II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 825
To require the Attorney General to propose a program for making treatment
for post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder available
to public safety officers, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH4, 2025
Mr. G
RASSLEY(for himself, Mr. COONS, Mr. YOUNG, Ms. HASSAN, Mr.
H
AWLEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. OSSOFF, Ms.
E
RNST, and Mr. WARNOCK) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To require the Attorney General to propose a program for
making treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and
acute stress disorder available to public safety officers,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fighting Post-Trau-4
matic Stress Disorder Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
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(1) Public safety officers serve their commu-1
nities with bravery and distinction in order to keep 2
their communities safe. 3
(2) Public safety officers, including police offi-4
cers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, 5
and 911 dispatchers, are on the front lines of deal-6
ing with situations that are stressful, graphic, 7
harrowing, and life-threatening. 8
(3) The work of public safety officers puts them 9
at risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder 10
and acute stress disorder. 11
(4) It is estimated that 30 percent of public 12
safety officers develop behavioral health conditions 13
at some point in their lifetimes, including depression 14
and post-traumatic stress disorder, in comparison to 15
20 percent of the general population that develops 16
such conditions. 17
(5) Victims of post-traumatic stress disorder 18
and acute stress disorder are at a higher risk of 19
dying by suicide. 20
(6) Firefighters have been reported to have 21
higher suicide attempt and ideation rates than the 22
general population. 23
(7) It is estimated that between 125 and 300 24
police officers die by suicide every year. 25
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(8) In 2019, pursuant to section 2(b) of the 1
Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act 2
of 2017 (Public Law 115–113; 131 Stat. 2276), the 3
Director of the Office of Community Oriented Polic-4
ing Services of the Department of Justice developed 5
a report (referred to in this section as the 6
‘‘LEMHWA report’’) that expressed that many law 7
enforcement agencies do not have the capacity or 8
local access to the mental health professionals nec-9
essary for treating their law enforcement officers. 10
(9) The LEMHWA report recommended meth-11
ods for establishing remote access or regional mental 12
health check programs at the State or Federal level. 13
(10) Individual police and fire departments gen-14
erally do not have the resources to employ full-time 15
mental health experts who are able to treat public 16
safety officers with state-of-the-art techniques for 17
the purpose of treating job-related post-traumatic 18
stress disorder and acute stress disorder. 19
SEC. 3. PROGRAMMING FOR POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DIS-20
ORDER. 21
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 22
(1) P
UBLIC SAFETY OFFICER.—The term ‘‘pub-23
lic safety officer’’— 24
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(A) has the meaning given the term in sec-1
tion 1204 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con-2
trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 3
10284); and 4
(B) includes Tribal public safety officers. 5
(2) P
UBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATOR .— 6
The term ‘‘public safety telecommunicator’’ means 7
an individual who— 8
(A) operates telephone, radio, or other 9
communication systems to receive and commu-10
nicate requests for emergency assistance at 911 11
public safety answering points and emergency 12
operations centers; 13
(B) takes information from the public and 14
other sources relating to crimes, threats, dis-15
turbances, acts of terrorism, fires, medical 16
emergencies, and other public safety matters; 17
and 18
(C) coordinates and provides information 19
to law enforcement and emergency response 20
personnel. 21
(b) R
EPORT.—Not later than 150 days after the date 22
of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, acting 23
through the Director of the Office of Community Oriented 24
Policing Services of the Department of Justice, shall sub-25
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mit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 1
the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep-2
resentatives a report on— 3
(1) not fewer than 1 proposed program, if the 4
Attorney General determines it appropriate and fea-5
sible to do so, to be administered by the Department 6
of Justice for making state-of-the-art treatments or 7
preventative care available to public safety officers 8
and public safety telecommunicators with regard to 9
job-related post-traumatic stress disorder or acute 10
stress disorder by providing public safety officers 11
and public safety telecommunicators access to evi-12
dence-based trauma-informed care, peer support, 13
counselor services, and family supports for the pur-14
pose of treating or preventing post-traumatic stress 15
disorder or acute stress disorder; 16
(2) a draft of any necessary grant conditions 17
required to ensure that confidentiality is afforded to 18
public safety officers on account of seeking the care 19
or services described in paragraph (1) under the pro-20
posed program; 21
(3) how each proposed program described in 22
paragraph (1) could be most efficiently administered 23
throughout the United States at the State, Tribal, 24
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territorial, and local levels, taking into account in- 1
person and telehealth capabilities; 2
(4) a draft of legislative language necessary to 3
authorize each proposed program described in para-4
graph (1); and 5
(5) an estimate of the amount of annual appro-6
priations necessary for administering each proposed 7
program described in paragraph (1). 8
(c) D
EVELOPMENT.—In developing the report re-9
quired under subsection (b), the Attorney General shall 10
consult relevant stakeholders, including— 11
(1) Federal, State, Tribal, territorial, and local 12
agencies employing public safety officers and public 13
safety telecommunicators; and 14
(2) non-governmental organizations, inter-15
national organizations, academies, or other entities, 16
including organizations that support the interests of 17
public safety officers and public safety telecommu-18
nicators and the interests of family members of pub-19
lic safety officers and public safety telecommunica-20
tors. 21
Æ
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