[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E41]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





RECOGNIZING THE EXEMPLARY CONTRIBUTIONS OF DR. CHRISTIAN EUSEBIO TO THE 
  COMMUNITY OF GUAM IN PERFORMING OUR ISLAND'S FIRST BARIATRIC SURGERY

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. MICHAEL F.Q. SAN NICOLAS

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 18, 2022

  Mr. SAN NICOLAS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a community 
leader and public servant, Dr. Christian Eusebio, and congratulate him 
on his achievement of performing our island's first bariatric surgery.
  On the island of Guam, there has been a dire health crisis 
characterized by a longstanding, tireless fight against obesity and 
diabetes. With more than 10 percent of our adult population diagnosed 
with diabetes, childhood obesity rates higher than the mainland United 
States, and cancer, diabetes, and heart disease among the leading 
causes of death on our island, our community suffers from these 
associated conditions at epidemic proportions. Further, a lack of 
comprehensive health resources and options amplifies this issue for 
those who need unique medical support like metabolic programs. Often, 
this results in many of our people seeking specific medical attention 
off-island or, for others, the acceptance of their conditions due to a 
lack of financial means for accessing treatments unavailable on Guam. 
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, these complex barriers to health have been 
further compounded, but the hard work of Dr. Eusebio has emerged as a 
beacon of hope we can cling to as we face some of our island's most 
challenging times.
  Driven by the desire to make a positive difference in the world, 
inspired by his father, and motivated by the imperative to serve as a 
good role model for his children, Dr. Eusebio navigated a unique path 
into the field of medicine after earning degrees from the University of 
Connecticut, Howard University, and Ross University School of Medicine. 
While Dr. Eusebio has many accomplishments, which include becoming a 
board-certified surgeon, the first of his residency class to become a 
Fellow of the American College Surgeons, obtaining a Professional and 
Technology Scholarship through the University of Guam, and earning the 
Medical Student Resident Teacher of the Year Award at the University of 
South Florida, he also proudly represents our island as the first 
person from Guam to obtain the Nizar Oweida scholarship for his work in 
rural surgery.
  Prior to Dr. Eusebio's bariatric work on Guam, no such option was 
available for our people. However, in taking the lead among medical 
professionals for creating this valuable resource to our community, he 
has concretely provided a second chance at life for many on our island 
who have found themselves at a standstill. Madam Speaker, I rise on 
behalf of the people of Guam, offering my greatest appreciation for his 
commitment to improving the quality of health care to our island 
community and the wider Micronesian region. I am honored to have the 
opportunity to recognize a man who is actively working to open another, 
much needed door to the collective health and wellbeing of our people 
and congratulate him on a successful inaugural bariatric surgery. I 
wish him the best as he continues on his surgical journey, and I look 
forward to seeing the programmatic developments he will achieve in the 
coming years.

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