IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1064 
Supporting the goals and ideals of Black, indigenous, and people of color 
(‘‘BIPOC’’) Mental Health Awareness Month in July 2020. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 23, 2020 
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. CORREA, 
Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. GARCI´A 
of Illinois, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mrs. NAPOLI-
TANO, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. BASS, Mr. NAD-
LER, Mr. SOTO, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. BARRAGA´N, 
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. EVANS, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. PORTER, 
Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. 
SABLAN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. BEYER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mr. COHEN, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. SCAN-
LON, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. PA-
NETTA, Ms. BONAMICI, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 
RESOLUTION 
Supporting the goals and ideals of Black, indigenous, and 
people of color (‘‘BIPOC’’) Mental Health Awareness 
Month in July 2020. 
Whereas July 2020 is ‘‘BIPOC Mental Health Awareness 
Month’’; 
Whereas the goals of BIPOC Mental Health Awareness 
Month (formerly known as ‘‘Minority Mental Health 
Awareness Month’’) are— 
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•HRES 1064 IH 
(1) to recognize disparities in the incidence of men-
tal health-related challenges faced by Black, indigenous, 
and people of color (referred to in this preamble as 
‘‘BIPOC’’) communities; 
(2) to raise awareness of the systemic drivers of 
those disparities; 
(3) to educate patients, caregivers, and the family 
members of individuals who may be in need of care on 
the importance of recognizing the signs of mental illness, 
seeking evaluation and accepting diagnosis, receiving and 
adhering to mental health treatment, and counseling; 
(4) to highlight the necessity of culturally informed 
and culturally effective mental health services to increase 
receptivity to treatment among communities of color and 
to reduce the social and cultural stigma associated with 
mental health services; 
(5) to underscore the need to dismantle the barriers 
to access faced by individuals who seek mental health 
care services; and 
(6) to overcome and repair the mental harm and 
trauma that are experienced by people of color and 
caused by systematic racism and racial bias; 
Whereas the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) pan-
demic, which has disproportionately impacted commu-
nities of color, is expected to have grave and potentially 
long-term mental health implications due to the trau-
matic stress associated with pandemic conditions, includ-
ing stress from— 
(1) the loss of resources to meet immediate and fu-
ture needs; 
(2) grief and concerns for the safety of family and 
loved ones; 
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(3) reduced social interaction and increased isolation 
and loneliness; 
(4) the stigma and xenophobia against Asian-Amer-
ican communities, including many incidents of hate dur-
ing the COVID–19 pandemic, leading to negative mental 
health outcomes; and 
(5) a lack of consideration for pre-existing social-en-
vironmental disparities when addressing the dispropor-
tionate impact of COVID–19 on communities of color; 
Whereas, even in nonpandemic times, the psychosocial stress 
of racial discrimination, including exclusion from health, 
educational, social, and economic resources, contributes 
to poorer health quality and higher rates of chronic 
health conditions for communities of color; 
Whereas BIPOC communities, already burdened by dispari-
ties in chronic illnesses like lung disease, asthma, heart 
conditions, sickle cell disease, and diabetes, disproportion-
ately suffer from the mental health disorders that are 
commonly associated with those chronic illnesses; 
Whereas environmental strains, such as poverty, unsafe 
neighborhoods, and chronic racial and ethnic discrimina-
tion, among other social determinants of health, can sig-
nificantly increase distress and the overall mental and 
emotional well-being of poor youth of color; 
Whereas an emerging body of research shows that past trau-
ma inflicted on racial and ethnic minorities has the po-
tential to affect the descendants of the survivors of that 
trauma; 
Whereas, despite the necessity of diverse scientific and health 
care workforces and culturally informed and culturally ef-
fective science and research to address mental health dis-
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parities, including disparities in care, and decades of ef-
forts to diversify those workforces, there continues to be 
a challenging pattern of continued underrepresentation of 
people of certain genders and racial and ethnic groups in 
those fields; 
Whereas mental health services and supports often are not 
aligned with the National Standards for Culturally and 
Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health 
Care; 
Whereas the lack of linguistically appropriate mental health 
services and the lack of information about where to find 
those services decreases the likelihood that families of 
color will seek help; 
Whereas investment in linguistically appropriate mental 
health services will— 
(1) reverse the trend of families of color not seeking 
help; and 
(2) drive an increase in use of those services by peo-
ple of color who experience mental health-related chal-
lenges; 
Whereas the Office of Minority Health of the Department of 
Health and Human Services has determined that Black 
adults are 20 percent more likely than their White peers 
to report serious psychological distress; 
Whereas the suicide death rate for Black youth has risen 
from 2.55 per 100,000 in 2007 to 4.82 per 100,000 in 
2017; 
Whereas Black youth under the age of 13 are twice as likely 
as White youth of the same age group to die by suicide; 
Whereas Black males ages 5 through 11 are more likely than 
their White peers to die by suicide; 
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Whereas, in 2018, 42 percent of Black adults with a serious 
mental illness received no treatment, compared with 35.9 
percent of the total adult population of the United 
States; 
Whereas chronic underfunding of Federal treaty obligations 
for health services for Tribal Nations has contributed to 
disparate mental health outcomes for American Indians 
and Alaska Natives, who experience post-traumatic stress 
disorder more than twice as often as the general popu-
lation; 
Whereas, between 2000 and 2020, the suicide rate for Amer-
ican Indian and Alaska Native women and men has in-
creased by 139 percent and 71 percent, respectively, com-
pared with a 33 percent increase for the total adult popu-
lation in the United States; 
Whereas suicide is the second leading cause of death for 
American Indian and Alaska Native youth ages 10 
through 24; 
Whereas the suicide rate for American Indian and Alaska 
Native youth is 2.5 times higher than the national aver-
age and the highest across all ethnic and racial groups; 
Whereas Latino adults and children face barriers to accessing 
mental health services, including a lack of insurance, the 
high cost of health services, low wages, poor transpor-
tation, work stress, and immigration factors; 
Whereas research shows that, in the Hispanic population, 
older adults and youth are more susceptible than other 
Hispanic adults to mental distress relating to immigra-
tion and acculturation; 
Whereas fewer treatment and prevention services reach His-
panics than other racial or ethnic groups in the United 
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States due to the lack of professionals being equipped to 
support culturally specific challenges; 
Whereas, in 2017, suicide was the leading cause of death for 
Asian Americans ages 15 through 24; 
Whereas, in 2015, Asian adults with any mental illness had 
the lowest rates of use of health services, prescription 
medication, and outpatient services among all racial 
groups; 
Whereas the rate of suicide among Asian-American women 
over the age of 65 is the highest of any group in that 
age range; 
Whereas the rate of suicide among Bhutanese refugees is 
twice the rate of suicide for the general population of the 
United States; 
Whereas Native Hawaiian youth in Hawaii have significantly 
higher suicide rates than other adolescents; 
Whereas Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders face greater 
stigma than is faced by the general population of the 
United States faces in accessing mental health care; 
Whereas the first BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month 
(then known as ‘‘Minority Mental Health Awareness 
Month’’) was designated in honor of the late Bebe Moore 
Campbell, who showed great dedication and commitment 
to moving communities— 
(1) to support mental wellness through effective 
treatment options; and 
(2) to increase access to mental health treatment 
and services; and 
Whereas communities of color have shown deep mental-health 
resiliency in the face of decades and centuries of trauma 
and discrimination, underscoring the efficacy and impor-
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tance of resilience-focused and culturally and contextually 
grounded prevention and early intervention strategies in 
mental health: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports 
the goals and ideals of BIPOC Mental Health Awareness 
Month, which include bringing attention to the mental 
health disparities faced by communities of color in the 
United States, such as American Indians, Alaska Natives, 
Asian Americans, Blacks, Latinos, and Native Hawaiians 
and other Pacific Islanders. 
Æ 
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