Congratulating Dr. Jose Contreras Rodriguez on His Retirement

Floor Speech

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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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