[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3245 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3245

  To require the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense 
Joint Executive Committee to improve mental health screening conducted 
 under separation health assessments for members of the Armed Forces, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 20, 2025

  Mr. Ricketts (for himself and Ms. Slotkin) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense 
Joint Executive Committee to improve mental health screening conducted 
 under separation health assessments for members of the Armed Forces, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Medical Integrity in Necessary 
Diagnostics for Our Veterans Act of 2025'' or the ``MIND Our Veterans 
Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING CONDUCTED UNDER 
              SEPARATION HEALTH ASSESSMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 
              FORCES.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) in order to address the mental health challenges 
        following separation of members of the Armed Forces from 
        military service, transitioning members must receive effective 
        mental health screening prior to separation;
            (2) all screens conducted for mental health for members of 
        the Armed Forces under the separation health assessment must be 
        validated screens;
            (3) it is essential that the Department of Defense fully 
        implement the separation health assessment with validated 
        screening; and
            (4) screening for substance use should be considered a 
        necessary mental health screen and included in the separation 
        health assessment.
    (b) Validated Mental Health Screens.--The Joint Executive Committee 
shall ensure the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) mental health 
screen, the alcohol use mental health screen, and the violence risk 
mental health screen under the separation health assessment are each 
modified to be a validated tool, which may include taking steps to 
validate an existing screen or replacing an existing screen with an 
already validated screen.
    (c) Inclusion of Substance Use in Mental Health Screens.--
            (1) In general.--The Joint Executive Committee shall 
        incorporate screening for substance use as a mental health 
        screen and shall assess whether to include such screening in 
        the separation health assessment, including by taking such 
        action as the Joint Executive Committee considers appropriate, 
        which may include taking steps to incorporate a validated 
        screen.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Joint Executive Committee shall 
        submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on 
        the justification of the Joint Executive Committee to include 
        or not include a substance use screen under paragraph (1).
    (d) Implementation of Separation Health Assessment.--Not later than 
120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Defense, under the guidance of the Under Secretary of Defense for 
Personnel and Readiness, shall fully implement the separation health 
assessment.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Armed Services and the 
                Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Armed Services and the 
                Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (2) Joint executive committee.--The term ``Joint Executive 
        Committee'' means the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department 
        of Defense Joint Executive Committee established under section 
        320 of title 38, United States Code.
            (3) Separation health assessment.--The term ``separation 
        health assessment'' means the health assessment for members of 
        the Armed Forces separating from military service established 
        by the Joint Executive Committee.
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