A resolution promoting minority health awareness and supporting the goals and ideals of National Minority Health Month in April 2023, which include bringing attention to the health disparities faced by minority populations of the United States such as American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders.

III 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 221 Promoting minority health awareness and supporting the goals and ideals of National Minority Health Month in April 2023, which include bringing attention to the health disparities faced by minority populations of the United States such as American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asian Ameri- cans, African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. HIRONO, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. BROWN) submitted the following resolu- tion; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Promoting minority health awareness and supporting the goals and ideals of National Minority Health Month in April 2023, which include bringing attention to the health disparities faced by minority populations of the United States such as American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, and Na- tive Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders. Whereas the origin of National Minority Health Month is Na- tional Negro Health Week, established in 1915 by Dr. Booker T. Washington; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 May 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR221.ATS SR221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 221 ATS Whereas the theme for National Minority Health Month in 2023 is ‘‘Better Health Through Better Understanding’’; Whereas the Department of Health and Human Services has set goals and strategies to enhance and protect the health and well-being of the people of the United States; Whereas African American women were as likely to have been diagnosed with breast cancer as non-Hispanic White women, but African American women were 41 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than non-Hispanic White women between 2015 and 2019; Whereas African American women were twice as likely to be diagnosed with and 2.3 times more likely to die of stom- ach cancer than non-Hispanic White women; Whereas African American men are 70 percent more likely to die from a stroke than non-Hispanic White men; Whereas Hispanics are twice as likely as non-Hispanic Whites to be hospitalized for end-stage renal disease caused by diabetes, and are 30 percent more likely to die of diabetes, than non-Hispanic Whites; Whereas Asian Americans are 40 percent more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than non-Hispanic Whites; Whereas the HIV or AIDS case rate among Hispanic men is 4 times the HIV or AIDS case rate among non-Hispanic White men; Whereas Hispanic women are 3 times as likely as non-His- panic White women to die of HIV infection; Whereas, in 2019, African Americans accounted for 42.1 per- cent of HIV infections and Hispanic Americans ac- counted for almost 30 percent of HIV infections; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 May 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR221.ATS SR221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 221 ATS Whereas, in 2019, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were 2.4 times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than non-Hispanic Whites; Whereas, in 2018, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were 2.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than non-Hispanic Whites; Whereas, although the prevalence of obesity is high among all population groups in the United States, 48.1 percent of American Indian and Alaska Natives, 51.7 percent of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, 38.3 percent of African Americans, 34.9 percent of Hispanics, 30 percent of non-Hispanic Whites, and 13 percent of Asian Ameri- cans older than 18 years old were obese; Whereas Asian American and Pacific Islander adults ac- counted for 30.1 percent of chronic Hepatitis B cases, and non-Hispanic White adults accounted for 13.5 per- cent of chronic Hepatitis B cases; Whereas heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes are some of the leading causes of death among American Indians and Alaska Natives; Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives have higher prevalence and are at a higher risk of diabetes, substance use, obesity, sudden infant death syndrome, liver disease, viral hepatitis, and suicide than other groups in the United States; Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives have a life ex- pectancy that is 2.2 years shorter than the life expect- ancy of the overall population of the United States; Whereas African American women die from childbirth or pregnancy-related causes at a rate that is 3 to 4 times higher than the rate for non-Hispanic White women; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 May 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR221.ATS SR221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 221 ATS Whereas African American infants are almost 4 times more likely to die due to complications related to low birth weight than non-Hispanic White infants; Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives have an in- fant mortality rate twice as high as that of non-Hispanic Whites; Whereas American Indian and Alaska Native infants are 2.7 times more likely to die from accidental deaths before their first birthday than non-Hispanic White infants; Whereas approximately 1,000 babies are born with sickle cell disease each year in the United States, with the disease occurring in approximately 1 in 365 newborn Black or African-American infants and 1 in 16,300 newborn His- panic-American infants, and can be found in individuals of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Indian ori- gin; Whereas, while more than 1 in 6 older adults have untreated cavities, non-Hispanic Black older adults have between 2 and 3 times the rate of untreated cavities as non-His- panic White older adults; Whereas the 2022 National Healthcare Quality and Dispari- ties Report found American Indians and Alaska Natives received worse care than non-Hispanic Whites for 43 per- cent of quality measures; Whereas, as of 2023, with respect to hospitalizations due to COVID–19, American Indians and Alaska Natives are 2.4 times more likely, African Americans are 2.1 times more likely, and Hispanics are 1.8 times more likely to be hospitalized compared to non-Hispanic Whites; Whereas, as of 2023, with respect to deaths due to COVID– 19, American Indians and Alaska Natives are 2 times VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 May 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR221.ATS SR221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 221 ATS more likely, African Americans are 1.6 times more likely, and Hispanics are 1.7 times more likely to die compared to non-Hispanic Whites; and Whereas the health innovations of the United States present a unique opportunity to improve public health and health care practices across the United States and to reduce dis- parities among racial and ethnic minority populations: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate supports the recognition 1 of National Minority Health Month in April 2023, which 2 includes bringing attention to the health disparities faced 3 by minority populations in the United States, such as 4 American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Afri- 5 can Americans, Hispanics, and Native Hawaiians or other 6 Pacific Islanders. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 May 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR221.ATS SR221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS