[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 24093-24094]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               IN RECOGNITION OF RENE F. RODRIGUEZ, M.D.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 17, 2004

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity 
to extend my warmest congratulations to a very dedicated physician, Dr. 
Rene F. Rodriguez, who has been devoted not only to his patients and 
the underserved, but also to the improvement of America's healthcare 
system by breaking barriers, improving access to medical services, 
treating all patients equally, and integrating Hispanic doctors and 
other Hispanic healthcare professionals to these efforts.
  Dr. Rodriguez has been recognized as an excellent advocate for the 
underserved in America and has been the recipient of a very 
distinguished award, ``The 2004 Freddie-Public Service Award''.
  He has been an enthusiastic and compassionate physician who has done 
admirable work throughout years of advocacy. His distinguished medical 
career spans years of commitment to public service and he has been a 
leader with numerous achievements.
  He studied medicine at the University of Salamanca in Spain, and is 
licensed to practice medicine in several states in America. He was a 
Colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and retired after more than 35 
years of service in the Military. While on active duty, he directed the 
Orthopedic Clinic at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He was appointed 
to the Council on Graduate Medical Education of the Department of 
Health and Human Services, the President's Commission of the National 
Medal of Science, the Surgeon General's National Workshop on Hispanic-
Latino Health Executive Planning Committee, the NIH Office of Minority 
Program Fact-Finding Team, the Hispanic Advisor Task Force to the U.S. 
Senate, and the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Center 
for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
  He is a member of the American College of Surgeons and the American 
Medical Association, and is the Founder and President of the

[[Page 24094]]

Interamerican College of Physicians and Surgeons, which is the largest 
and oldest organization of Hispanic doctors. He founded the National 
Hispanic Youth Initiative to encourage High School students to study 
careers in sciences and research, and has been the founder of medical 
journals for Spanish speaking doctors and patients, such as ``Medico 
Interamericano'', ``Medico de Familoa'', and the book ``Usted y su 
Medico''. He is currently the Chief of the Orthopedic Section at the 
Veterans Medical Center in Miami, Florida. Please join me in 
recognizing Dr. Rodriguez for his outstanding accomplishments.

                          ____________________