[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1688-E1689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATIONS DR. MARC LIEBERMAN ON TEN YEARS OF TIBET VISION PROJECT

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                               TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate with Dr. Marc F. 
Lieberman the tenth

[[Page E1689]]

anniversary of his humanitarian work in Tibet. Since 1995, Dr. 
Lieberman, an ophthalmologist and clinical professor at University of 
California at San Francisco, has traveled back and forth from Tibet as 
the founder of the non-profit, non-governmental organization called 
Tibet Vision Project.
  Dr. Lieberman was truly inspired after meeting His Holiness the Dalai 
Lama in 1990 and discussing the high occurrence of preventable 
blindness plaguing the people of Tibet. Due to the high altitudes of 
Tibet and the harmful UV radiation that permeates the ``roof of the 
world,'' cataracts progressively erode the sight of many Tibetans.
  Tibet Vision Project's primary goals are twofold. First, the Project 
seeks to provide sate-of-the-art eye treatment to a population 
suffering from cataract blindness. Second, Tibet Vision Project aims to 
assist Tibetans in developing their own medical resources to eliminate 
cataract blindness throughout Tibet by the year 2020.
  Mr. Speaker, Dr. Lieberman spends almost two months in Tibet each 
year, traveling by Land Cruisers to remote and underserved rural areas, 
an eye camp comprised of 6-8 Tibetan nurses and technicians, and an 
entire mobile hospital unit complete with microscopes, lens implants, 
sutures and medicines, provides free eye care to everyone who visits. 
During the first three out of five days of eye camp, 250 to 400 
patients--who travel by yak or on foot--are evaluated. Eyeglasses are 
disbursed as appropriate and children receive corrective lenses. As 
many as 150 patients are provided free, sight-restoring lens implant 
surgery--all performed by Tibetan surgical teams.
  Along with the 2000 people whose vision has been restored by the 
Tibet Vision Project, 20 Tibetan surgeons provide great hope to the 
people of Tibet. Dr. Lieberman and his colleague Dr. Melvyn Bert work 
with an extension of the Tibet Vision Project at the School for Blind 
Children in Lhasa, Tibet, supervising medical and referral needs to 
ensure the well-being of the children.
  In conjunction with the Swiss Red Cross, Tibet Red Cross and Tilganga 
Eye Centre of Kathmandu, Nepal, Dr. Lieberman gains greater access to 
remote underserved populations in Tibet, meanwhile creating 
infrastructure for long term solutions to eye problems in Tibet.
  Mr. Speaker, in the next ten years, Tibet Vision Project aspires to 
help Tibetans become completely self-sufficient in eye care, providing 
competent and compassionate care to their own people. Dr. Lieberman and 
his crew are developing pilot projects for primary eye care such as 
accessibility to reading glasses, treating simple eye infections, and 
referring cataract cases to larger towns for surgery.
  Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Lieberman was trained at 
Johns Hopkins University before coming to the West Coast. While in the 
United States, he divides his time treating glaucoma in his offices in 
San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Cruz. He is currently considering 
spending more time in Tibet, expanding his visits from two to four a 
year.
  Despite the struggle to work with a budget of $50,000 a year and the 
obstacles of setting up remote eye camps, on rough terrain with poor 
roads, and dealing with the Chinese medical system, Lieberman and his 
teams continue their much needed work. Dr. Lieberman's visits to Tibet 
are nothing of miraculous. I admire his incredible, indefatigable work 
and his leadership in organizing so many others to help him on this 
quest. I am delighted that Tibet Vision Project has been so successful 
in its tireless work to help the people of Tibet.
  I would like to recognize Dr. Lieberman with some words from His 
Holiness the Dalai Lama, which summarizes the recognized need and 
gratitude for Dr. Lieberman, his colleagues, and his trainees' efforts.
   ``In Tibetan Buddhist culture numerous positive references equate 
clear sight with wisdom and knowledge and obstructions to it with 
ignorance and negativity. The quest for the clear-sightedness of wisdom 
is priced on par with developing the kind heart of compassion. But 
these largely concern cultivating the mind.
  By voluntarily training Tibetan doctors and nurses in modern eye care 
he and his colleagues have contributed to restoring the sight of 
thousands of the rural poor in Tibet. What a great act of kindness!''
   Mr. Speaker, it is my belief that Dr. Lieberman's generosity stems 
from his faith and practice of Judaism and Buddhism. In the spirit of 
gratitude and continued support for his humanitarian work, I ask my 
colleagues to join me in congratulating Dr. Marc Lieberman in the tenth 
year of Tibet Vision Project.

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