On the recordApril 21, 2010
My colleagues, earlier today in the House, a resolution was brought onto the floor honoring the 10 years that Father Coughlin has served us as the Chaplain of the House of Representatives. We recognize that 10 years ago under the leadership of then-Speaker Dennis Hastert, he reached back to Illinois and named a parish priest, Father Coughlin, as the Chaplain of the House of Representatives. For those of us who are Roman Catholic, it was an honor because it was the first time a Catholic was the Chaplain of the House. Five years after that, Father Coughlin took us to Rome for the funeral for Pope John Paul II, and in doing so, he was visiting Vatican City where he had participated in his priesthood. Before he came here, he was a parish priest. Before he came here, he had lived in a Trappist monastery in Kentucky and deepened his faith there. Before he came here, he had served the poor in Calcutta, India. My own patron saint of the City of San Francisco, as I said earlier, he used to say, Preach the gospel; sometimes use words. That is what Father Coughlin did.
