Remembering Dr. Michael DeBakey
WASHINGTON, DC,
Jul 14, 2008 -
Click here to view the video of Rep. Burgess’ floor speech
Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to honor Dr. Michael DeBakey, the father of modern cardiovascular surgery, and for me a personal hero. Dr. DeBakey passed away Friday night in Houston at the age of 99. Michael DeBakey, a giant among men and a giant in medicine. His death is a tremendous loss to the fields of medicine, science, and technology. It is a great loss for humanity at-large.
Mr. Speaker, there are certain privileges that come with being a servant here in the people's House. For me, one of those privileges was meeting Dr. DeBakey. After working months to secure the Congressional Gold Medal for the great doctor, I had the chance to sit down with him here in Washington in April right after it was awarded to him. For 30 minutes, we were able to discuss his personal and professional experiences over his 60 years in medicine. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for which I am eternally grateful.
He talked about how Congress had been responsible for the advancement of medical science in this country, how Congress had led the way with funding for the National Institutes of Health. He talked about his experiences going over and treating Boris Yeltsin in the Soviet Union when he was suffering from heart disease, and Dr. DeBakey found just on the basis purely on physical examine that the individual was quite anemic as well, which rendered his outlook for cardiovascular surgery much worse. They treated the anemia, and the rest, as they say, is history.
As a fellow physician, Dr. DeBakey's work on medical advancements is legendary. His dedication to healing those around him came not only from his talents as a physician, but his ongoing commitment to the larger medical community.
His motto, as we heard others mention today, was always ``strive for nothing less than excellence.''
I would be remiss if I did not mention the education and the entrepreneurial spirit that made him worthy of one of the Nation's highest honors, the Congressional Gold Medal. Let me share some of his accomplishments.
While in medical school, Dr. DeBakey developed the roller pump which later became the major component in the heart-lung machine that is used in open heart surgery routinely today. It was truly a visionary change.
His service and subsequent work in the Surgeon General's office during World War II led to the development of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, the so-called MASH unit. Without Dr. DeBakey, we wouldn't have those forward surgical teams that go into combat areas and provide vital care to our soldiers in that golden hour after injury.
This medical trailblazer also helped establish the specialized medical and surgical center system for treating military personnel returning home from war which we know as the Veterans Administration Medical Center.
But it was at the Methodist Hospital in Houston where Dr. DeBakey performed many of his groundbreaking surgeries, including the first removal of a carotid artery blockage. He also performed the first coronary artery bypass graft, and some of the first heart transplants in this country as well.
He served as adviser to every President of the United States for the last 50 years. Think of that, every President for the last 50 years depended on Dr. Michael DeBakey for medical advice. Additionally, he has given advice to heads of state throughout the world.
During his professional surgical career, he performed more than 60,000 cardiovascular procedures, and trained thousands of surgeons who practice around the world today. Today, his name is affixed to any number of organizations, centers of learning, and projects devoted to medical education and health education for the general public. This includes the National Library of Medicine, which is now the world's largest and most prestigious repository of medical archives. The collections there house resources that actually I look at several times a week as I prepare for committee hearings.
Dr. DeBakey's contributions to medicine, his breakthrough surgeries, and his innovative devices have completely transformed our view of the human body and our view of longevity on this planet. The United States, and indeed the world, were fortunate to have this medical pioneer for as long as we did.
Mr. Speaker, it is with great sorrow that I come to the floor tonight, but it is also with great honor that I once again share Dr. DeBakey with this august body. Time Magazine honored him as the Man of the Year several years ago. Indeed he was, a man for the ages and the Man of the Year.
