    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [April 23, 2008]
    [Pages 562-564]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to Michael E.
    DeBakey
    April 23, 2008

        Madam Speaker, Mr. Leader, Members of Congress, fellow Texans, distinguished
    guests, Dr. and Mrs. DeBakey: I'm honored
    to join you on this day of celebration. Throughout our Nation's history,
    the Congressional Gold Medal has been awarded sparingly, in recognition
    of the tremendous accomplishments that it takes to earn this high honor.
    The recipients of this medal who have come from the world of science are
    few, but they are iconic. They include Thomas Edison, Walter Reed, and
    Jonas Salk. Today we gather to recognize that Michael DeBakey's name
    belongs among them.
        I appreciate the members of the Texas delegation, Senator
    Hutchison,
    Representative Green, and others, who sponsored
    this legislation.

    [[Page 563]]

        As the chancellor emeritus of the Baylor College of Medicine and the
    director of the DeBakey Heart Center, Dr. DeBakey has given the citizens
    of the great State of Texas one more reason to be proud. It's a good
    thing too, because we're usually such a quiet bunch--[laughter]--
    unassuming people.
        In the year that Michael DeBakey was born, Theodore Roosevelt sat in
    the White House, Henry Ford produced the first Model T automobile, and
    the average American's life expectancy was a little more than 51 years.
    That last point is worth noting, because the number today is nearly 78
    years. Our lifetimes have been extended by more than 50 percent within
    the course of a century, and the man we're honoring today is part of the
    reason why.
        It was Hippocrates, the author of the doctor's sacred oath, who
    said, ``Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there also is a love of
    humanity.'' Truer words could not be spoken of Michael DeBakey. Growing
    up in the small town of Lake Charles, Louisiana, he learned the power of
    compassion at the early age. Every Sunday, as the Speaker noted, Michael's parents and
    siblings would load
    the family car with clothes and food for children who lived in an
    orphanage on the outskirts of town. One weekend, the donations included
    one of his favorite ball caps. When Michael complained, his mother
    simply told him, ``You have a lot of caps. Those children have none.''
    It was a lesson that he never forgot, and Michael DeBakey has been
    giving to the world ever since.
        The other gift that Dr. DeBakey's parents gave him was a love of
    learning. In fact, young Michael's mother and father required their
    children to check a book out of the library every week. One week,
    Michael returned home frustrated, and he told his father that he had
    found a fascinating book, but that the librarians refused to lend it to
    him. The book was actually a part of a series called the Encyclopedia
    Britannica. [Laughter] And when his father bought the set for him,
    Michael read every word of every article in every volume.
        The charitable spirit and disciplined mind that Michael developed in
    his youth have lasted throughout his life. It was his selflessness that
    caused him to volunteer for World War II, even though he was a
    successful surgeon and professional. It was his intellect that caused
    him to help develop the idea of the MASH unit during his service. It was
    his power of his mind that led him to become one of the pioneers of the
    heart transplant, bypass surgery, and the artificial heart. And it was
    his sense of compassion that led him to help create a magnet school in
    Houston for young people pursuing careers in science.
        It's been nearly 40 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded
    Dr. DeBakey the Presidential Medal of Freedom. At that point four
    decades ago, he'd already proven himself to be one of the great
    scientific minds of his generation. In the years since, that status is
    being reaffirmed by many honors he has received, including the National
    Medal of Science, induction into the Health Care Hall of Fame, a
    lifetime achievement award from the United Nations, and a Living Legend
    citation from the Library of Congress.
        But I was most interested in another distinction. It is this: that
    Dr. DeBakey was the first foreign physician made an honorary member of
    the Russian Academy of Sciences. That took quite an act to get into the
    Russian Academy of Sciences; all it took was him saving the life of a
    President. [Laughter] In 1996, only 5 years after the cold war ended,
    Dr. DeBakey traveled to Moscow and arranged Boris Yeltsin's quintuple
    bypass. President Yeltsin spoke for many of Dr. DeBakey's patients when
    he called him ``a man with a gift of performing miracles.''
        Dr. DeBakey has an impressive resume, but his truest legacy is not
    inscribed on a medal or etched into stone, it is written on the human
    heart. His legacy is the unlost hours with family and friends who

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    are still with us because of his healing touch. His legacy is
    grandparents who lived to see their grandchildren. His legacy is holding
    the fragile and sacred gift of human life in his hands and returning it
    unbroken.
        For nearly 100 years, our country has been blessed with the endless
    talents and dedication of Dr. Michael DeBakey. And he has dedicated his
    career to a truly noble ambition: bettering the life of his fellow men.
        So, Dr. DeBakey, on behalf of all those you've healed and those
    you've inspired, we thank you. May God bless you.
        And now I ask the Speaker and Senator
    Reid to join me for the gold medal presentation.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:33 a.m. in the Rotunda at the U.S.
    Capitol. In his remarks, he referred to Katrin DeBakey, wife of Michael
    E. DeBakey.