WASHINGTON – Congress is poised to bestow its highest honor on legendary Texas heart surgeon Michael DeBakey, with sponsors announcing Friday – his 99th birthday – that they had collected enough signatures to ensure he will soon get a Congressional Gold Medal for his pioneering research.

In 1964, Dr. DeBakey performed the first successful coronary bypass surgery, a breakthrough credited with prolonging millions of lives.

Previous recipients of the medal include George Washington, the Wright brothers, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela. Dr. DeBakey, a Houston resident, would join such medical luminaries as Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine.

It takes signatures from two-thirds of House and Senate members before either chamber can vote on a medal. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, secured Senate approval in March after four years of effort.

Three Texans led the push in the House. Democrat Al Green of Houston and Republicans Michael Burgess of Flower Mound and John Culberson of Houston issued a joint statement Friday after reaching 306 signatures; they needed 290 to ensure a vote.

Mr. Green called Dr. DeBakey, chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine, a "living legend."

Said Dr. Burgess, an obstetrician who secured a gold medal for Roanoke golf legend Byron Nelson nearly a year ago: "As a fellow physician, I have always been inspired by Dr. DeBakey's amazing accomplishments."