WHEREAS, in the United States more than twelve million adults over the age of 25 have been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD); and
 
                     WHEREAS, approximately 24 million adults in the United States have symptoms of impaired lung function, indicating that COPD is under-diagnosed, and nearly 119,000 adults died of COPD in our nation in 2000, making COPD the fourth leading cause of death in the United States; and
 
                     WHEREAS, COPD cost the economy of the United States an estimated $32 billion in 2000; and
 
                     WHEREAS, establishment of a COPD Awareness Month will help raise public awareness about COPD, its danger, its prevalence, and the great value of early diagnosis in preventing its undetected progression to severe debilitating stages and early death; and
 
                     WHEREAS, the State of Nevada joins this initiative to raise awareness of the prevalence of COPD, the serious effects associated with the disease, and the importance of early diagnosis to minimize those effects;
 
                     NOW THEREFORE I, KENNY C. GUINN, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, do hereby proclaim the month of November of 2005, as