[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S11577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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       IN RECOGNITION OF UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDICAL SCHOOL'S 
                      SESQUICENTENNIAL CONVOCATION

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 
University of Michigan Medical School as it celebrates its 150th 
Anniversary. On October 1, 1999, its faculty, staff, alumni, students 
and friends will gather to celebrate the Medical School's distinguished 
history and reputation.
  Since its founding in 1850, the men and women of the University of 
Michigan Medical School have been pioneers in the practice of medicine. 
With over 18,260 M.D. degrees awarded since the first graduating class 
in 1851, the Medical School's alumni and faculty have left an indelible 
mark on the course of medical history. With leading roles in the field 
trials of the Salk polio vaccine, pioneering cancer treatments, 
innovative uses of new technology in medicine and much more, it has 
greatly impacted the health of our entire nation.
  In addition, the University has a remarkably long list of innovative 
firsts. It opened the nation's first university-owned hospital in 1869, 
the first department of pharmacology in 1891, the first university-
operated psychiatric hospital in 1906, the first children's psychiatric 
hospital and the nation's first Human Genetics Department. It has been 
an impressive century and a half indeed.
  According to statistics recorded by the Center for Disease Control, 
in the last century alone, the average life expectancy has increased 
nearly 30 years, from approximately 47 years in 1900 to more than 76 
years today. Medical advances have not only added years to the lives of 
Americans, but have also added quality to those years. Among those 
leading the way to longer and healthier lives have been the faculty and 
alumni of the University of Michigan Medical School. The value of their 
contributions to the practice of medicine in America over the past 150 
years is incalculable, and I am confident that they will continue to be 
on the cutting edge of medicine advances in the 21st century.
  Mr. President, the faculty, staff, alumni and students of the 
University of Michigan Medical School can take pride in their many 
important achievements of the School's first 150 years. I hope my 
colleagues will join me in saluting the accomplishments of the Medical 
School's first century and a half and in wishing it continued success 
for the future.

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