III 

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; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•SRES 205 IS 

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 comVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR205.IS SR205

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•SRES 205 IS 

munity 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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the designation of May 10, 2023, 

3 as ‘‘National Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and 

4 Pacific Islander Mental Health Day’’; 

5 (2) recognizes the importance of mental health 

6 to the well-being and health of families and commu7 nities; 

8 (3) acknowledges the importance of raising 

9 awareness about mental health and improving the 

10 quality of care for Asian American, Native Hawai11 ian, and Pacific Islander communities; 

12 (4) recognizes that celebrating cultural and lin13 guistic heritage is beneficial to mental health; and 

14 (5) encourages Federal, State, and local health 

15 agencies to adopt laws, policies, and guidance to im16 prove help-seeking rates for mental health services 

17 for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and PaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR205.IS SR205

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•SRES 205 IS 

1 cific Islander community and other communities of 

2 color. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB