Daniel P. Coughlin, STL (born November 8, 1934)[1] served as the 59th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives from March 23, 2000, to April 14, 2011.

[6] The son of Dan and Lucille Coughlin, he was raised on the North side of Chicago[7] and graduated from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, with a degree in Theology.

[12] Then House Speaker Dennis Hastert appointed a bipartisan search committee made up of 18 congressional members to recommend a new chaplain to him, but when that committee reportedly recommended a Roman Catholic priest, Father Timothy O'Brien (selected by secret ballot after consideration of more than 50 applicants and nominees for the position), Hastert chose Presbyterian minister Charles Parker Wright instead.

[12] Press reports of Hastert's "surprise compromise selection of a Chicago Catholic priest" covered the story of the Speaker's decision as a way of defusing the controversy.

[14] Hastert, a native of and representative from Illinois, had his staff reach out to Chicago's Archbishop, Francis Cardinal George, for a recommendation of a priest to fill the role of House Chaplain.

[15] Daniel Coughlin, Cardinal George's recommendation and Hastert's ultimate selection, was described as a 65-year-old "gentle, soft-spoken priest," who said he was "blown away" by the news that he had been "plucked out of obscurity for the job and thrust into the middle of a political maelstrom.

[6] Coughlin has noted that he "sensed how deeply lawmakers value prayer and the presence of the chaplain in the halls of Congress" after the September 11 attacks.

"[17] Coughlin has sometimes referred to the "House family," to which he offers pastoral care regardless of the religions of its members and staffers, or whether individuals identify with a religious faith at all.

[21] Therefore, he met with ministers, rabbis, and other religious leaders to "refer members of Congress to people who speak their spiritual language.

[5] In 2010, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi described him by saying that "He has seen us through the dark and through the bright," and Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) confessed to being "a better person for having known Father Coughlin and having been counseled by him.

[23] In 2002 he received the John F. Kennedy National Award by the Saint Patrick's Committee of Holyoke, MA, presented annually to an American of Irish descent who has distinguished oneself in one's chosen field.