Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act
Latest action · Feb 10, 2016 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJun 25, 2015
- Passed HouseFeb 9, 2016
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on December 3, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act
(Sec. 2) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to identify: (1) VA mental health care and suicide prevention programs that are most effective for women veterans, and (2) those programs with the highest satisfaction rates among women veterans.
(Sec. 3) It is the sense of Congress that veterans who experience combat-related mental health wounds should have immediate and consistent access to comprehensive mental health care.
The VA shall:
- establish standards and procedures to ensure that each covered veteran may access VA mental health care in a manner that fully accommodates the veteran's obligation to not improperly disclose classified information; and
- disseminate guidance to Veterans Health Administration employees, including mental health professionals, regarding these standards and procedures.
"Covered veteran" means a veteran who: (1) is enrolled in the VA health care system; (2) is seeking mental health treatment; and (3) in the course of serving in the Armed Forces participated in a sensitive (classified) mission or served in a sensitive unit primarily involved in training for the conduct of, or conducting, special activities or classified missions.
Cosponsors 21
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jul 7, 2015 to Nov 16, 2015.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-TX | Sheila Jackson Lee | Jul 7, 2015 | |
| D-MI | John Conyers, Jr. | Jul 21, 2015 | |
| D-FL | Lois Frankel | Jul 21, 2015 | |
| R-NY | Christopher P. Gibson | Jul 23, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Michael M. Honda | Jul 23, 2015 | |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Jul 23, 2015 | |
| D-NH | Ann M. Kuster | Jul 27, 2015 | |
| D-RI | James R. Langevin | Jul 27, 2015 | |
| R-CO | Mike Coffman | Jul 27, 2015 | |
| R-NC | Walter B. Jones | Jul 27, 2015 | |
| D-WA | Derek Kilmer | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| R-TX | Kay Granger | Jul 29, 2015 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | Jul 31, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Doris O. Matsui | Sep 9, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Zoe Lofgren | Sep 9, 2015 | |
| R-AZ | Martha McSally | Sep 16, 2015 | |
| D-MA | Stephen F. Lynch | Sep 17, 2015 | |
| D-NE | Brad Ashford | Oct 28, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Loretta Sanchez | Nov 3, 2015 | |
| R-NY | Peter T. King | Nov 5, 2015 | |
| D-MO | Emanuel Cleaver | Nov 16, 2015 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Referred Jun 25, 2015Markup Sep 17, 2015Reported Dec 3, 2015 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Jul 10, 2015Hearings Jul 14, 2015Markup Jul 22, 2015Reported Jul 22, 2015 | |
| Senate | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Referred Feb 10, 2016 |
Actions 17
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 10, 2016Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
- Feb 9, 2016Mr. Abraham moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Feb 9, 2016Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H630-633)
- Feb 9, 2016DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 2915.
- Feb 9, 2016Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H630)
In the Congressional Record 2
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H630–H633Text printed H630 | Christopher H. Smith R-NJ, Julia Brownley D-CA, Mark Takano D-CA, Ralph Lee Abraham R-LA, Sheila Jackson Lee D-TX | Feb 9, 2016 |
| House | Debate and remarks H6215 | Ryan A. Costello R-PA | Sep 24, 2015 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Oct 30, 2015H.R. 2915, Female Veterans Suicide Prevention ActAs ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on September 17, 2015
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 103, June 25, 2015, page H4772.
Printed hearings 3
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 114-702 | HEARING ON PENDING LEGISLATION187 pages | Veterans' Affairs Committee | May 24, 2016 |
| Serial No. 114-68 | COMBATING THE CRISIS: EVALUATING EFFORTS TO PREVENT VETERAN SUICIDE92 pages | Veterans' Affairs Committee | May 12, 2016 |
| Serial No. 114-31 | LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON: H.R. 272; H.R. 353; H.R. 359; H.R. 421; H.R. 423; H.R. 1356; H.R. 1688; H.R. 1862; H.R. 2464; H.R. 2914; H.R. 2915; H.R. 3016; AND, DRAFT LEGISLATION TO AUTHORIZE VA MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS FOR FY 2015 AND TO MAKE CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF VA MEDICAL FACILITY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS132 pages | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Jul 14, 2015 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2487 | Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act | Identical bill | Jun 30, 2016 |
Titles 5
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to identify mental health care and suicide prevention programs and metrics that are effective in treating women veterans as part of the evaluation of such programs by the Secretary.
- Official Titles as Amended by House
- To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to identify mental health care and suicide prevention programs and metrics that are effective in treating women veterans as part of the evaluation of such programs by the Secretary, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act
- Short Titles as Reported to House
- Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act
- Short Titles as Passed House
- Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
Text 4
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 10, 2016Referred in Senate
- Feb 9, 2016Engrossed in House
- Dec 3, 2015Reported in House
- Jun 25, 2015Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
