Supporting the goals and ideals of American Heart Month and National Wear Red Day.

Whereas diseases of the heart are the Nation’s leading cause of death and stroke is the third leading cause of death in both men and women;

Whereas nearly 2,400 American men, women, and children die of cardiovascular disease each day, an average of one death every 37 seconds;

Whereas many people do not recognize that heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases are the number 1 killer of American women, claiming the lives of almost 460,000 American women each year or about one per minute;

Whereas we as a Nation have made great progress in reducing the death rates for coronary heart disease, but this progress has been much more modest in women and minorities, resulting in cardiovascular disease disparities;

Whereas many minority women, including African-American, Hispanic, Native-American and some subgroups of Asian-American women, have a greater prevalence of risk factors or are at a higher risk of death from heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases, but they are less likely to know of this risk;

Whereas cardiovascular diseases cost the Nation more than any other cause of death, with direct and indirect costs estimated to reach $448.5 billion in the United States in 2008;

Whereas the research is clear that there are tools available to prevent heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases and to improve survival rates from cardiovascular disease;

Whereas Congress, by Joint Resolution approved on December 30, 1963, requested that the President issue an annual proclamation designating February as American Heart Month;

Whereas the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and many other organizations celebrate National Wear Red Day during February by going red to increase awareness about heart disease as the leading killer of women; and

Whereas every year since 1964 the President has issued a proclamation designating the month of February as American Heart Month: Now, therefore, be it