The Office of the Chaplain United States House of Representatives

Rabbi Claudio J. Kogan

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
Edinburg, TX

Sponsor: Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, (D-TX)
Date of Prayer: 03/12/2019

One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:

Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor my good
friend, Rabbi Claudio J. Kogan.

Rabbi Kogan has devoted his life to being a spiritual leader in the
Jewish faith and a leader in our community.

Rabbi Kogan is currently the director of the University of Texas Rio
Grande Valley School of Medicine's new Institute for Bioethics and
Social Justice. Since June 2018, Rabbi Kogan has led the School of
Medicine's efforts on ethical and social issues that affect south Texas and the Nation.

Rabbi Kogan is a physician and an ordained rabbi. He earned his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine
and a master's of bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Rabbi Kogan has also spent time as a member of the Institutional
Review Board at the Yale University School of Medicine.

Previously, he served as rabbi at Temple Emanuel in my district in McAllen, Texas, and continues to serve as a chaplain for various law
enforcement agencies and hospital systems in the area.

Madam Speaker, it is my honor to have Rabbi Kogan and his family join us here today in the people's House.

Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:

God, source of all living things, we ask Your blessings upon these representatives of the people who have devoted their lives to our welfare.

Strengthen them with Your courage; inspire them as they answer the Prophet Isaiah's call to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked, to lift up those in this land and in all lands who cannot stand on their own.

Bless them with the capacity to hear and to listen. May this body, which hosts rigorous and robust debate, embrace diversity without division, unity without uniformity. May this House promote justice, moral clarity, ethical living, righteousness, and acts of kindness.

As an immigrant who came to this country 20 years ago and became an American citizen just 7 years ago, I join this House in a prayer of profound gratitude and deep appreciation for the blessings we, the people of the United States of America, are privileged to enjoy. Amen.

To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory