I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2868

To award a congressional gold medal to Michael Ellis DeBakey, M.D. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2003

Mr. CULBERSON (for himself, Mr. BELL, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. 

RODRIGUEZ, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. EDWARDS, 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. TURNER

of Texas, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. REYES, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 

Texas, Mr. FROST, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. HALL, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. 

THORNBERRY, Mr. CARTER, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SMITH of 

Texas, Mr. BRADY of Texas, and Mr. BONILLA) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL

To award a congressional gold medal to Michael Ellis 

DeBakey, M.D.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) Michael Ellis DeBakey, M.D. was born on 

6 September 7, 1908 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to 

7 Shaker and Raheeja DeBakey. 
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1 (2) Dr. DeBakey, at the age of 23 and still a 

2 medical student, reported a major invention, a roller 

3 pump for blood transfusions, which later became a 

4 major component of the heart-lung machine used in 

5 the first successful open-heart operation. 

6 (3) Even though Dr. DeBakey had already 

7 achieved a national reputation as an authority on 

8 vascular disease and had a promising career as a 

9 surgeon and teacher, he volunteered for military 

10 service during World War II, joining the Surgeon 

11 General’s staff and rising to the rank of Colonel and 

12 Chief of the Surgical Consultants Division. 

13 (4) As a result of this first-hand knowledge of 

14 military service, Dr. DeBakey made numerous rec15 ommendations for the proper staged management of 

16 war wounds, which led to the development of mobile 

17 army surgical hospitals or MASH units and earned 

18 Dr. DeBakey the Legion of Merit in 1945. 

19 (5) After the war, Dr. DeBakey proposed the 

20 systematic medical follow-up of veterans and rec21 ommended the creation of specialized medical cen22 ters in different areas of the United States to treat 

23 wounded military personnel returning from war and 

24 from this recommendation evolved the Veterans Af25 fairs Medical Center System and the establishment 
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1 of the Commission on Veterans Medical Problems of 

2 the National Research Council. 

3 (6) In 1948, Dr. DeBakey joined the Baylor 

4 University College of Medicine, where he developed 

5 the first surgical residency program in the City of 

6 Houston, and today, guided by Dr. DeBakey’s vi7 sion, the College is one of the most respected health 

8 science centers in the Nation. 

9 (7) In 1953, Dr. DeBakey performed the first 

10 successful procedures to treat patients who suffered 

11 aneurysms leading to severe strokes, and he later de12 veloped a series of innovative surgical techniques for 

13 the treatment of aneurysms enabling thousands of 

14 lives to be saved in the years ahead. 

15 (8) In 1964, Dr. DeBakey triggered the most 

16 explosive era in modern cardiac surgery, when he 

17 performed the first successful coronary bypass, once 

18 again paving the way for surgeons world-wide to 

19 offer hope to thousands of patients who might other20 wise succumb to heart disease. 

21 (9) Two years later, Dr. DeBakey made med22 ical history again, when he was the first to success23 fully use a partial artificial heart to solve the prob24 lems of a patient who could not be weaned from a 

25 heart-lung machine following open-heart surgery. 
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1 (10) In 1968, Dr. DeBakey supervised the first 

2 successful multi-organ transplant, in which a heart, 

3 both kidneys, and lung were transplanted from a 

4 single donor into 4 separate recipients. 

5 (11) In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson 

6 appointed Dr. DeBakey to the position of Chairman 

7 of the President’s Commission on Heart Disease, 

8 Cancer and Stroke, leading to the creation of Re9 gional Medical Programs established ‘‘to encourage 

10 and assist in the establishment of regional coopera11 tive arrangements among medical schools, research 

12 institutions, and hospitals, for research and train13 ing.’’. 

14 (12) In the mid-1960’s, Dr. DeBakey pioneered 

15 the field of telemedicine with the first demonstration 

16 of open-heart surgery to be transmitted overseas by 

17 satellite. 

18 (13) In 1969, Dr. DeBakey was elected the 

19 first President of Baylor College of Medicine. 

20 (14) In 1969, President Lyndon B. Johnson be21 stowed on Dr. DeBakey the Presidential Medal of 

22 Freedom with Distinction, and in 1985, President 

23 Ronald Reagan conferred on him the National Medal 

24 of Science. 
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1 (15) Working with NASA engineers, he refined 

2 existing technology to create the DeBakey Ventric3 ular Assist Device, one-tenth the size of current 

4 versions, which may eliminate the need for heart 

5 transplantation in some patients. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

7 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

8 the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem9 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

10 for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold 

11 medal of appropriate design, to Michael Ellis DeBakey, 

12 M.D., in recognition of his many outstanding contribu13 tions to the Nation. 

14 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

15 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

16 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec17 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

18 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec19 retary. 

20 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

21 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

22 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

23 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

24 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
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1 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

2 and the cost of the gold medal. 

3 SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

4 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu5 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

6 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

7 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

8 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

9 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

10 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

11 SALE. 

12 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

13 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

14 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec15 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

16 to this Act. 

17 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

18 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

19 3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

20 Enterprise Fund.

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