Expressing support for the designation of May 10, 2021, as "National Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day" and acknowledging the importance of raising awareness of mental health and improving the quality of mental health services for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community.

IV 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 373 Expressing support for the designation of May 10, 2021, as ‘‘National Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Mental Health Day’’ and acknowledging the importance of raising awareness of mental health and improving the quality of mental health services for the Asian Amer- ican, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 7, 2021 Ms. CHU (for herself, Ms. STRICKLAND, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. KAHELE, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. TAKANO, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Ms. MENG) submitted the following resolu- tion; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce RESOLUTION Expressing support for the designation of May 10, 2021, as ‘‘National Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pa- cific Islander Mental Health Day’’ and acknowledging the importance of raising awareness of mental health and improving the quality of mental health services for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Is- lander community. 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 contribu- tions; VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:57 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR373.IH HR373 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 373 IH Whereas the AANHPI community is extremely diverse in terms of socioeconomic levels, education, employment, language, national origin, acculturation, immigration, and colonization status; Whereas celebrating one’s cultural heritage and having access to culturally and linguistically competent care is impor- tant to mental health and wellness; Whereas 76 percent of the estimated 2,300,000 AANHPIs who meet criteria for a mental health problem do not re- ceive treatment and have among the lowest rates of utili- zation of mental health services out of any racial popu- lation; Whereas suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, but in 2019, Asian/Pacific Islander youth ages 15 to 24 years old were the only racial/ethnic popu- lation 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 impacting each sub- population so that specific culturally and linguistically appropriate solutions can be developed; Whereas language 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 sig- nificant language loss faced by the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community due to colonization; Whereas there is a need to significantly increase the number of providers, including paraprofessionals representing the AANHPI community, and provide them with the nec- essary training and ongoing support; VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:57 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR373.IH HR373 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 373 IH Whereas 1 in 3 Asian Americans who have been diagnosed with depression are unable to see a doctor due to high health care costs; Whereas skyrocketing rates of anti-Asian harassment and vi- olence during the COVID–19 pandemic, as well as the additional layers of hate directed toward women and el- ders of Asian descent, contribute to the deterioration of mental health for the Asian-American community; Whereas, in the past two years, 78 percent of Asian-Amer- ican and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women have been af- fected by anti-Asian racism, with more than half person- ally encountering specific incidences of racism and nearly one-third of AAPI women indicating that the COVID–19 pandemic caused their mental health to deteriorate; Whereas historical discrimination and current racial violence toward the AANHPI community increases trauma and stress, underlying precursors to mental health problems; Whereas understanding this history of discrimination and on- going trauma is essential to improving mental health care for the AANHPI population; Whereas there is a critical need to raise awareness about and improve mental health literacy among the AANHPI com- munity to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues; and Whereas May is both National Asian Pacific American Herit- age Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, an op- portunity to celebrate the vast contributions of the AANHPI community to American society and acknowl- edge the importance of mental health and the well-being and health of families and communities: Now, therefore, be it VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:57 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR373.IH HR373 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 373 IH Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘National Asian 2 American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 3 Mental Health Day’’ to remove the stigma in the 4 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Is- 5 lander (AANHPI) community associated with men- 6 tal illness and place emphasis on access to linguis- 7 tically and culturally appropriate mental health serv- 8 ice providers; 9 (2) promotes national awareness of mental 10 health issues unique to the AANHPI community and 11 strives to improve the quality and availability of 12 mental health services for this population; and 13 (3) encourages Federal, State, and local health 14 agencies to adopt laws, policies, and guidance to im- 15 prove help-seeking rates for mental health services 16 for AANHPIs and other communities of color. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:57 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR373.IH HR373 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS