(CNSNews.com) - Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) recently introduced legislation requiring the Defense Department to establish a detailed database on suicides and attempted suicides among U.S. troops.

Last year, 121 soldiers committed suicide and another 2,100 attempted suicide, Boxer said on her Web site. She noted that the 2,100 attempted suicides represents a six-fold increase since 2002 (when the U.S. was not at war).

In addition to requiring a comprehensive database, the Boxer-Lieberman legislation (formally, The Armed Forces Suicide Prevention Act of 2008) would require the individual investigation of all suicides across the Armed Forces, and it would require the Pentagon to provide Congress with regular updates on military suicides.

A second bill, The Armed Forces Mental Health Professionals Recruitment and Retention Enhancement Act of 2008, would increase the number of uniformed mental health providers serving service members and their families. (Lieberman noted that the troops have a strong preference for uniformed, rather than civilian, providers.)

"This legislation will help ensure that the Defense Department and Congress are getting an adequate picture of the state of mental health within our Armed Forces," Boxer said in a news release.

"Over the past several years, there have been troubling reports about suicides and attempted suicides in our Armed Forces. We need to do a better job of tracking these trends so that we can provide our soldiers with appropriate mental health care and prevent further tragedy," said Boxer, who has called the Iraq war a "reckless endeavor."

Lieberman expressed alarm at the increasing rate of suicide in the U.S. military. "This legislation puts more comprehensive mechanisms in place to guarantee we have better information when a tragedy occurs," he said.

The bill is modeled after an Army "suicide event report" and will not include names or personal information.

Lieberman said the legislation will help build a stronger military mental health system for decades to come. "After the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are over, we must make sure we have enough mental health professionals and commonsense protocols in place to take care of our wounded warriors," he said.

Recent research indicates that following three tours of duty, approximately 30% of service members report mental health problems, Lieberman's Web site said.

Among other things, the Armed Forces Suicide Prevention Act of 2008 would establish an independent board, assembled by a four-star general, and directed by a one-star general, to conduct a confidential investigation into the possible causes and/or contributing factors to the suicide event.

The board would make recommendations for any immediate corrective actions deemed necessary. It would also "make recommendations for any service-wide or force-wide steps that may need to be taken."