Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following statement on the House Floor today during consideration of H.R. 3771, the South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2022:
I rise today in support of H.R. 3771, the South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2022. I thank Representative Jayapal and the bill’s bipartisan sponsors for their work on this important piece of legislation.
Heart disease claims a life in the United States every thirty-four seconds. In 2020 alone, heart disease resulted in the deaths of 697,000 Americans. These statistics, which are troubling by themselves, are further shaped by systemic health disparities. Black men have a 70 percent higher risk of heart failure compared to White men, and Black women have a 50 percent higher risk compared to White women. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among Hispanic men, and for Hispanic women, heart disease is second only to cancer.
The South Asian community is also disproportionally impacted by this deadly disease. While South Asians comprise 23 percent of the world's population as of 2020, they carry approximately 60 percent of the world's global burden of heart disease. The increased risk and disproportionate impact that heart disease has on the South Asian American community in this country is often obscured by the lack of data specificity, as South Asian Americans are often grouped with other Asian-Americans.
H.R. 3771 takes a multi-pronged approach to address these trends. The legislation allows states to direct culturally appropriate resources to communities that are disproportionately impacted by heart disease through grants, with the goal of increasing awareness and promoting prevention. The legislation also supports research efforts on cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other heart health-related ailments among at-risk populations.
H.R. 3771 is a bipartisan, common-sense approach to an undeniable heart health and research gap for the South Asian American community.
These important investments will ensure a greater understanding with respect to individuals disproportionately at risk for heart-related disease and will help in our efforts to address disparities in heart health currently experienced by many Americans.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
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