    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [February 2, 2004]
    [Pages 172-173]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Signing the American Heart Month Proclamation
    February 2, 2004

        The President. Thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks for the kind
    introduction. [Laughter] I don't know why you reminded them about the
    pretzel. [Laughter] I am so pleased you all are here. I want to thank
    Members of the United States Senate who came today, starting with
    Majority Leader Bill Frist, and Karyn. We're honored you are here. Thanks for coming. Thad
    Cochran, Susan Collins, and Byron Dorgan, you all are
    really kind to join us here. It's really important for the Congress to
    be involved with this initiative, as well as the White House.
        I appreciate my friend Elias Zerhouni.
    He's doing a fabulous job at the National Institute of Health. You
    really have taken on a tough assignment, and you've done it with such
    class. Thank you for your service.
        I want to thank all the survivors of heart disease who are here. I
    asked the Vice President what he was up to.
    [Laughter]
        The First Lady. What did he say?
        The President. He said he was heading to the
    treadmill. [Laughter] I want to thank everybody who is--who shares in
    this important cause. I really appreciate Laura for helping to lead The
    Heart Truth, the campaign to educate women about heart disease. I'm
    really proud of you.
        By spreading vital information, this campaign will save women's
    lives. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women--and men--
    so it's important that we send this heart truth message to all our
    citizens, to all Americans.
        It's also important for people to know that the risk of heart
    disease can be greatly reduced with good diet and regular exercise.
    Whatever our age or physical condition or however busy we may be, we can
    all do something to stay healthy, and that's important.
        The miracles of modern medicine we now enjoy make us forget some
    wisdom from the past, such as, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound
    of cure. It made sense then, and it makes sense today, particularly when
    you're dealing with heart disease. And so we started what's called the
    HealthierUS Initiative, which is encouraging Americans to focus on four
    simple goals: Exercise daily, eat right, avoid tobacco, drugs, and
    excessive alcohol, and get preventive screenings to detect problems
    early.
        By focusing on these commonsense steps, we can save many lives we
    lose each year to preventable conditions like heart disease. In other
    words, just do some wise things with your life. It's just not all that
    complicated, but it's up to you to make the right choice. It's up to our
    fellow citizens to make the right decision necessary to protect their
    bodies.
        I want to thank all of you all for working so hard to help citizens
    make the right choice, to send a clear message, to help people
    understand the need for healthier lives in America.
        And now it's my honor to welcome the heart disease survivors to join
    Laura and me as I sign the proclamation of American Heart Month, 2004.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:59 a.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his

    [[Page 173]]

    remarks, he referred to Karyn Frist, wife of Senator Bill Frist. The
    proclamation is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.