[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 127 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1709]]


                  IN RECOGNITION OF DR. PHILIP R. LEE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 2, 2007

  Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize Dr. Philip R. 
Lee, who has been a dynamic leader in health policy for more than 40 
years. He has served during challenging times and has shown leadership 
as a physician, advocate, teacher, researcher, and policymaker.
  This September, the health policy program that Dr. Lee founded 35 
years ago at the University of California, San Francisco, will be 
renamed the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies in 
recognition of his significant contributions at the international, 
national, State, and local levels.
  Dr. Lee contributed to global health as Director of Health Services 
at the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, by advising 
health policymakers in many countries. At USAID he drafted the first 
U.S. policies for international family planning services and helped to 
strengthen the Agency's health and nutrition initiative.
  Dr. Lee contributed to the health of our Nation serving as Assistant 
Secretary for Health and Human Services during the Johnson and Clinton 
administrations. He was involved in the passage of many landmark bills 
in 1965, including Medicare and Medicaid; Health Professions Education 
Assistance Amendments; Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke Amendments; 
the War on Poverty; Job Corps; Food Stamps; and Head Start. Especially 
significant was Dr. Lee's work to establish the National Center for 
Health Services Research, now the Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality, to fund graduate medical education under Medicare, and his 
efforts to desegregate 1,000 of the Nation's 7,000 hospitals in 
compliance with the Civil Rights Act.
  Dr. Lee has contributed to the health of Californians, especially 
during his tenure as the third chancellor of UCSF, where he was known 
for his commitment to academic excellence and affirmative action. Dr. 
Lee continues to help policymakers and others understand that 
California is a rapidly growing and increasingly diverse State, and 
that both its educational and health care institutions must meet the 
needs of a diverse population.
  Dr. Lee has also worked to improve the health of people in my 
district of San Francisco, particularly during his term, 1985-1989, as 
president of the newly established Health Commission of the City and 
County of San Francisco.
  Dr. Lee is a rare role model in his exceptional accomplishments, as 
well as in his enthusiasm, tenacity, integrity, imagination, and 
compassion. His unwavering commitment to the needs of the 
disadvantaged, including the elderly, the disabled, and those without 
access to care has inspired a new generation of leaders in key 
positions as researchers and teachers in academia, and as leaders of 
professional associations, public health agencies, foundations, and in 
the private sector. We in California owe him a debt of gratitude for 
his service to the State and to the Nation.

                          ____________________