President Bush is in town and is having breakfast this hour with area business leaders at Eggct Restaurant at 51st and Main.
Joining him is Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri’s 6th District and 11 business people, including National Economic Council Chairman Keith Hennessey, ViraCor Laboratories chief Phillip “Flip” Short, Bennett Packaging’s Kathy Bennett, Michael Carter and Barry Jackson.
Early this morning at a brief ceremony at the InterContinental Hotel, Bush signed a presidential proclamation in honor of American Heart Month.
Seated next to him was heart disease survivor Joyce Cullen. Cullen had heard Laura Bush speak about the disease when the first lady had visited St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City. Then Cullen realized she was experiencing some of the symptoms of the disease.
She went to the hospital, suffered a heart attack and recovered. Today she’s part of The Heart Truth Campaign sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Bush called heart disease the number one killer of men and women.
“Thank you for being a strong leader in the campaign for awareness,” Bush told Cullen.
From the restaurant, Bush is scheduled to travel Hallmark Cards near Crown Center at 10:20 a.m. He is to be led by Don Hall Jr., president and CEO of Hallmark Cards. Part of that tour will include a stop at Kaleidoscope, the interactive learning center for children.
At the end of his Hallmark visit he will make a statement on the economy.
The president will cap his stay in Kansas City by attending a private fundraiser for Graves at Parkville home.
-- From Steve Kraske with the presidential caravan
