[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3131 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3131

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for research and 
 improvement of cardiovascular health among the South Asian population 
             of the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 5, 2019

      Ms. Jayapal (for herself, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. 
 Fitzpatrick, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Gabbard, Mr. 
  Smith of Washington, Ms. Meng, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mrs. Watson 
  Coleman, Mr. Foster, Mr. Bera, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. 
  Krishnamoorthi, and Ms. Schakowsky) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for research and 
 improvement of cardiovascular health among the South Asian population 
             of the United States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``South Asian Heart Health Awareness 
and Research Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The South Asian diaspora population in the United 
        States is primarily from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, 
        Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Maldives, East Africa, the West 
        Indies, and the Caribbean.
            (2) Heart disease refers to several types of heart 
        conditions; the most common form is coronary artery disease, 
        which affects blood flow to the heart.
            (3) Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both 
        men and women--one in every 4 deaths each year, according to 
        the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
            (4) Risk factors for heart disease include diabetes, high 
        blood pressure, smoking, and abnormal cholesterol levels.
            (5) Though the traditional South Asian diet consists of 
        lentils, vegetables, grains, and spices, there is higher 
        consumption of suboptimal nutritional elements including 
        refined carbohydrates, trans fats, and sugar that have been 
        associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes and 
        cardiovascular disease.
            (6) South Asians in the United States have four times the 
        risk of heart disease than the general population and have a 
        much greater chance of having a heart attack before age 50, 
        according to the Stanford South Asian Translational Heart 
        Initiative.
            (7) In addition, diabetes is one of the strongest risk 
        factors for heart disease; South Asian Americans have among the 
        highest rates of type 2 diabetes in the Nation.
            (8) A Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living 
        in America (MASALA) showed a 26-percent prevalence of diabetes 
        among South Asians, compared to 6 percent among Whites, 18 
        percent among African-Americans, 17 percent among Latinos, and 
        13 percent among Chinese-Americans in the Multi-Ethnic Study of 
        Atherosclerosis.
            (9) Early intervention and treatment through awareness 
        campaigns, nutritional education, and instruction on physical 
        activity can greatly reduce the burden of diabetes, risk of 
        heart disease, decreased quality of life, and untimely death.
            (10) Successful efforts to prevent and combat heart disease 
        in the South Asian population of the United States can serve as 
        a model for the general population.

SEC. 3. SOUTH ASIAN HEART HEALTH PROMOTION GRANTS BY CENTERS FOR 
              DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION.

    Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 317U. SOUTH ASIAN HEART HEALTH PROMOTION GRANTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall make grants to 
States for the purpose of promoting awareness of the increasing 
prevalence of heart disease, including its relationship to type 2 
diabetes, in South Asian communities in the United States.
    ``(b) Use of Funds.--A State that receives a grant under paragraph 
(1) shall use such grant funds--
            ``(1) to establish an Internet clearinghouse to catalog 
        existing evidence-based heart health research and treatment 
        options for South Asian communities to prevent, treat, or 
        reverse heart disease and diabetes;
            ``(2) to develop culturally appropriate materials on topics 
        such as nutrition education, optimal diet plans, and programs 
        for regular exercise;
            ``(3) to support heart health promotion activities of 
        community organizations that work with or serve South Asian 
        communities; or
            ``(4) to support conferences or workshops on research 
        practices, methodology, and design to include more members of 
        South Asian communities in scientific studies.
    ``(c) Annual Report to Congress.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of the South Asian Heart Health Awareness and 
Research Act of 2019, and annually thereafter, the Director shall 
submit to Congress a report on outreach efforts and data relating to 
heart disease in South Asian communities in the United States.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--For purposes of carrying 
out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.''.

SEC. 4. HEART HEALTH RESEARCH BY NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH AND 
              NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD INSTITUTE.

    Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 409K. HEART HEALTH RESEARCH.

    ``(a) In General.--For the purpose of conducting research and 
related activities with respect to cardiovascular disease, type 2 
diabetes, and other heart health-related ailments among South Asian 
communities in the United States, the Director of the National 
Institutes of Health, in coordination with the Director of the National 
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute--
            ``(1) may conduct or support, through funding opportunity 
        announcements, grants, or cooperative agreements, basic, 
        clinical, and translational research; and
            ``(2) may award grants and cooperative agreements to public 
        or nonprofit private entities (including State health 
        departments, political subdivisions of States, universities, 
        and other medical or education entities).
    ``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--For purposes of carrying 
out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.''.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that medical schools in the United 
States that are accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical 
Education should include as part of their nutrition curriculum a focus 
on cultural differences in diets and ways to achieve optimal nutrition 
in communities that experience substantial heart disease.
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