Donnelly Says Prevention Bill Remains Vital Despite Decline in Military Suicides
INDIANAPOLIS — U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., remains committed to expanding suicide-prevention screening to all military service members, even as the number of soldier suicides dropped by 8 percent last year.
The U.S. Department of Defense reported Wednesday that 479 service members — including active duty, reserve and National Guard troops — took their own lives in 2013, down from 522 suicides in 2012.
The greatest reduction in suicide was among active duty troops with 259 killing themselves last year, versus 319 in 2012.
Suicide claimed 14 additional reserve service members last year for a total of 87 suicides, and the 133 National Guard suicides in 2013 were three more than the year before.
"This new report from the DOD is yet another harrowing reminder that we must address the scourge of military suicide immediately," said Donnelly, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In May, Donnelly won Senate committee approval for his Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act of 2014, which requires annual, face-to-face mental health assessments for all active duty, reserve and National Guard service members.
Currently, the military focuses mental health services on deploying and returning troops, even though research shows suicide is more common among soldiers who never deploy, Donnelly said.
The measure, named for a Hoosier soldier who took his own life in 2009, also creates a working group of Pentagon and Department of Health and Human Services officials tasked with finding ways to improve mental health services, specifically for reserve and National Guard troops
"There is no one solution to preventing suicide, but there are common-sense steps we can take now to help our service members," Donnelly said.
His proposal is likely to become law after being incorporated in the "must pass" annual military appropriations legislation that's set for a final Senate vote later this year.
Donnelly, who said he's not leaving anything to chance, is "working nonstop with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure that the Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act is signed into law as soon as possible."
