Letter from Jim Gibbons and Shelley Berkley (Washington, D.C.) to David R. Obey, May 21, 2001, regarding suicide prevention among children and adolescents (1 page)

Congress of the United States May 21, 2001 Ranking Member David R. Obey Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education 1016 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-6024 Dear Ranking Member Obey: Last year, as a part of the Children's Health Act of 2000 (PL 106-310), the Congress authorized a new program at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) dealing with suicide prevention among children and adolescents. We would urge full funding of this program for Fiscal Year 2002 in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriation bill. According to statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics, as recently as 1998, more teenagers and young adults died of suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease combined. Suicide remains the second-leading cause of death among college students, the third-leading cause of death among those aged 15 to 24 years, and the fourth-leading cause of death among those aged 10 and under. Obviously, this a national health crisis that deserves full funding and attention. As representatives of Nevada, the state with the highest suicide rate in the United States, we believe that this program is critical for the creation of evidence based screening models for youth at high risk of suicide. This statistical evidence is crucial to national, state, and local suicide prevention efforts. While we realize that your Committee must prioritize funding requests, we urge you to give this effort every consideration, and we thank you in advance for your support. Sincerely, Member of Congress PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER