119-sres208

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 208 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
S. RES. 208

 Supporting the designation of May 10, 2025, as ``National Asian 
 American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 May 8, 2025

 Ms. Hirono (for herself, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Markey, Mr. Padilla, Mr. 
 Schatz, and Ms. Warren) submitted the following resolution; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

 Supporting the designation of May 10, 2025, as ``National Asian 
 American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day''.

Whereas the Asian American, Native Hawai`ian, 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 
 background, education level, types of employment, languages spoken, 
 cultures of origin, acculturation, and migration and colonization 
 status;
Whereas AANHPIs have among the lowest rates of utilization of mental health 
 services, and 65.3 percent of the estimated 2,900,000 AANHPIs who meet 
 criteria for a mental health problem do not receive treatment;
Whereas, from 2018 to 2023, AANHPI youth ages 10 to 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 
 Native Hawai`ian 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 provide 
 them with necessary training and ongoing support;
Whereas historical discrimination and current racial violence toward AANHPIs 
 increase 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 Hawai`ian, and Pacific 
 Islander Heritage Month, an opportunity to celebrate the vast 
 contributions of this population to the society of the United States, 
 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 Senate--

    (1) supports the designation of May 10, 2025, as ``National 
 Asian American, Native Hawai`ian, 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 Hawai`ian, 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 
 Hawai`ian, and Pacific Islander community and other communities 
 of color.
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