IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 51 

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Wear Red Day. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2007 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD submitted the following concurrent resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals and ideals of National Wear Red Day. 

Whereas heart disease is the leading cause of death for 

women in the United States; 

Whereas it is estimated that 42.1 million American women 

have 1 or more types of heart disease, including high 

blood pressure, coronary heart disease, congestive heart 

failure, stroke, and congenital heart defects; 

Whereas extensive clinical and statistical studies have identified major and contributing factors that increase the risk 

of heart disease; 

Whereas these studies have identified the following as major 

risk factors that cannot be changed: age (the risk of developing heart disease gradually increases as people age; 

advanced age significantly increases the risk); gender 

(women’s risk rises sharply after menopause; each year 


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more women than men have a stroke); and heredity (children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves; African Americans have more severe 

high blood pressure than Caucasians and therefore are at 

higher risk; the risk is also higher among Latina Americans, some Asian Americans, and Native Americans and 

other indigenous populations); 

Whereas these studies have identified the following as major 

risk factors that American women can modify, treat or 

control by changing their lifestyle or seeking appropriate 

medical treatment: high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, smoking tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke, physical inactivity, obesity, and diabetes 

mellitus; 

Whereas these studies have identified the following as contributing risk factors that American women can also take 

action to modify, treat or control by changing their lifestyle or seeking appropriate medical treatment: individual 

response to stress, excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, use of certain illegal drugs, and hormone replacement therapy; 

Whereas more than 39 million American women have high 

blood pressure; 

Whereas more than 19.7 million America women have cholesterol levels in excess of 240 mg/dL, the level at which it 

becomes a major risk factor; 

Whereas an estimated 21 million American women put themselves at risk for heart disease every day by smoking 

cigarettes; 

Whereas data released by the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention shows that more than 60 percent of 


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American adults do not get enough physical activity, and 

more than 25 percent are not physically active at all; 

Whereas 62 percent of Americans women are overweight or 

obese; 

Whereas it is estimated that more than 10 million American 

women have diabetes and that 65 percent of those so afflicted will die of some form of heart disease; 

Whereas the American Heart Association projects that in 

2007 485,000 American women will have a first or recurrent heart attack and that 45 percent of these women 

will die as a result; 

Whereas 35 percent of American women who suffer a heart 

attack in 2007 will suffer a recurrent attack within 6 

years; 

Whereas 38 percent of American women who suffer their first 

heart attack in 2007 will die within 1 year; 

Whereas in 2007 approximately 374,000 American women 

will suffer a new or recurrent stroke and 92,000 of these 

women will die as a result; 

Whereas advances in medical research have significantly improved the capacity of American women to fight heart 

disease by providing greater knowledge about its causes, 

innovative diagnostic tools to detect the disease, and new 

and improved treatments that help people survive and recover from this disease; 

Whereas National Wear Red Day is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health of the Department of Health 

and Human Services, as an annual event held on the first 

Friday in February to increase awareness among American women about their risk of heart disease; and 


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Whereas National Wear Red Day 2007 will be observed on 

Friday, February 2, 2007: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That the Congress— 

3 (1) supports the goals and ideals of National 

4 Wear Red Day; 

5 (2) encourages Americans nationwide to take 

6 women’s health to heart by wearing red on National 

7 Wear Red Day 2007 to show their support for wom8 en’s heart disease awareness; 

9 (3) encourages Americans nationwide to sup10 port The Heart Truth, the national awareness cam11 paign designed by the National Heart, Lung, and 

12 Blood Institute to alert women about their risk for 

13 heart disease; 

14 (4) encourages all American women, especially 

15 women ages 40 to 60, the time when a woman’s risk 

16 of heart disease starts to rise, to embrace the goals 

17 of The Heart Truth campaign and take action to 

18 modify, prevent, and control their risk factors for 

19 heart disease; 

20 (5) encourages all Americans, men and women 

21 alike, to take to heart the 4 simple healthy life, 

22 healthy heart goals identified by the HealthierUS 

23 Initiative of the Department of Health and Human 

24 Services: exercise regularly and maintain a healthy 


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1 weight; develop good eating habits; avoid tobacco 

2 products, drugs and excessive alcohol; and have reg3 ular medical checkups to take advantage of 

4 screenings that can detect heart-disease related 

5 problems early; 

6 (6) recognizes and reaffirms our Nation’s com7 mitment to fighting heart disease by promoting 

8 awareness about its causes, risks, and prevention 

9 and by promoting new education programs, sup10 porting research, and expanding access to medical 

11 treatment; and 

12 (7) recognizes all Americans battling heart dis13 ease, expresses gratitude to their family members 

14 and friends who are a source of love and encourage15 ment as they combat this disease, and salutes the 

16 health care professionals and medical researchers 

17 who provide assistance to those so afflicted and con18 tinue to work to find cures and improve treatments. 

Æ 


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