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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
House Memorial 1
A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 2
urging Congress to recognize the epidemic of suicide 3
among veterans and to fully fund suicide prevention 4
efforts by the United States Department of Veterans 5
Affairs. 6
7
WHEREAS, according to the 2020 National Veteran Suicide 8
Prevention Annual Report by the United States Department of 9
Veterans Affairs, there were an average of 17.6 veteran suicide 10
deaths per day in 2018, totaling an average of 6,435 veteran 11
suicide deaths that year, and 12
WHEREAS, the department has found that veterans who die by 13
suicide are more likely than the civilian population to have 14
sleep disorders, traumatic brain injuries, or chronic pain 15
diagnoses in addition to mental health conditions such as 16
posttraumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, personality 17
disorder, substance use disorder, schizophrenia, depression, and 18
anxiety, and 19
WHEREAS, some veterans have reported difficulty in 20
transitioning to civilian employment, as their highly developed 21
skills obtained in military service may not translate to higher -22
level civilian jobs, and the resulting economic disparities, 23
unemployment, poverty, and homelessness among veterans are shown 24
to be risk factors for veteran suicide, and 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs' 26
Veteran Crisis Line is the world's largest provider of crisis 27
call, text, and chat services for veterans, receiving 28
approximately 650,000 calls per year, and 29
WHEREAS, the department has made significant progress in 30
the area of suicide prevention through clinical research, the 31
development and testing of evidence -based psychotherapy methods 32
and medications, and behavioral, complementary, and alternative 33
approaches to treating veterans with posttraumatic stress 34
disorder and other mental health conditions, and 35
WHEREAS, the department is partnered with hundreds of 36
national and local organizations and corporations, including 37
veterans service organizations, professional sports teams, and 38
major employers, in order to raise awareness of its suicide 39
prevention resources and to educate the public about supporting 40
veterans and servicemembers in their communities, and 41
WHEREAS, although RAND Corporation studies have found that 42
the United States Department of Veterans Affairs outperforms 43
other systems in the area of mental health care, the rising 44
trend in veteran suicides continues to plague the men and women 45
who selflessly served in the United States Armed Forces and to 46
devastate their families, friends, and loved ones, NOW, 47
THEREFORE, 48
49
Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
51
That the Congress of the United States is urged to 52
recognize the current crisis of veteran suicide and to fully 53
fund suicide prevention ef forts undertaken by the United States 54
Department of Veterans Affairs. 55
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be 56
dispatched to the President of the United States, to the 57
President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the 58
United States House of Representatives, and to each member of 59
the Florida delegation to the United States Congress. 60