,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #haj  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,april #be1 #bjac   
,mr4 ,donnelly introduced the following 
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,armed ,services   
,a ,,bill  ,to require a pilot program  
on an online computerized assessment to 
enhance detection of behaviors          
indicating a risk of suicide and other  
mental health conditions in members of  
the ,armed ,forces1 and for other       
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,jacob ,sexton      
,military ,suicide ,prevention ,act of  
#bjac4  #b4 ,pilot program on online    
computerized assessment to enhance      
detection of behaviors indicating a risk
 of suicide and other mental health     
conditions in members of the ,armed     
,forces  7a7 ,findings ,congress makes  
the following findings3  7#a7 ,according
 to the ,department of ,veterans        
,affairs and the ,centers for ,disease  
,control and ,prevention1 at least      

#cj1acg members of the ,armed ,forces   
and veterans have committed suicide     
since the ,department of ,defense began 
closely tracking these incidents in     
#bjji4  7#b7 ,in #bjab alone1           
approximately #cdi members of the ,armed
 ,forces1 including the ,national ,guard
 and ,reserve1 committed suicide1 which 
is more than the total number of members
 who died in combat operations in #bjab4
 ,this number does not include the more 
than #f1jjj veterans who committed      
suicide in #bjab4  7#c7 ,during a ,march
 #ba1 #bjac1 hearing of the ,committee  
on ,armed ,services of the ,house of    
,representatives1 ,jacqueline ,garrick1 
acting director of the ,defense ,suicide
 ,prevention ,office of the ,department 
of ,defense 7,,dpso71 stated that less  
than half of the suicide victims had    
deployed1 and few were involved in      
combat4 ,this statement is consistent   
with current research1 which has shown  
other risk factors1 such as             
relationships1 legal or financial issues

 and alcohol or drug usage play a larger
 role than a member's deployment        
history4 ,garrick also told the         
,committee that many of these suicidal  
victims did not communicate their       
intent1 nor did they have known         
behavioral health histories4  7b7 ,sense
 of ,congress ,it is the sense of       
,congress that1 as the ,united ,states  
draws down combat operations in         
,afghanistan1 the ,department of        
,defense should continue to seek to     
identify tools to assist in the         
identification of behavior indicating a 
risk suicide in members of the ,armed   
,forces4  7c7 ,pilot program required   
,the ,secretary of ,defense shall carry 
out a pilot program to assess the       
feasibility and advisability of using an
 online computerized assessment to      
assist the ,department of ,defense in   
detecting behaviors in members of the   
,armed ,force that indicate a risk of   
suicide or other mental health          
conditions4  7d7 ,participating members 

,the ,secretary shall carry out the     
pilot program using the following1 as   
selected by the ,secretary at random for
 purposes of the pilot program3  7#a7   
#a1jjj members of the regular component 
of the ,army4  7#b7 #a1jjj members of   
the regular component of the ,navy4     
7#c7 #a1jjj members of the regular      
component of the ,air ,force4  7#d7     
#a1jjj members of the regular component 
of the ,marine ,corps4  7#e7 #ejj       
members of the ,army ,reserve4  7#f7    
#ejj members of the ,army ,national     
,guard of the ,united ,states4  7#g7    
#ejj members of the ,navy ,reserve4     
7#h7 #ejj members of the ,air ,force    
,reserve4  7#i7 #ejj members of the ,air
 ,national ,guard of the ,united        
,states4  7#aj7 #ejj members of ,marine 
,corps ,reserve4  7e7 ,online           
computerized assessments  7#a7 ,in      
general ,in carrying out the pilot      
program1 the ,secretary shall require   
each member of the ,armed ,forces       
selected to participate in the pilot    

program to undertake two online         
computerized assessments4  7#b7         
,elements ,the assessments under this   
subsection shall be designed to obtain  
such information on behaviors that      
indicate a risk of suicide or other     
mental health conditions as the         
,secretary shall include in the         
assessments for purposes of the pilot   
program1 including1 but not limited to1 
work performance1 use and abuse of      
alcohol and other substances1 financial 
matters1 and relationship and social    
matters4  7#c7 ,timing ,the assessments 
under this subsection shall be          
undertaken by a member at the same time 
the member undertakes each of the first 
two annual periodic health assessments  
7,p,h,as7 in connection with service in 
the ,armed ,forces that are required of 
the member by the ,department after the 
selection of the member for             
participation in the pilot program4  7f7
 ,command questionnaires  7#a7 ,in      
general ,at the same time a member of   

the ,armed ,forces undertakes an online 
computerized assessment under subsection
 7e71 the member of the ,armed ,forces  
first superior to such member in the    
chain of command shall undertake a      
questionnaire on the behavior of such   
member1 including1 but not limited to1  
behavior that indicates a risk of       
suicide or other mental health          
conditions4  7#b7 ,elements ,the        
questionnaires under this subsection    
shall be designed to obtain information 
on the members covered by the           
questionnaires so as to verify the      
accuracy of the information provided by 
such members in undertaking assessments 
under subsection 7e74  7g7 ,referral ,as
 part of pilot program1 the ,secretary  
shall ensure that any member of the     
,armed ,forces determined to have       
behavior indicating a risk of suicide or
 another mental health condition is     
referred to an appropriate mental health
 care provider for further assessment1  
care1 and services in accordance with   

applicable procedures4  7h7 ,control    
groups ,in carrying out the pilot       
program1 the ,secretary shall establish 
one or more control groups whose        
behavior and experiences during the     
course of the pilot program permit      
comparison with the behavior and        
experiences of members participating in 
the pilot program4 ,each control group  
shall consist of such members of the    
,armed ,forces as the ,secretary shall  
identify for purposes of the pilot      
program4  7i7 ,privacy matters  7#a7 ,in
 general ,the privacy of any medical or 
other information obtained on members of
 the ,armed ,forces under this section  
shall be protected in accordance with   
the laws on privacy applicable to such  
information4  7#b7 ,prohibition on      
certain uses ,no information obtained on
 a member under this section may be used
 in determining the promotion or        
advancement of the member or any other  
benefit for which the member may be     
eligible4  7#c7 ,exclusion of personally

 identifiable information from reports  
,no personally identifiable information 
on members may be included in any report
 under subsection 7j74  7j7 ,report     
7#a7 ,report required ,not later than   
#ahj days after the date on which all   
the members of the ,armed ,forces       
participating in the pilot program have 
completed both of the online            
computerized assessments required by    
subsection 7e7 for purposes of the pilot
 program1 the ,secretary shall submit to
 the appropriate committees of ,congress
 a report on the pilot program4  7#b7   
,elements ,the report under paragraph   
7#a7 shall include the following3  7,a7 
,a description of the pilot program1    
including a detailed description of the 
assessments used for purposes of        
subsection 7e7 and the questionnaires   
used for purposes of subsection 7f74    
7,b7 ,a summary of the various behaviors
 detected through the assessments and   
questionnaires4  7,c7 ,a description of 
the number of members identified as     

being at risk of suicide or other mental
 health conditions1 and an assessment of
 the correlation between the risks      
identified and the various behaviors    
detected4  7,d7 ,if care and services   
were provided to members pursuant to    
subsection 7g71 a description of such   
care and services and an assessment of  
the effectiveness of such care and      
services4  7,e7 ,a description of the   
number of members participating in the  
pilot program who committed suicide4    
7,f7 ,a description of the control      
groups established pursuant to          
subsection 7h71 and a comparative       
analysis of the behavior and experiences
 of members of such control groups      
during the pilot program with the       
behavior and experiences of members     
participating in the pilot program1     
including on matters relating to        
suicidal ideations1 suicides attempted1 
and suicides committed4  7,g7 ,a        
comparative analysis of the rate of     
suicide among members participating in  

the pilot program1 members of the       
control groups established pursuant to  
subsection 7h71 and the general         
population of each of the ,armed        
,forces4  7,h7 ,such recommendations for
 extension or expansion of the pilot    
program as the ,secretary considers     
appropriate in light of the pilot       
program1 including recommendations on   
the feasibility and advisability of     
incorporating the online computerized   
assessments under the pilot program in  
the online questionnaire of the annual  
periodic health assessments 7,,pha7 in  
connection with service in the ,armed   
,forces that are required by the        
,department4  7k7 ,appropriate          
committees of ,congress defined ,in this
 section1 the term appropriate          
committees of ,congress means--  7#a7   
the ,committee on ,armed ,services and  
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of
 the ,senate2 and  7#b7 the ,committee  
on ,armed ,services and the ,committee  
on ,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of 

,representatives4