Donnelly Pushing Legislation To Address Issue Of Military Suicides

Sen. Joe Donnelly says military suicides are on pace to equal last year’s numbers, emphasizing the need for suicide prevention legislation. 

One hundred twenty servicemembers took their lives in the first three months of 2014, a number Donnelly calls “concerningly high.”  That follows 475 military suicides in all of 2013.  The Senator says those numbers are why he authored a bill called the Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act, named for an Indiana Army National Guard member who took his own life while on leave from Afghanistan in 2009.

It is an attempt to curb the rate of suicide not just among active duty military servicemembers, but all who serve.  Donnelly notes that more than a third of the 120 who’ve taken their lives so far in 2014 are reservists or National Guard members.

“Whether Guard, reserve or active duty, they would be able to have someone to talk to, someone to seek counsel from, and someone to have a chance to help solve any of the challenges they’re dealing with,” Donnelly said.

Donnelly says the bill also guarantees any help servicemembers seek will not factor into their career advancement.  The legislation was included earlier this year in the Defense Authorization bill, which has passed every year for the last 52 years.