Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I too rise to ask my colleagues to support the Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act led by my colleague, Mr. Katko.

This is a bill that the Mental Health Caucus co-chairs, Mr. Katko and Mrs. Napolitano, and I have been working on for several years.

Two years ago, I spent a long afternoon at the local suicide lifeline in northern Virginia. It was fascinating; it was important; and I learned a great deal. Number one, I learned that an awful lot of young people want to do texts rather than phone calls, and they didn't have that capability. I learned that they were in desperate need of more staff. I learned that they needed more volunteers, and when I said that I would like to be a volunteer, I learned that it took four long weekends, then you had to commit to 40 hours of training, and then you had to commit to at least one 4- or 5-hour shift per week for the next year.

I also found that it had a remarkable success rate. They said they had talked to something like 3,000 people the previous year.

I asked: ``How many had been lost?'' Two out of 3,000.

But I also found out that they have wait times sometimes up to 60 minutes just to get on a call. A crisis can't afford to wait 60 minutes, and that is why we developed this legislation to give the lifeline the resources it needs and the quick answering times it has to have to be successful.

We also built in oversight capability so it can be more effectively reviewed and improved. It has to constantly evolve.

The work is certainly even more important now that we know about the new 988 designation by the FCC. We have heard a lot about that this afternoon because we know there is going to be a lot higher demand.

One of the things I have done the last couple of years at every event is I say: Okay, everybody here raise their hand who knows the suicide lifeline number.

No one raises their hand ever. But that will be different. In fact, I am very confident that, within a few years, the 988 will go international, and it will be the standard all over the world.

It is especially important now during the pandemic. I just looked it up while we were waiting that a survey this July--2 months ago--found that 36 percent of young people 18 to 29 years old are experiencing clinical depression.

Madam Speaker, 48,000 Americans died by their own hand in 2018. We can't save every life, but the Suicide Prevention Lifeline is remarkably successful in helping people through that singular moment of despair in their lives.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues again. It has been bipartisan, and it has been very important. Good friends like Mr. Gianforte, Mr. Katko, Frank Pallone, and Anna Eshoo helped us through, and my dear friend Debbie Dingell led here today. I thank them for prioritizing these mental health supports when we need it most.

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