National Suicide Hotline Designation Act
Cory Gardner sponsored the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act as a part of the Senate’s efforts to help develop a new framework to help prevent the increasing rate of suicide in America. The Act is one of the several initiatives of the Senator together with Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Moran, and Mr. Reed, who are the frontline champions of mental health in the Senate. The bill is one of the efforts of Congress to increase the role that they play in the creation of a framework to help find solutions to the issue of increased suicide among AMERICANS caused by several problems related to mental health. The most affected group is the veteran in Colorado and several other states across America. In the bill, it establishes a hotline number for the Americans to call in case there is a case of attempted suicide in their area (“National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2019 (S. 2661),” n.d.). The scope of this bill focuses on the response of various departments that deal with emergency cases of suicide in America. The law will go along way in helping the various teams tasked with emergency responses of suicide cases in America.
The primary purpose of the bill is to help create a reliable framework across all states as part of the federal role in helping deal with mental health issues. Mostly create a new structure that is fully funded by the federal government through an interdepartmental initiative to address the issue of suicide as part of the preventive intervention. The bill intends to ensure that the government, in partnership with other relevant stakeholders of the sector, comes up with a centralized suicide control and monitoring system of suicide cases. This new system will be the foundation of a larger network of responsive units dispatched in high-risk areas prevalent with suicide cases.
The method that bill proposes is through introducing a system that allows all the teams involved in dealing with suicide cases to support each other in ensuring that the fight against the issue of suicides is a success. Also, the bill will go a long way to support state-level initiatives in reducing the number of suicide cases in America. According to the Bill, it will assist in preventing future suicides by creating an easy to remember hotline line that connects the people in crisis with the necessary life-saving resources available near them (“National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2019 (S. 2661),” n.d.). The extent of the suicide hotline number is not limited to a specific area because it is the extent in all parts of the USA. The bill mentions the need for a number that is familiar to the citizens so that anyone can memorize the number when they experience a suicide near them. The bill proposes the use of the number 9-8-8 as the hotline number for the new service.
Cory Gardener, who introduced the bill, is the senator representative for the state of Colorado and is a member of the Republican Party. Mental health issue is one of the most prevalent issues in his state. It is not a surprise that he sponsored the bill because addressing mental health issues as part of his campaign pledge given that Colorado has a very high population of Veterans. The Senator represents nine districts of Colorado as the current Senator. In conclusion, the bill creates a framework for the rapid response of suicide crises throughout the US as part of an intervention to help reduce the number of cases in the US.
References
National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2019 (S. 2661). (n.d.). GovTrack.us. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/s2661