H.R. 7474 — Introduced in House

I 116th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7474 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 1, 2020 Mrs. Trahan (for herself, Ms. Speier, and Mr. Cisneros) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To direct the Secretary of Defense to issue guidance for the review of suicide events involving members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Comprehensive Review of Military Suicide Act. 2. Multidisciplinary board to evaluate suicide events (a) Guidance required The Secretary of Defense shall issue guidance that requires each suicide event involving a member of a covered Armed Force to be reviewed by a multidisciplinary board established at the command or installation level. Such guidance shall require that, for each suicide event reviewed by such a board, the board will— (1) clearly define the objective, purpose, and outcome of the review; (2) take a multidisciplinary approach to the review and include, as part of the review process, leaders of military units, medical and mental health professionals, and representatives of military criminal investigative organizations; (3) obtain the data necessary to make a comprehensive Department of Defense suicide event report submission; and (4) take appropriate steps to protect and share information obtained from ongoing investigations into the event (such as medical and law enforcement reports). (b) Implementation by covered Armed Forces Not later than 90 days after the date on which the guidance is issued under subsection (a), the chiefs of the covered Armed Forces shall implement the guidance. (c) Progress report Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the progress of the Secretary in implementing the guidance required under subsection (a). (d) Covered Armed Forces defined In this section, the term covered Armed Forces means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force.