Text of Senate Amendment 6517

On 2026-06-24, Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA) delivered a floor speech titled "Text Of Senate Amendment 6517" in the Senate.

Text of Senate Amendment 6517

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S3628-S3629] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6517. Mr. WARNER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the end of subtitle H of title V, add the following: SEC. 587. IMPROVEMENTS TO OVERSIGHT, EVALUATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF NON-CLINICAL SUICIDE PREVENTION TRAINING. (a) Guidance and Reporting Requirements.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness shall issue guidance requiring each military department to submit annually to the Defense Suicide Prevention Office data regarding completion of required non-clinical suicide prevention training for members of the Armed Forces. The guidance shall-- (1) prescribe standardized reporting requirements; (2) provide for collection of active, reserve, and National Guard component data, as applicable; (3) establish common metrics for measuring completion rates; and (4) enable the Defense Suicide Prevention Office to monitor department-wide compliance and inform policy development. (b) Monitoring and Corrective Action.--The Secretary of each military department shall ensure that the office responsible for suicide prevention-- (1) regularly monitors completion of required annual non- clinical suicide prevention training across the military department; (2) identifies organizations or commands with incomplete training requirements; (3) notifies appropriate prevention personnel and commanders when deficiencies are identified; and (4) establishes procedures for corrective action and follow-up to ensure completion of required training. (c) Standardization of Training Records.-- The Secretary of each military department shall establish standardized procedures for recording approved annual non-clinical suicide prevention training in the applicable enterprise training management systems. Such procedures shall-- (1) provide uniform course titles and identifiers; (2) ensure reliable and accurate data collection; (3) prevent duplicate or inconsistent entries; and [[Page S3629]] (4) enable headquarters-level oversight of training completion. (d) Evaluation of Training Effectiveness.--Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, each military department shall develop and implement a written evaluation plan for annual non-clinical suicide prevention training. Each such plan shall-- (1) identify desired training outcomes and performance measures; (2) assess participant knowledge and behavioral outcomes; (3) measure the extent to which training objectives are achieved; (4) identify opportunities for improvement; (5) include periodic review and updating of training content; and (6) incorporate leading practices for program evaluation. (e) Department-wide Assessment Framework.--The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, acting through the Director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, shall establish a framework for assessing the effectiveness of non-clinical suicide prevention training throughout the Department of Defense and shall periodically review data provided by the military departments to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for improvement. (f) Project Management and Implementation of Independent Review Committee Recommendations.--The Director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, in coordination with the Secretaries of the military departments, shall maintain project plans for implementation of recommendations relating to non-clinical suicide prevention training made by the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee. Such project plans shall-- (1) identify milestones, deliverables, and responsible officials; (2) include procedures for managing uncertainty and changing requirements; (3) provide for iterative updates as additional information becomes available; (4) assess risks to implementation, including staffing and resource challenges; (5) identify mitigation strategies; and (6) establish mechanisms for tracking progress toward completion. (g) Briefing and Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter through 2030, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report describing-- (1) department-wide training completion rates; (2) actions taken to address deficiencies in training completion; (3) results of evaluations conducted under subsection (d); (4) progress implementing recommendations of the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee relating to training; and (5) any legislative or resource requirements necessary to improve non-clinical suicide prevention training. ______