Recognizing LGBTQ+ suicide as a public health problem and expressing support for the designation of September as "National Suicide Prevention Month".

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 587 Recognizing LGBTQ+ suicide as a public health problem and expressing support for the designation of September as ‘‘National Suicide Prevention Month’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. WILD, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. NOR- TON, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. GAR- CIA of Texas, Mr. COOPER, Mr. SIRES, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. LEE of Cali- fornia, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MENG, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. BLU- MENAUER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. NAPOLI- TANO, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. NADLER, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. LYNCH, and Mr. CORREA) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce RESOLUTION Recognizing LGBTQ+ suicide as a public health problem and expressing support for the designation of September as ‘‘National Suicide Prevention Month’’. Whereas, since 2008, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States for all ages and the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 to 34; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Sep 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR587.IH HR587 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 587 IH Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in this resolution referred to as ‘‘CDC’’), on average there are 129 suicides per day, resulting in over 47,000 deaths each year in the United States; Whereas, from 1999 through 2017, the age-adjusted suicide rate in the United States increased 33 percent from 10.5 to 14.0 per 100,000; Whereas, according to the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Sur- vey data released in 2018, almost half of all lesbian, gay, and bisexual students seriously consider attempting sui- cide, making them almost 4 times more likely to do so than their straight peers; Whereas the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found 40 per- cent of respondents had attempted suicide in their life- time—nearly nine times the attempted suicide rate in the United States population at large; Whereas it is estimated that there are over 1,300,000 suicide attempts each year in the United States, and The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1,800,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (in this resolution re- ferred to as ‘‘LGBTQ+’’) youth seriously consider sui- cide each year; Whereas suicide is preventable, as 9 out of 10 suicide at- tempt survivors do not go on to die by suicide; Whereas, according to the CDC, suicide results in an esti- mated $44,600,000,000 in combined medical and work- loss costs nationally; Whereas the stigma associated with mental health conditions and suicidality works against suicide prevention by dis- couraging persons at risk for suicide from seeking life- VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Sep 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR587.IH HR587 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 587 IH saving help and further traumatizes survivors of suicide loss and people with lived experience of suicide; and Whereas September would be an appropriate month to des- ignate as ‘‘National Suicide Prevention Month’’ which overlaps World Suicide Prevention Day, September 10, recognized internationally and supported by the World Health Organization: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) recognizes suicide as a preventable national 2 public health problem; 3 (2) supports the designation of ‘‘National Sui- 4 cide Prevention Month’’; 5 (3) supports declaring that suicide prevention 6 should be a priority; 7 (4) acknowledges that no single suicide preven- 8 tion program or effort will be appropriate for all 9 populations or communities, and that particular at- 10 tention should be paid to communities known to be 11 at heightened risk, including LGBTQ+ youth and 12 LGBTQ+ youth of color; 13 (5) promotes awareness that there is no single 14 cause for suicide, and that suicide is most often an 15 impulsive act that occurs during a moment of over- 16 whelming hopelessness and despair; and 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Sep 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR587.IH HR587 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 587 IH (6) develops and implements strategies to in- 1 crease access to quality mental health, substance 2 abuse, and suicide prevention services. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Sep 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR587.IH HR587 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS