Utah communities are dealing with a frightening public health crisis, Congressman Ben McAdams said Friday, with the state having the sixth-highest suicide rate in the nation.
“Young people are especially at risk,” the freshman Utah Democrat said, “a cruel circumstance since they are the hope and promise for the future of our communities.”
McAdams, joined by Ohio Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, is sponsoring legislation that would prioritize funding for suicide prevention research. The bill, H.R. 4704, directs the National Science Foundation to fund grants to colleges, universities and nonprofit organizations in order to bolster studies into factors that contribute to, and correlate with, suicide attempts.