now, therefore, be it;
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes suicide as a preventable national public
health problem;
(2) supports the designation of ``National Suicide
Prevention Month'';
(3) supports the designation of ``World Suicide Prevention
Day'';
(4) declares suicide prevention as a priority;
(5) acknowledges that no single suicide prevention program
or effort will be appropriate for all populations or
communities;
(6) recognizes that there is no single cause for suicide
and that suicide is most often an impulsive act that occurs
during a moment of overwhelming hopelessness and despair;
(7) recognizes that mental health is equally as important
as physical health; and
(8) supports the development and implementation of
strategies to increase access to quality mental health,
substance abuse, and suicide prevention services.
<all>
Submitted in House
Submitted in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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