[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 184 (Wednesday, October 20, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H5705]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CONGRATULATING DR. JOSE CONTRERAS RODRIGUEZ ON HIS RETIREMENT

  (Mr. ESPAILLAT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate my good 
friend and constituent, a veteran, a public health servant, Dr. Jose 
Contreras Rodriguez, on his retirement after dedicating over 65 years 
of his life to protect our Nation and the community's health.
  Dr. Contreras hails from Santiago, the Dominican Republic, and he did 
his residency at the University Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 
Before completing his residency, he was drafted by the United States 
Army to serve during the Vietnam war, where he joined many honorable 
men and women who risked their lives to defend our freedom and our way 
of life.
  After his military service, Dr. Contreras returned to Puerto Rico to 
complete his residency by 1971. He was also a community doctor. He 
helped lead efforts to combat the great inequities in the healthcare 
system and prostate cancer in the male population.
  Dr. Contreras is a true hero in our community. He is a veteran, a 
doctor that practiced. He was chief of the department at New York 
Presbyterian Hospital. For many years he worked for the families in the 
community of Washington Heights, right there on Fort Washington Avenue, 
where he still has his office, his practice.
  Madam Speaker, we congratulate him and we will miss him. We ask that 
this House would always remember Dr. Jose Contreras.

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