WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- To help cut the record number of U.S. soldiers trying to kill themselves, Congress is considering a bill to overhaul the military's suicide-prevention programs.
"Our troops and their families are under unprecedented levels of stress due to the pace and frequency of more than five years of deployments," Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said in a statement quoted by CNN.
Every day, five U.S. soldiers try to kill themselves. Before the Iraq war began in March 2003, that rate was less than one suicide attempt a day, CNN reported Sunday.
In all, 2,100 soldiers tried to commit suicide in 2007, compared with 350 suicide attempts in 2002.
"Suicide attempts are rising and have risen over the last five years," Col. Elspeth Cameron-Ritchie, an Army psychiatrist, told the U.S. news network.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Thursday that something more is needed than just pumping money into the military mental health system to prevent more suicides.
"It takes leadership and it takes a change in the culture of war," she said, noting that troops "face deployment after deployment without the rest, recovery and treatment they need are at the breaking point."
