[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 135 (Thursday, October 3, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         IN CELEBRATION OF THE CAREER OF DR. LEVI WATKINS, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 3, 2013

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with great appreciation and 
respect to recognize a true pioneer in the field of health care and in 
the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. has distinguished 
himself as one of the nation's most highly regarded cardiac surgeons. 
He has been an inspirational figure for the medical community, African 
Americans and the entire nation. After 40 years in medicine, Dr. 
Watkins has announced that he will retire from Johns Hopkins Medicine 
located in my congressional district.
   Dr. Watkins attended Tennessee State University and graduated with a 
degree in biology with honors. Inspired by his experiences during the 
Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Watkins, who had set his sights on medical 
school, decided that ``it was time Vanderbilt was integrated.'' In May 
of 1966, Dr. Watkins became the first African American to be admitted 
into Vanderbilt University's School of Medicine. This was just the 
beginning of the many ``firsts'' that Dr. Watkins would amass as he 
blazed his trail of success. When he subsequently graduated from 
Vanderbilt School of Medicine in 1970, Dr. Watkins became the first 
African American to do so.
   In late 1970, Dr. Watkins began a surgical internship at Johns 
Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore, becoming the first 
African American in that program. He interrupted his internship in 1973 
to complete two years of cardiac research at Harvard Medical School. It 
was at Harvard where Dr. Watkins experienced his first scientific 
breakthrough with his research into the connection between the renin 
angiotensin system and congestive heart failure. This discovery later 
led to the use of angiotensin blockers in the treatment of heart 
failure.
   After returning to Johns Hopkins and completing his residency, Dr. 
Watkins became Johns Hopkins' first African American chief resident in 
cardiac surgery. Three years later, in 1978, Dr. Watkins became an 
assistant professor in the Division of Cardiac Surgery at Johns Hopkins 
Medical School.
   Some months later, in February 1980, Dr. Watkins performed a ground 
breaking procedure. He implanted an automatic implantable defibrillator 
into the human heart, saving a woman's life and becoming the first 
surgeon to perform the operation. This operation has saved many lives 
by shocking the heart back into its normal rhythm when the heart starts 
to go into arrhythmia.
   Critically, Dr. Watkins didn't just save lives, he also changed 
them. An active participant in the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Watkins 
was a member of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama 
when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor. Dr. Watkins drove the 
church station wagon on Sunday mornings and was active in the 
Montgomery bus boycotts. When Dr. Watkins joined the Johns Hopkins 
University's admission committee, he made it his mission to diversify 
both the admitted students and the faculty. He assisted many future 
Black doctors in entering and graduating from medical school. Dr. 
Watkins actively wrote letters to qualified candidates encouraging them 
to apply to the school. His relentless determination and hard work 
increased minority representation at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine 
by 400% in four years.
   Dr. Watkins created the Johns Hopkins' Martin Luther King Jr. 
Commemoration in January of 1982 and has held the event every January 
since that time. The event honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his 
ideals and has brought an array of speakers to the hospital to address 
students and faculty members, including Reverend Jesse Jackson, actor 
Danny Glover, and the late Coretta Scott King. Thankfully, even after 
his retirement, Dr. Watkins will continue to play an integral role in 
the annual commemoration.
   In 1991, Dr. Watkins was promoted to be a full professor of cardiac 
surgery, becoming the first African American at the Johns Hopkins 
University School of Medicine to hold this position. He was later 
appointed Associate Dean in the School of Medicine and Dean of the 
university's postdoctoral programs and faculty development.
   It is with a sense of great appreciation and admiration that I thank 
Dr. Watkins for all he has done for the medical field, the Black 
community and the entire nation. Baltimore is very fortunate to have 
such a dedicated pioneer to call its own. I wish Dr. Watkins all the 
best in his retirement and thank him for his visionary work that has 
made a profound impact on our country.
   In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whom Dr. Watkins knew 
well, ``The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments 
of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge 
and controversy.'' By this or any measure, Dr. Watkins is truly a great 
man.

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