Alex Padilla

Mr. President, Procedure · 10 wordsI rise to introduce the bipartisan Barriers to Suicide Act.Procedure Claims · 175 wordsThis legislation would establish competitive grants to help State and local governments fund nets and barriers that have been shown to reduce suicide on bridges and other high-risk infrastructure.¹ This bipartisan bill would establish a grant program for States and localities to apply for Federal funding under the National Highway Performance Program to install nets, barriers, ²and other evidence-based suicide deterrents on bridges, buildings, parking garages, highway-rail grade crossings, and at rail stations. This bill would also authorize a study to identify the types of structures most commonly used for suicide attempts, types of barriers that are most effective in prevention, ³and additional strategies to reduce jumping deaths. The CDC estimated that about 12.8 million people seriously thought about suicide, 3.7 million made a plan, ⁴and 1.5 million attempted suicide in 2023.⁵ There were over 49,000 deaths from suicide in 2023 and between 2010 and 2020, 11,154 Americans lost their lives through suicide-by-jumping.⁶⁷ Research shows that physical barriers on bridges and high structures can reduce suicide deaths at those sites by up to 90 percent.⁸ Reasoning · 43 wordsStates and localities should have access to a grant program that allows them to proactively prevent suicide-by-jumping by building safety nets and barriers on bridges, buildings, parking garages, and at rail stations and highway-rail grade rail crossings, with the goal of preventing suicides. Thanks · 14 wordsI would like to thank Senator Tillis for introducing this important legislation with me, ⁹ThanksPromise · 20 wordsand I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Barriers to Suicide Act as soon as possible.Vague promise