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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1217 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1217

    Supporting the designation of May 10, 2024, as ``National Asian 
  American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 10, 2024

   Ms. Chu (for herself, Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Strickland, Mr. 
       Sablan, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Titus, Ms. Meng, Mr. 
Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Thanedar, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. 
Lee of California, Mr. Case, Mr. Takano, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Green of Texas, 
  Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. 
 Peters, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Bera, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Scott of Virginia, 
Mr. Menendez, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Panetta, Ms. 
  Norton, and Ms. Lee of Nevada) submitted the following resolution; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
    Supporting the designation of May 10, 2024, as ``National Asian 
  American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day''.

Whereas the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) 
        community is among the fastest growing population groups in the United 
        States and has made significant economic, cultural, and social 
        contributions;
Whereas the AANHPI community is extremely diverse in terms of socioeconomic 
        levels, education, employment, language, cultures of origin, 
        acculturation, migrant, and colonization status;
Whereas AANHPIs have among the lowest rates of utilization of mental health 
        services and 63.7 percent of the estimated 2,600,000 AANHPIs who meet 
        criteria for a mental health problem do not receive treatment;
Whereas, from 2018-2020, AANHPI youth ages 10-24 years old in the United States 
        were the only racial or ethnic population in this age category whose 
        leading cause of death was suicide;
Whereas it is imperative to disaggregate AANHPI population data to get an 
        accurate representation of the depth and breadth of the mental health 
        issues for each subpopulation so that specific culturally and 
        linguistically appropriate solutions can be developed;
Whereas language access continues to be a critical issue whether due to the 
        limited number of providers with the necessary language skills to 
        provide in-language services or the significant language loss faced by 
        NHPI communities due to colonization;
Whereas there is a need to significantly increase the number of providers, 
        including paraprofessionals, representing AANHPI communities and 
        providing them with the necessary training and ongoing support;
Whereas historical discrimination and current racial violence toward AANHPIs 
        increases trauma and stress, underlying precursors to mental health 
        problems;
Whereas there is a critical need to raise awareness about and improve mental 
        health literacy among the AANHPI community to reduce the stigma 
        associated with mental health issues; and
Whereas May is both National Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 
        Islander Heritage Month, an opportunity to celebrate the vast 
        contributions of this population to American society, and National 
        Mental Health Awareness Month, recognizing the importance of mental 
        health to the well-being and health of families and communities and 
        connecting the importance of one's cultural heritage to good mental 
        health: Now, therefore be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the designation of ``National Asian American, 
        Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day'';
            (2) recognizes the importance of mental health to the well-
        being and health of families and communities;
            (3) acknowledges the importance of raising awareness about 
        mental health and improving the quality of care for Asian 
        American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities;
            (4) recognizes that celebrating one's cultural and 
        linguistic heritage is beneficial to mental health; and
            (5) encourages Federal, State, and local health agencies to 
        adopt laws, policies, and guidance to improve help-seeking 
        rates for mental health services for the Asian American, Native 
        Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community and other communities 
        of color.
                                 <all>
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