Rep. Sorensen urges passage of suicide prevention act honoring Chadwick man
"I rise today to honor the life of Blake Schwartz, a constituent of mine from Chadwick, Illinois, who lost his life to suicide two years ago, leaving behind a loving wife and a daughter that he never had a chance to meet," Sorensen said Tuesday in his address to House leadership. "Blake spent the last three years of his life as a corrections officer at the Thomson Correctional Center. I don't think most of us understand how hard these law enforcement officers work, and for Blake, he did not have the resources when he was struggling, and he did not survive."
Schwartz died March 24, 2023, at age 26, according to his obituary. He attended Sauk Valley Community College and earned a degree in criminal justice.
If established, the Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act (H.R. 9929) would create a grant program through the U.S. Department of Justice to fund mental health screenings and referrals for officers in federal, state and local facilities nationwide.
"The Blake Schwartz Suicide Prevention Act will provide officers across the country the resources they need to live," Sorensen said. "When Michelle came to my office and asked if I would champion this bill in the honor of the love of her life, with tears welling up then as they are now, I said, 'Yes.' So. today I call on House Republicans to stop their delay and bring this bill to a vote in the name of our hero from Chadwick, Illinois."
H.R. 9929 was first introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an Iowa Republican, on Oct. 4 to provide funding to the Bureau of Prisons, states and localities to carry out mental health screenings and provide referrals to mental health care providers for certain corrections officers. The bill was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
The Thomson prison, located in Carroll County, is a low-security federal correctional institution with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp. It houses about 2,000 inmates, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' website.
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