Paul Grant Rogers (June 4, 1921 – October 13, 2008) was an American lawyer and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

. A Democrat, Rogers served in the U.S. House of Representatives as the member from

Florida's 11th congressional district Florida's 11th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It was reassigned in 2012, effective January 3, 2013, from the Tampa area north to four other counties: Sumter County, Citrus County, Hernando an ...

. He was chairman of Research America from 1996 to 2005.Hevesi, Dennis (October 15, 2008)
"Paul G. Rogers, ‘Mr. Health’ in Congress, Is Dead at 87".
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Biography

Early life and education

Rogers was born in

Ocilla, Georgia The city of Ocilla is the county seat of Irwin County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 3,498 at the 2020 census. Ocilla is part of the Fitzgerald Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Ocilla was founded in 1880, incorporated as ...

, on June 4, 1921. He attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he was President of

Florida Blue Key Florida Blue Key is a student leadership honor society at the University of Florida which was founded in 1923. History Founding and early years "Florida Blue Key was founded on November 1, 1923, several days prior to the University's Homecom ...

and graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1942. After graduating he joined the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

from 1942 to 1946 during which he rose to the rank of

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

and received a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. W ...

. Rogers attended

The George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cour ...

but did not graduate there, receiving his

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

instead at the University of Florida College of Law in 1948. Rogers worked as a lawyer in private practice and was a member of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

for Merck & Co. and Mutual Life Insurance Co. of New York.

Political career

He was elected as a Democrat to the

84th Congress The 84th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1955 ...

in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father, Dwight L. Rogers. Rogers served for and was reelected to the eleven succeeding congresses, for 24 years from January 11, 1955, to January 3, 1979. He chose not to run for reelection to the

96th Congress The 96th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 197 ...

. While a member of the House, Rogers served as chair of the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment from 1971 to 1979. Nicknamed "Mr. Health," he was a key representative behind the adoption of the

National Cancer Act of 1971 The "war on cancer" is the effort to find a cure for cancer by increased research to improve the understanding of cancer biology and the development of more effective cancer treatments, such as targeted drug therapies. The aim of such efforts is ...

, the Medical Device Amendments of 1976, the Health Maintenance Organization Act, the Emergency Medical Service Act, the Medicare-Medicaid Anti-Fraud and Abuse Amendments of 1977 and the

Clean Air Act of 1970 The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since, it is one of the United States' first and most inf ...

. He was a signatory to the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manif ...

that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in '' Brown v. Board of Education''. Rogers voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, 1964, and

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

, but voted in favor of the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights m ...

Later career

Rogers was a resident of

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

and a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of

Hogan & Hartson Hogan Lovells is an American-British law firm co-headquartered in London and Washington, DC. The firm was formed in 2010 by the merger of the American law firm Hogan & Hartson and the British law firm Lovells. It employs about 2,400 lawyers acr ...

. He was also active in the National Osteoporosis Foundation, Friends of the National Library of Medicine, and the National Leadership Coalition on Health Care (now the National Coalition on Health Care).

Mark Foley Mark Adam Foley (born September 8, 1954) is an American former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republi ...

has said that a meeting with Rogers when Foley was three years old inspired him to go into politics. After suffering from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

and undergoing an operation, Rogers died of the disease in Washington D.C. on October 13, 2008, at a rehabilitation hospital.

Awards and honors

Public Welfare Medal The Public Welfare Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "in recognition of distinguished contributions in the application of science to the public welfare." It is the most prestigious honor conferred by the academy. First award ...

from the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

(1982). * National Health Lawyers Association Health Policy Award (1991) * Albert Lasker Public Service Award (1993) * American Pharmaceutical Association Hugo H, Schaefer Award (1994) * AlliedSignal Achievement Award in Aging (1994) * Distinguished Leadership Award from the University of Florida Health Sciences Center (1994) * National Osteoporosis Foundation Leadership Award (1995) * Maxwell Finland Award for Scientific Achievement (1996) * National Cancer Institute "Year 2000" Award * Edwin C. Whitehead Award for Medical Research Advocacy from Research!America. (2005) In June 2001, by an act of Congress, the main plaza at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the lat ...

was named in his honor. Recently, Research!America established the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research, which honors Rogers' dedication to the health care policy and advocacy.

References

External links

Rogers's ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' entryFriends of the National Library of Medicine where Paul G. Rogers is Chairman of the Board of Directors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Paul 1921 births 2008 deaths People from Ocilla, Georgia Methodists from Florida Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Deaths from lung cancer People from West Palm Beach, Florida University of Florida alumni United States Army officers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida George Washington University Law School alumni 20th-century American politicians Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni United States Army personnel of World War II