Statement on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act of 2026. This critical legislation honors the memory of an Illinoisan who should still be with us today by taking action to address a crisis unfolding inside our Federal, State and local correctional facilities in Illinois and across the country.

Blake Schwarz was a corrections officer at the Federal Correctional Institution in Thomson, IL. He was proud of the work he did every day to keep his community and his colleagues safe. In 2023, Blake died by suicide, leaving behind his wife Michelle and never getting the chance to witness the wonderful smile of his soon-to-be-born daughter. I am heartbroken that Michelle and her family must live with the aftermath of a loss that was preventable.

I had the privilege of sitting down with Michelle last year. She did not come to my office looking for sympathy. She came to make sure that Blake was not just a statistic. She came to make sure no other family in this country has to endure what hers has endured. The legislation I am introducing today is the direct result of her advocacy, the advocacy of Blake's colleagues at FCI Thomson, and the advocacy of law enforcement professionals across our country who refuse to let their colleagues feel abandoned to take on the struggles of mental health alone.

We ask our law enforcement officers to do a job that few Americans understand and even fewer are willing to do themselves. The job is extremely difficult and physically and mentally demanding. Corrections officers in this country die by suicide at a rate estimated to be as much as seven times higher than the rate for the general population. More than one in three corrections officers live with post-traumatic stress disorder, and far too often, corrections officers struggle with their mental health alone because of a culture that stigmatizes any perception of weakness and a fear that they will lose their job if they do seek treatment. This fear and stigma keep people silent.

The Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act gives corrections officers, who risk their lives every day, access to the mental health care they deserve that aids their critical work and prevents tragedies. With my legislation, corrections officers will have readily accessible mental health care both on and off duty. It also confronts the fear and stigma that keep officers silent by guaranteeing that an officer's badge will never be on the line because that public safety officer sought appropriate care for a mental health issue.

Blake Schwarz is gone, and nothing we do here will bring him back. But it is my honor and privilege to introduce this legislation to ensure that his name is attached not to another statistic but to a law that saves lives. I commend Michelle and all the dedicated men and women of FCI Thomson for their bravery, hard work, and steadfast advocacy. I urge every one of my colleagues to take Blake's story as a painful reminder that we must do better for our corrections officers and prevent future tragedies. ______

By Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Ms. Duckworth):

S. 4515. A bill to require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to carry out a pilot program to enhance the mapping of urban flooding and associated property damage and the availability of that mapped data to homeowners, businesses, and localities to help understand and mitigate the risk of such flooding, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

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