[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.

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    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.