[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 23, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S3302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO DR. MICHAEL DeBAKEY

 Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, today I wish to acknowledge the 
accomplishments of a Texan--Dr. Michael DeBakey--who changed the world. 
I am proud we are honoring Dr. DeBakey with the Congressional Gold 
Medal.
  Dr. DeBakey's accomplishments are legendary. His lifelong commitment 
to the medical field and helping others has impacted the lives of 
countless Texans and, indeed, people around the world.
  Dr. DeBakey, now 99 years old, is the son of Lebanese immigrants. He 
was born and educated in Louisiana, but has been a Texan for nearly 60 
years. His accomplishments as a researcher, surgeon, and teacher have 
impacted the entire world, and may never be duplicated.
  As Dr. DeBakey once said: ``I take pride in the outstanding surgeons 
I've trained who have returned to their homes throughout the world to 
provide the best available health care for their patients.''
  He is especially recognized for his revolutionary contributions to 
cardiovascular medicine. Including two important inventions, the roller 
pump--an essential component of the heart-lung machine--and the DeBakey 
Ventricular Assist Device, an apparatus implanted into the heart to 
increase blood flow. Dr. DeBakey also designed countless medical 
devices now considered basic tools, such as specialty clamps, and wrote 
the book on numerous surgical procedures that have become standard 
practice in the operating room.
  Dr. DeBakey was an innovator from the start of his medical career. 
During World War II, he helped develop the concept of the Mobile Army 
Surgical Hospital M.A.S.H. units, a concept that saved thousands of 
lives during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Dr. DeBakey later helped 
create a medical and surgical center system for the Veterans 
Administration and improved the care of thousands of returning service 
personnel.
  But Dr. DeBakey will always be best known as a pioneer in 
cardiovascular surgery. He became head of surgery at the Baylor 
University College of Medicine in Houston in 1948, and helped lead the 
Texas Medical Center to the position of international prominence it 
enjoys today.
  He was one of the first surgeons to undertake coronary artery bypass 
surgery. And the first to successfully perform a carotid 
endarterectomy. And although generations have passed, his medical 
students, inspired by his example, have made countless additional 
breakthroughs.
  In 1996, Russian President Boris Yeltsin had a heart attack during 
his re-election campaign. His doctors told him he could not survive 
surgery. But Yeltsin called in Dr. DeBakey for a consultation and later 
asked him to oversee his coronary bypass, which proved successful. It 
was a tacit acknowledgment of U.S. medical leadership and Dr. DeBakey's 
international reputation.
  Dr. DeBakey's worldwide fame has even translated into a few humorous 
medical anecdotes. It seems that an auto mechanic, working on a car, 
good-naturedly compared his job to DeBakey's: ``I also take valves out, 
grind them and put in new parts. So how come you get the big bucks?''
  According to the tale, Dr. DeBakey quietly replied, ``Yes, but I do 
it with the engine running.''
  On the last day of 2005, a sharp pain in his upper torso told Dr. 
DeBakey he was suffering an aortic aneurysm--the very condition that 
his research had addressed years before. Initially, Dr. DeBakey chose 
to wait out the situation in hopes that it would heal itself.
  It didn't. After a 7-hour surgery and 9 months of touch-and-go 
recuperation, Dr. DeBakey went back to work.
  Over the years, as he helped establish Houston as an internationally 
known center of medical excellence, Dr. DeBakey would always be best 
remembered for the broader humanitarian aspects of his work. He 
dedicated countless hours to advising developing nations, and training 
doctors and medical authorities to establish stronger and more 
efficient health care systems.
  Dr. DeBakey has been honored by a multitude of organizations, 
governments and medical institutions. He has received the Library of 
Congress Living Legends Award, the American Heart Association Gold 
Heart Award, the National Medal of Science and the Presidential Medal 
of Freedom, to name a few. Today, Dr. DeBakey will be awarded the 
Congressional Gold Medal--the highest civilian award Congress can 
bestow.
  Dr. Michael DeBakey has helped millions of people to live longer and 
more productive lives. He is a Texan who has helped change the world, 
and a Texan worthy of this honor.

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