An effort to stop the rise in suicides among members of the military will be part of this year‘s defense spending bill.
Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly says the Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act was included in the defense bill by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
It is named for an Army specialist from Farmland, Indiana who took his own life inside a movie theater in Muncie in 2009.
Sexton had completed tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and was on leave from his Indiana National Guard unit at the time.
Donnelly says he is grateful to see lawmakers from both parties getting behind the bill, which would mandate mental health exams for all service members, including Guard and Reserve members, at least once a year.
It would also require an evaluation of existing mental health procedure in the military and mandate more cooperation between the Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services.