Whereas suicide is a mental health issue that affects individuals and families around the Nation regardless of personal attributes such as race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, nation of birth, economic background, disability, or age; Whereas the World Health Organization defines adolescent as children between the ages of 10 to 19; Whereas, over the last two decades, self-reported suicide attempts rose nearly 80 percent among Black adolescents, by far the most significant increase of all races and ethnicities; Whereas Black children under 13 are dying by suicide at nearly twice the rate of White children the same age; Whereas the COVID–19 public health emergency has disproportionately affected the mental health of youth who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) due to— (1) Black and Latino adolescents seeing more COVID–19-related infections and deaths in their communities than for their White counterparts; and (2) Black and Latino families suffering from disproportionate economic setbacks that lead to financial stress and instability; Whereas the suicide rate for adolescent Native and Indigenous females is five times higher than their White counterparts; Whereas the American Indian and Alaska Native youth suicide rate is 2.5 times that of the overall national average; Whereas suicide is the leading cause of death for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) youth aged 12 to 19 years old; Whereas youth of color are up to twice as likely to be exposed to violent crime in their neighborhood of residence than their White counterparts; Whereas exposure to violent crime, and those involving firearms in particular, engenders traumas beyond normal post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including interpersonal distrust, feeling of shame, and dependency that perpetuate systemic racial disparities in the United States; Whereas 19.7 percent of AAPI students in grades 9 to 12 seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year