[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 134 (Thursday, December 7, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     WELCOME TO THE FIRST LADY OF AZERBAIJAN, DR. MEHRIBAN ALIYEVA

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. SHELLEY SEKULA GIBBS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 6, 2006

  Ms. SEKULA GIBBS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to echo the sentiments of 
my colleague from Tennessee and also extend the welcome of the House of 
Representatives to the First Lady of Azerbaijan, Dr. Mehriban Aliyeva, 
to Washington.
  The House of Representatives recognizes the strategic relationship 
the United States has with Azerbaijan. We know that its troops stand 
with us in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, that it supports our efforts 
toward combating global terrorism, and that it plays a key role in 
providing a secure and dependable energy supply to the West. The 
Caspian Sea Republic is rapidly modernizing, in large part due to its 
offshore sector and the opening earlier this year of the Baku-Tbilisi-
Ceyhan gas pipeline and Baku-Erzerum natural gas pipeline. The country 
experienced 26 percent growth in 2005 and is expected to surpass 30 
percent growth this year. This phenomenal growth is allowing Azerbaijan 
the opportunity to make significant investments in its future, in many 
respects. Here in the United States, and I might add in my home 
district, in particular, we are acutely aware of the importance in 
investing in our own future through efforts to develop new sources of 
energy for our own use and those of our global friends.
  We also recognize Azerbaijan as an emerging democracy that is working 
hard to improve the social, political and economic opportunities of its 
predominately Muslim population. As an aspiring NATO and EU member, as 
well as a member of the Council of Europe, the largest governmental 
human rights organization calling for its members to harmonize human 
rights protection laws and regulations and compelling compliance with 
them, the success of initiatives in these areas is an example for other 
Caucasus and Central Asian countries.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity of the visit of 
Azerbaijan's First Lady to draw special attention to the strides it is 
making in areas of particular importance to me as a doctor. Not only is 
the First Lady of Azerbaijan an elected member of the Azerbaijani 
Parliament and chair of its Azerbaijan-U.S. Interparliamentary 
Friendship Working Group, but she is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, 
President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the largest regional 
nonprofit NGO in the Caucasus, and herself a Moscow-trained 
ophthalmologist.
  As a doctor myself, I am particularly aware of the opportunities and 
responsibilities that we have as physician leaders to take medical 
knowledge and apply it in ways that benefit the greater good. I applaud 
the way Dr. Aliyeva has used her training and respected position for 
philanthropic and charitable works through the Heydar Aliyev Foundation 
in the areas of education, health care, science, humanitarian aid, 
international relations and culture. I am aware that the Foundation has 
been intimately involved in the construction and refurbishment of 
Azerbaijani hospitals and the international exchange of new medical 
technologies and commend those efforts.

  I've also learned that Houston, too, has played a direct role in 
advancing medical technology in Azerbaijan and the region through 
various programs over the years with Texas Medical Center institutions. 
In 1998, Baylor College of Medicine's world-renowned heart surgeon Dr. 
Michael DeBakey traveled to Baku to assess the country's cardiovascular 
needs and the state of its health care. I understand that Dr. DeBakey 
met with President Aliyev in Baku after having previously met him in 
Houston, and I would imagine that Mrs. Aliyeva personally appreciates 
the importance of sharing medical technologies across borders as her 
husband is a heart attack survivor himself.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to welcome First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva to 
Washington on behalf of the House of Representatives. I commend a 
fellow doctor, parliamentarian, wife and mother on her personal 
commitment to advancing health care and women's initiatives in her 
country and the Caspian Region. Welcome to Washington, Dr. Aliyeva.

                          ____________________