[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6300-6301]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVANT, DR. PHILLIP GORDEN, DIRECTOR OF 
                                 NIDDK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to take a moment this afternoon to 
praise a truly outstanding public servant of the Federal Government, 
someone who has contributed to healthier lives for literally millions 
of Americans. I speak of Dr. Phillip Gorden, who is stepping down this 
year after 13 years as head of the National Institute of Diabetes and 
Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
  As a member of the appropriations subcommittee which funds the 
National Institutes of Health, I have had the opportunity to work with 
Dr. Gorden for the past 5 years. He is one of the Nation's preeminent 
health care professionals, and I am proud to say he is a fellow 
Mississippian. Dr. Gorden's hometown of Baldwyn, Mississippi, is in my 
congressional district, and I know he maintains close ties to his 
Mississippi roots. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, he and I are among 
the few people in Washington, D.C. who subscribe to the Baldwyn News, a 
small but very informative weekly newspaper in North Mississippi.
  After earning an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and 
then graduating from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Dr. Gorden 
completed residency and a fellowship at Yale University before joining 
the NIH back in 1966. He began his career as a senior investigator in 
the clinical endocrinology branch at the NIDDK and later became its 
clinical director. He assumed the position of NIDDK director in 1986.
  I share the strong interest Dr. Gorden has in supporting the NIH's 
mission to acquire new knowledge to prevent and treat disease and 
disability. I have seen firsthand the results of his commitment to this 
important mission. Dr. Gorden's effective leadership has led the 
institute to great advances in fighting some of the most chronic and 
debilitating diseases which afflict the American people.
  On his watch, Dr. Gorden has seen the National Institute of Diabetes 
and Digestive and Kidney Diseases grow to become the fifth largest NIH 
institute, with a budget expected to top $1 billion when NIDDK 
celebrates its 50th anniversary next year.
  The institute's research efforts have brought breakthrough 
discoveries in the prevention and treatment of diabetes, digestive 
ailments, nutritional disorders, diseases of the kidney, urological 
tract and blood.
  In his final testimony before our subcommittee this year, Dr. Gorden 
expressed great optimism about the prospects for the NIDDK as it 
prepares for

[[Page 6301]]

the 21st Century. He said we are on the brink of enormous clinical 
progress and pointed to extraordinary research momentum propelling us 
toward major medical advances. His leadership has been a key factor in 
making these advances possible.
  Though he will soon leave as head of the institute, Dr. Gorden has 
charted an ambitious and steady course for the NIDDK as it begins both 
a new century and its second 50 years of service to the Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate for us to recognize outstanding public 
servants for a job well done. Our thanks today go to Dr. Phillip Gorden 
for his lifetime commitment to improving the quality of life for his 
fellow citizens. Millions of Americans are living healthier lives as a 
result of the research Dr. Gorden and his colleagues have done and 
continue to do at NIH.

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