Title: Supporting the designation of May 10, 2022, as National Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This resolution supports the designation of National Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1098 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1098

Supporting the designation of May 10, 2022, as National Asian American, 
        Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 10, 2022

Ms. Chu (for herself, Mr. Kahele, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Lieu, 
 Mr. Bowman, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Takano, Mr. Panetta, 
 Ms. Meng, Mr. Trone, Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Velazquez, 
 Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Case, 
    Mr. Raskin, Ms. Bourdeaux, Mr. Bera, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Scott of 
 Virginia, and Ms. Brown of Ohio) submitted the following resolution; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Supporting the designation of May 10, 2022, 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 76 percent of the estimated 2.3 million AANHPIs who meet criteria for a 
        mental health problem do not receive treatment;
Whereas AANHPIs have among the lowest rates of utilization of mental health 
        services;
Whereas, in 2019, AANHPI youth ages 15 to 24 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 
        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 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;
Whereas May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, an opportunity to 
        celebrate the vast contributions of the AANHPI population to American 
        society; and
Whereas May is also 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.
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