103 STAT. 2990 PROCLAMATION 5937—FEB. 21, 1989 As I assume the office of President, I am humbled before God and seek His coimsel and favor on our land, and join with our first President who said, "...it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first offi- cial act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the imiverse...that his benediction may consecrate to the liber- ties and happiness of the people of the United States, a government in- stituted by themselves for these essential purposes." NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 22, 1989, a National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving and call upon the citizens of our great Nation to gather together on this day in homes and places of worship to pray in thanksgiving for our blessings of peace, freedom, prosperity, and Independence. Let all Americans loieel himibly before our Heaven- ly Father in search of His coimsel and for His divine guidance and wisdom upon the leaders of the United States of America. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty- nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirteenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 5937 of February 21, 1989 American Heart Month, 1989 By the President of the United States of America ^^* A Proclamation Twenty-five years ago, the Government of the United States of Amer- ica proclaimed its cooperative support of the fight against the Nation's leading killer—^heart disease. This year, as in each year since, that sup- port continues. Diseases of the heart and blood vessels will claim the lives of nearly one million Americans this year. About one-half of all deaths each year are attributed to cardiovascular diseases—almost as many deaths as cancer, accidents, respiratory diseases, AIDS, and all other causes of death combined. Nearly 66 million of our citizens, more than one-fourth of our popula- tion, suffer &om some form of cardiovascular disease. High blood pres- sm-e alone threatens the lives of more than 60 million Americans age 6 and older. Heart disease strikes regardless of age, race, or sex. Its toll in himian suffering is incalculable. The American Heart Association, a not-for-profit volvmteer health agency, estimates the economic cost of cardiovascular diseases in 1989 will be more than $88 billion in lost productivity and medical expenses. Each year, cardiovascular diseases account for more than 2 million years of potential life lost, based on a life span of 65 years. But we are making progress. The American Heart Association and the Federal Government, through the National Heart, Lung and Blood Insti-
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