[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 7 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S385-S386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

       By Mr. FEINGOLD:
  S. 114. A bill to terminate the Uniformed Services University of the 
Health Sciences; to the Committee on Armed Services.


  terminating the uniformed services university of the health sciences

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I am today re-introducing legislation 
terminating the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences 
(USUHS), a medical school run by the Department of Defense. The measure 
is one I proposed when I ran for the U.S. Senate, and was part of a 
larger, 82 point plan to reduce the Federal budget deficit. The most 
recent estimates of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) project that 
terminating the school would save $273 million over the next five 
years, and when completely phased-out, would generate $450 million in 
savings over five years.
  USUHS was created in 1972 to meet an expected shortage of military 
medical personnel. Today, however, USUHS accounts for only a small 
fraction of the military's new physicians, less than 12 percent in 1994 
according to CBO. This contrasts dramatically with the military's 
scholarship program which provided over 80 percent of the military's 
new physicians in that year.
  Mr. President, what is even more troubling is that USUHS is also the 
single most costly source of new physicians for the military. CBO 
reports that based on figures from 1995, each USUHS trained physician 
costs the military $615,000. By comparison, the scholarship program 
cost about $125,000 per doctor, with other sources providing new 
physicians at a cost of $60,000. As CBO has noted, even adjusting for 
the lengthier service commitment required of USUHS trained physicians, 
the cost of training them is still higher than that of training 
physicians from other sources, an assessment shared by the Pentagon 
itself. Indeed, CBO's estimate of the savings generated by this measure 
also includes the cost of obtaining physicians from other sources.
  The House of Representatives has voted to terminate this program on 
several occasions, and the Vice President's National Performance Review 
joined others, ranging from the Grace Commission to the CBO, in raising 
the question of whether this medical school, which graduated its first 
class in 1980, should be closed because it is so much more costly than 
alternative sources of physicians for the military.
  Mr. President, the real issue we must address is whether USUHS is 
essential to the needs of today's military structure, or if we can do 
without this costly program. The proponents of USUHS frequently cite 
the higher retention rates of USUHS graduates over physicians obtained 
from other sources as a justification for continuation of this program, 
but while a greater percentage of USUHS trained physicians may remain 
in the military longer than those from other sources, the Pentagon 
indicates that the alternative sources already provide an appropriate 
mix of retention rates. Testimony by the Department of Defense before 
the Subcommittee on Force Requirements and Personnel noted that the 
military's scholarship program meets the retention needs of the 
services.
  And while USUHS only provides a small fraction of the military's new 
physicians, it is important to note that relying primarily on these 
other sources has not compromised the ability of military physicians to 
meet the needs of the Pentagon. According to the Office of Management 
and Budget, of the approximately 2,000 physicians serving in Desert 
Storm, only 103, about 5%, were USUHS trained.
  Mr. President, let me conclude by recognizing that USUHS has some 
dedicated supporters in the U.S. Senate, and I realize that there are 
legitimate arguments that those supporters have made in defense of this 
institution. The problem, however, is that the federal government 
cannot afford to continue every program that provides some useful 
function.
  This is especially true in the area of defense spending. Many in this 
body argue that the Defense budget is too tight, that a significant 
increase in spending is needed to address concerns about shortfalls in 
recruitment and retention, maintenance backlogs, and other indicators 
of a lower level of readiness.
  Mr. President, the debate over our level of readiness is certainly 
important, and it may well be that more Defense funding should be 
channeled to

[[Page S386]]

these specific areas of concern. But before advocates of an increased 
Defense budget ask taxpayers to foot the bill for hundreds of billions 
more in spending, they owe it to those taxpayers to trim Defense 
programs that are not justified.
  In the face of our staggering national debt, we must prioritize and 
eliminate programs that can no longer be sustained with limited federal 
dollars, or where a more cost-effective means of fulfilling those 
functions can be substituted. The future of USUHS continues to be 
debated precisely because it does not appear to pass the higher 
threshold tests which must be applied to all federal spending programs.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the 
legislation be printed in the Record immediately following my remarks.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 114

       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 ``Uniformed Services 
     University of the Health Sciences Termination and Deficit 
     Reduction Act of 2001''.

     SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF 
                   THE HEALTH SCIENCES.

       (a) Termination.--
       (1) In general.--The Uniformed Services University of the 
     Health Sciences is terminated.
       (2) Conforming amendments.--
       (A) Chapter 104 of title 10, United States Code, is 
     repealed.
       (B) The table of chapters at the beginning of subtitle A of 
     such title, and at the beginning of part III of such 
     subtitle, are each amended by striking out the item relating 
     to chapter 104.
       (b) Effective Dates.--
       (1) Termination.--The termination of the Uniformed Services 
     University of the Health Sciences under subsection (a)(1) 
     shall take effect on the day after the date of the graduation 
     from the university of the last class of students that 
     enrolled in such university on or before the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.
       (2) Amendments.--The amendments made by subsection (a)(2) 
     shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     except that the provisions of chapter 104 of title 10, United 
     States Code, as in effect on the day before such date, shall 
     continue to apply with respect to the Uniformed Services 
     University of the Health Sciences until the termination of 
     the university under this section.
                                 ______