Whereas cardiovascular disease (referred to in this preamble as CVD ) affects men, women, and children of every age and race in the United States; Whereas CVD continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States, claiming the lives of nearly 695,000 individuals in the United States in 2021, more than all forms of cancer; Whereas, from 2019–2020, deaths from heart disease in the United States increased by 4.1 percent, and stroke deaths increased over the same period by 4.9 percent; Whereas individuals in the United States have made great progress in reducing the death rate for CVD, but this progress has been more modest with respect to the death rate for CVD in women and historically marginalized communities of color; Whereas CVD results in tremendous health care costs and lost productivity, and, if not addressed, the United States alone will spend over $1,000,000,000,000 by 2035 on costs relating to CVD; Whereas, between 2018 and 2019, heart disease accounted for $240,000,000,000 in health care expenditures and lost productivity in the United States; Whereas, in 2020, sudden cardiac arrest accounted for over 436,000 deaths in the United States; Whereas approximately every 40 seconds an individual in the United States will have a heart attack; Whereas heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of maternal death among women in the United States, accounting for more than 1 in 3 pregnancy-related deaths between 2011 and 2015; Whereas congenital heart defects are— (1) the most common types of birth defects in the United States; and (2) the leading killer of infants with birth defects; Whereas extensive clinical and statistical studies have identified major and contributing factors that increase the risk of CVD, including— (1) high blood pressure; (2) high blood cholesterol; (3) smoking tobacco products; (4) exposure to tobacco smoke; (5) physical inactivity; (6) obesity; and (7) diabetes mellitus