[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1858 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1858

 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a loan repayment 
 program to encourage the provision of veterinary services in shortage 
                       and emergency situations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            November 13 (legislative day, November 12), 2003

  Mr. Cochran (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Allard, Mr. 
 Ensign, and Mr. Crapo) introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
                                Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a loan repayment 
 program to encourage the provision of veterinary services in shortage 
                       and emergency situations.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Veterinary Medical Service 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR VETERINARY 
              MEDICINE.

    The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy 
Act of 1977 is amended by inserting after section 1415 (7 U.S.C. 3151) 
the following:

``SEC. 1415A. VETERINARY MEDICINE LOAN REPAYMENT.

    ``(a) Definitions.
            ``In this section:
                    ``(A) Qualifying educational loan.--The term 
                `qualifying educational loan' means a government or 
                commercial loan incurred by an individual to pay for 
                attendance at an accredited college of veterinary 
                medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor of Veterinary 
                Medicine or the equivalent, including--
                            ``(i) tuition expenses;
                            ``(ii) other reasonable educational 
                        expenses, including fees, books, and laboratory 
                        expenses; and
                            ``(iii) reasonable living expenses, as 
                        determined by the Secretary.
                    ``(B) Veterinarian shortage situation.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `veterinarian 
                        shortage situation' shall have the meaning that 
                        the Secretary shall prescribe.
                            ``(ii) Considerations.--In determining what 
                        constitutes a veterinarian shortage situation, 
                        the Secretary may consider--
                                    ``(I) urban or rural areas that the 
                                Secretary determines have a shortage of 
                                veterinarians;----------
                                    ``(II) areas of veterinary practice 
                                that the Secretary determines have a 
                                shortage of veterinarians, such as 
                                public health, epidemiology, and food 
                                safety;
                                    ``(III) areas of veterinary need in 
                                the Federal Government; and
                                    ``(IV) other factors that the 
                                Secretary considers to be relevant.
    ``(b) Program.--
            ``(1) Service in veterinarian shortage situations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to the availability of 
                funds under subsection (d), the Secretary shall carry 
                out a program to enter into agreements with 
                veterinarians under which a veterinarian agrees to 
                provide, for a period of time determined by the 
                Secretary and specified in the agreement, veterinary 
                services in veterinarian shortage situations.
                    ``(B) Annual loan repayment.--For each year of 
                service under an agreement under this paragraph, the 
                Secretary shall pay an amount, determined by the 
                Secretary and specified in the agreement, of the 
                principal, interest, and related expenses of the 
                qualifying educational loans of the veterinarian.
            ``(2) Service to federal government in emergency 
        situations.--The Secretary may enter into a 1-year agreement 
        with a veterinarian who has entered into an agreement under 
        paragraph (1) for the veterinarian to provide service to the 
        Federal Government in an emergency situation, as determined by 
        the Secretary, under terms and conditions specified in the 
        agreement.
                    ``(C) Additional annual loan repayment.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Under an agreement under 
                        this paragraph, the Secretary shall pay an 
                        amount, as determined by the Secretary and 
                        specified in the agreement, of the principal, 
                        interest, and related expenses of the 
                        qualifying educational loans of the 
                        veterinarian.
                            ``(ii) Amount in addition.--An amount paid 
                        under clause (i) shall be in addition to the 
                        amount paid under the agreement under paragraph 
                        (1).
                    ``(D) Requirements.--An agreement under this 
                paragraph shall provide that--
                            ``(i) a veterinarian shall not be required 
                        to serve more than 60 working days per year of 
                        the agreement; and
                            ``(ii) a veterinarian who provides service 
                        in accordance with the agreement--
                                    ``(I) shall receive a salary 
                                commensurate with the duties performed; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) shall be reimbursed for 
                                travel and per diem expenses as 
                                appropriate for the duration of the 
                                service.
    ``(c) Administration.--
            ``(1) Authority.--The Secretary may carry out the program 
        under subsection (b) directly or through an agreement with 
        another Federal agency or service provider.
            ``(2) Breach remedies.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An agreement under paragraph (1) 
                or (2) of subsection (b) shall provide remedies for a 
                breach of the agreement by the veterinarian, including 
                repayment or partial repayment of financial assistance 
                received, with interest.
                    ``(B) Amounts recovered.--Funds recovered under 
                this subsection--
                            ``(i) shall be credited to the account 
                        available to carry out this section; and
                            ``(ii) shall be available to carry out this 
                        section without further appropriation until 
                        expended.
                    ``(C) Waiver.--If the Secretary determines that a 
                veterinarian has breached an agreement due to extreme 
                hardship or extreme need, the Secretary may grant a 
                waiver of the repayment obligation for breach of 
                contract.
            ``(4) Repayment schedule.--The Secretary may enter into an 
        agreement with the holder of a qualifying educational loan for 
        which payments are made under this section to establish a 
        schedule for the making of payments.
            ``(5) Tax liability.--In addition to educational loan 
        repayments, the Secretary shall make such additional payments 
        to a participating veterinarian as the Secretary determines to 
        be appropriate to reimburse the veterinarian for tax liability 
        resulting from participation in the program under this section.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section, to 
remain available until expended.''.
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