Heart For Women Act
Floor Speech
HEART FOR WOMEN ACT -- (House of Representatives - September 23, 2008)
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Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1014, the HEART for Women Act. I thank my colleague for yielding to me, and I thank the lead co-sponsor of this bill, Congresswoman Barbara Cubin of Wyoming.
I was proud to first introduce the HEART for Women Act in 2006 with the help of organizations such as the American Heart Association, WomenHeart, and the Society for Women's Health Research. Since then, the list of supporters has grown to over 50 organizations, 237 cosponsors in the House, and 47 cosponsors of the Senate companion legislation.
This legislation was borne out of the realization that despite heart disease being the number one killer of women, too few people are aware of it. In 2006, only 21 percent of women identified heart disease as women's greatest health problem, and too few people were aware that heart disease manifests itself differently in women than in men.
The HEART for Women Act would improve the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in women in three important ways.
First, it would authorize educational campaigns aimed at health providers and older women to make them more aware of the risks for cardiovascular disease among women.
Secondly, it will authorize the expansion of CDC's highly successful WISEWOMAN program, to which our chairman alluded. Since 2000, WISEWOMAN has been providing screenings for low-income uninsured women. The CDC has touted the success of WISEWOMAN in that they have screened over 79,000 women in need, identified over 7,600 new cases of high blood pressure, over 7,900 new cases of high cholesterol, and over 1,000 cases of diabetes.
I am proud that this legislation will play a part in reaching hundreds of thousands of new women in the years to come.
Finally, H.R. 1014 will improve the way we collect and analyze research data. By directing the FDA to collect data about safety and the efficacy of new and investigational drugs and devices according to gender, age, and racial subgroups.
We will help women and their health care providers better understand which course of treatment may yield the best outcome.
Once again, I thank our colleague Congresswoman Cubin, the coalition of supporters, and the Energy and Commerce Committee majority and minority staff.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1014.
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