[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 746 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 746

     To establish a competitive grant program to build capacity in 
veterinary medical education and expand the workforce of veterinarians 
       engaged in public health practice and biomedical research.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 2007

  Mr. Allard (for himself, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Baucus, Mr. 
 Durbin, and Mr. Harkin) introduced the following bill; which was read 
 twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
                                Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To establish a competitive grant program to build capacity in 
veterinary medical education and expand the workforce of veterinarians 
       engaged in public health practice and biomedical research.

    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 ``Veterinary Public Health Workforce 
Expansion Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. COMPETITIVE GRANTS PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall award 
competitive grants to eligible entities for the purpose of improving 
public health preparedness through increasing the number of 
veterinarians in the workforce.
    (b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
subsection (a), an entity shall--
            (1) be--
                    (A) a public or other nonprofit school of 
                veterinary medicine accredited by a recognized body or 
                bodies approved for such purpose by the Department of 
                Education;
                    (B) a public or nonprofit, department of 
                comparative medicine, department of veterinary science, 
                school of public health, or school of medicine that is 
                accredited by a recognized body or bodies approved for 
                such purpose by the Department of Education and that 
                offers graduate training for veterinarians in a public 
                health practice area as determined by the Secretary; or
                    (C) a public or nonprofit entity that conducts 
                recognized residency training programs for 
                veterinarians that are approved by a veterinary 
                specialty organization that is recognized by the 
                American Veterinary Medical Association and that offers 
                postgraduate training for veterinarians in a public 
                health practice area as determined by the Secretary; 
                and
            (2) prepare and submit to the Secretary an application, at 
        such time, in such manner, and containing such information as 
        the Secretary may require.
    (c) Consideration of Applications.--The Secretary shall establish 
procedures to ensure that applications under subsection (b)(2) are 
rigorously reviewed and that grants are competitively awarded based 
on--
            (1) the ability of the applicant to increase the number of 
        veterinarians who are trained in specified public health 
        practice areas as determined by the Secretary;
            (2) the ability of the applicant to increase capacity in 
        research on high priority disease agents; or
            (3) any other consideration the Secretary determines 
        necessary.
    (d) Preference.--In awarding grants under subsection (a)(1), the 
Secretary shall give preference to applicants that demonstrate a 
comprehensive approach by involving more than one school of veterinary 
medicine, department of comparative medicine, department of veterinary 
science, school of public health, school of medicine, or residency 
training program that offers postgraduate training for veterinarians in 
a public health practice area as determined by the Secretary.
    (e) Use of Funds.--Amounts received under a grant under this 
subsection shall be used by a grantee to increase the number of 
veterinarians in the workforce through--
            (1) paying the costs associated with construction, the 
        acquisition of equipment, and other capital costs relating to 
        the expansion of existing schools of veterinary medicine, 
        departments of comparative medicine, departments of veterinary 
        science, or entities offering residency training programs; or
            (2) paying the capital costs associated with the expansion 
        of academic programs that offer postgraduate training for 
        veterinarians or concurrent training for veterinary students in 
        specific areas of specialization.
    (f) Definition.--In this section, the term ``public health 
practice'' includes bioterrorism and emergency preparedness, 
environmental health, food safety and food security, regulatory 
medicine, diagnostic laboratory medicine, and biomedical research.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $300,000,000 for fiscal year 
2007, and $1,264,000,000 for the 9-fiscal-year period beginning with 
fiscal year 2008. Amounts appropriated under this subsection shall 
remain available until expended.
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