Dear Surgeon General Satcher:

The members of the National Council for Suicide Prevention are writing to express strong support for this landmark document – the first ever National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (National Strategy).

We are particularly grateful to you for bringing needed attention to the problem of suicide in our country, and for your role in the public/private effort that has led to the National Strategy. Further, we applaud the fact that this strategy has been created from the expertise and experience of mental health clinicians, research scientists, suicide survivors, persons who have attempted suicide, prevention advocates and other concerned individuals.

The enormous amount of time and effort that went into the development of the National Strategy is reflected in its clarity of purpose and its comprehensiveness. From our perspective, the goals and objectives, as articulated and well documented in the strategy, provide a focus for the suicide prevention work of all groups at national, state and local levels.

With this broad agreement on what must be done to prevent suicide, we now face a new challenge, which is how to achieve, to the fullest extent possible, the goals and objectives presented in the strategy and to ensure that it reaches all Americans.

As a council of national not-for-profit organizations whose primary focus is the prevention of suicide, we are dedicated to working with each other and with our colleagues in government and the private sector to do what we can to ensure the timely implementation of the National Strategy. Together, we can and will do more to prevent loss of life from suicide.

Respectfully submitted,

Alan L. Berman,, Ph.D.
American Association of Suicidology

Iris Bolton
The Link Counseling Center’s National Resource Center for Suicide Prevention and Aftercare

Reese Butler
Kristin Brooks Hope Center

James Clemons
Organization for Attempters and Survivors of Suicide in Interfaith Services

Jackie Casey
Suicide Awareness\Voices of Education

Clark Flatt
The Jason Foundation

Robert Gebbia
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Donna Holland Barnes
National Organization for People of Color Against Suicide

Mary Jean Coleman
Samaritans, Inc.

Jerry Weyrauch
Suicide Prevention Action Network

Dale Emme
Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention