Press Releases
“With this bill, we can prevent countless tragedies and help thousands of men and women get the help they so desperately need.”
Washington, DC—Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the senior Republican in the United States Senate, released the following statement after President Trump signed Hatch’s National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act into law.
“With this topic, my heart is both heavy and hopeful—heavy because suicide has already taken so many lives; hopeful because this legislation can turn the tide in the campaign against this epidemic,” said Hatch. “With this bill, we can prevent countless tragedies and help thousands of men and women get the help they so desperately need. I’m grateful this lifesaving proposal has been signed into law.”
The Senator first introduced this legislation last May, and it passed the Senate in November. After intense lobbying from Hatch, a slightly amended version of the bill passed the House last week.
Senator Hatch spoke about the importance of this legislation in Utah earlier this week.
The improved suicide hotline will connect callers directly to trained call center crisis workers like those Senator Hatch met with last year.
Senator Hatch spoke on the Senate floor in June and urged the House to pass the critical proposal. He also discussed Utah’s suicide epidemic, and its prevalence among teens in the LGBT community, as well as his efforts to curb suicides by developing a three-digit national suicide hotline number. Click here for full text. Video can be found below.
Background:
Senator Hatch called improving the suicide hotline “a first step in helping those contemplating suicide” after meeting with Utah families who noted that the greatest stumbling block in suicide prevention is access to mental health services.
The Senator likewise spoke during Suicide Prevention Week regarding his efforts to pass the legislation. Click here for his remarks.
When Senator Hatch introduced this legislation last May, he noted how dire Utah’s suicide epidemic has become. Click here for that release.
The legislation passed in the House of Representatives earlier this week—click here for the release.
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