FIRST REGULAR SESSION

House Concurrent Resolution No. 15

91^ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1427L.02I

Whereas, suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for all Americans and is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15 to 24, with more teenagers and young adults dying from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease combined; and

Whereas, in 1997, suicide took the lives of 30,535 Americans and more than 700 Missourians; and

Whereas, while males are four times more likely to die from suicide than females, with white males accounting for 72% of all suicides, females are more likely to attempt suicide than are males; and

Whereas, suicide rates increase with age and are highest among Americans aged 65 years and older; and

Whereas, suicide rates for minorities, particularly African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, have increased over the past ten years;

Whereas, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control is working to raise awareness of suicide as a serious public health problem, and is focusing on science-based prevention strategies to reduce injuries and deaths due to suicide; and

Whereas, the Surgeon General's Call To Action introduces a blueprint for addressing suicide through awareness, intervention and methodology (AIM) ; and

Whereas, Missouri has a number of suicide and crisis hotlines in various regions of the state, but lacks a statewide suicide hotline system:

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-first General Assembly, First Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, that a Joint Interim Committee the General Assembly be created to be composed of five members of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, with no more than three such members from the same political party, and five members of the Senate, appointed by the President Pro Tem and Co-Pro Tem of the Senate, with no more than three such members from the same political party, and that said committee be authorized to function during the interim between the First and Second Regular Sessions of the Ninety-first General Assembly; and

Be it further resolved that said committee make a comprehensive study on suicide prevention, the creation of a suicide prevention fund and the establishment of a statewide suicide hotline, including the solicitation of information from appropriate state agencies and the public on the social, economic, educational and health implications of suicide;

Be it further resolved that the committee be authorized to hold hearings as it deems advisable, and that the staffs of House Research, Senate Research and the Committee on Legislative Research provide such legal, research, clerical, technical and bill drafting services requested by the committee; and

Be it further resolved that the committee, its members, and any staff personnel assigned to the committee shall receive reimbursement for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in attending meetings of the committee or any subcommittee thereof; and

Be it further resolved that the committee report its recommendations and findings to the Missouri General Assembly by January 1, 2002, and the authority of such committee shall terminate on December 31, 2001; and

Be it further resolved that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem of the Senate.

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