Heart disease continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States for men and women of every age and race. Although advances in medical research have significantly improved our capacity 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, Americans can significantly reduce their changes of developing heart disease by changing their lifestyle or seeking appropriate medical treatment for major risk factors such as: high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, smoking tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke, physical inactivity, obesity, and diabetes.

Every year since 1964 the President has issued a proclamation designating the month February as `American Heart Month' in order to encourage more Americans to be heart healthy. H.Con.Res. 52 expresses the support of the House of Representatives for the goals and ideals of American Heart Month; reaffirms our Nation's commitment to fighting heart disease by promoting awareness about its causes, risks, and prevention and by promoting new education programs, supporting research, and expanding access to medical treatment; and encourages every American to exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight, develop good eating habits, avoid tobacco, drugs, and excessive alcohol, and have regular checkups to take advantage of screenings that can detect heart-disease related problems early. H.Con.Res. 52 was debated and voted on by the House of Representatives on February 28, 2007. I was proud to join with my colleagues to help pass the resolution by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of 412 to 0.