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
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
Sec.
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.