[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E7-E8]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               COMMENDING THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 27, 1998

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, this year we will not only commemorate the 
month of February as American Heart Month, but we will also celebrate 
the 50th anniversary of the American Heart Association as a national 
voluntary health agency.
  Every 34 seconds, someone in our country dies of cardiovascular 
disease or stroke. Cardiovascular disease, the leading killer of 
Americans, claims as many lives as all other

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causes of death combined. The number of these deaths has drastically 
declined due to the hard work of the American Heart Association, over 
the last fifty years. With more than 4.2 million volunteers, the 
American Heart Association spends more than $100 million a year to 
reduce disability and death from cardiovascular disease and stroke 
through research, education, and community services.
  The research supported by the AHA has helped to increase our 
knowledge of the effects of diet, exercise, smoking and drug therapies 
on heart disease and stroke. New surgical techniques, such as the use 
of artificial heart valves, have dramatically reduced the death rates 
of children suffering from congenital heart disease over the last forty 
years. The AHA has also helped to establish coronary care units in most 
of our nation's hospitals, thereby providing specially trained personal 
and electronic equipment to monitor and treat heart attack patients. 
The Nobel prize has been awarded three times to researchers funded by 
the American Heart Association.
  The American Heart Association trains 6.4 million Americans a year in 
emergency training programs. The AHA also provides professional 
education; equipping physicians and nurses with information on a 
variety of topics, including how patients can control their blood 
cholesterol levels.
  With 50% of American children overweight and 50% of adults not 
exercising regularly, the AHA's public education programs are vitally 
important. Programs such as providing heart health education materials 
for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, teaching employees 
about heart health at their places of work, and teaching people how to 
cook using AHA's dietary guidelines, provide Americans with potentially 
lifesaving skills and information.
  The American Heart Association reaches seven million people a year 
with its message of cardiovascular health. Accordingly, I urge my 
colleagues to join in commending the tireless efforts of the AHA over 
the last fifty years and in designating February as American Heart 
Month.

                          ____________________