; Whereas a public health issue is defined as meeting the following 4 criteria— (1) the condition affects many people, is seen as a threat to the public, and is continuing to increase; (2) the condition is distributed unfairly; (3) preventive measures could reduce the effects of the condition; and (4) those preventive measures are not yet in place; Whereas racism meets the criteria of a public health crisis, and public health experts agree; Whereas a Federal public health crisis declaration would define racism as a pervasive health issue and alerts the Nation to the need to enact immediate and effective cross-governmental efforts to address the root causes of institutional racism and their downstream impacts; and Whereas such declaration requires the response of the Government to engage significant resources to empower those communities that are impacted: Now, therefore, be it