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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 205 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 205

    Supporting the designation of May 10, 2023, as ``National Asian 
  American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 10, 2023

   Ms. Hirono (for herself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Brown, Ms. Cantwell, Ms. 
   Cortez Masto, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Fetterman, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. 
 Padilla, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Warren, and Mr. Wyden) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
    Supporting the designation of May 10, 2023, as ``National Asian 
  American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day''.

Whereas the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (referred to 
        in this preamble as ``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, languages, cultures of origin, 
        acculturation, migrant status, and colonization status;
Whereas, in 2021, 77 percent of the estimated 2,600,000 AANHPI individuals who 
        meet criteria for a mental health problem did not receive treatment;
Whereas, in 2021, only 24.5 percent of Asian adults with a mental health problem 
        received mental health services in the past year, and Asian adults have 
        the lowest rates of utilization of mental health services out of any 
        racial population;
Whereas, from 2018 to 2020, AANHPI youth 10 to 24 years of age 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 for AANHPI individuals 
        seeking mental health services, 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 Native Hawaiian and 
        Pacific Islander 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 AANHPI 
        individuals 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 the United States, and National 
        Mental Health Awareness Month, recognizing the importance of mental 
        health to the well-being and health of AANHPI families and communities 
        and connecting the importance of one's cultural heritage to good mental 
        health: Now, therefore be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the designation of May 10, 2023, as ``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 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>
```