[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 166 (Monday, November 17, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H11164-H11166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL VETERINARY MEDICAL SERVICE ACT
Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1367) to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a
loan repayment program regarding the provision of veterinary services
in shortage situations, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 1367
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 REGARDING
VETERINARY MEDICINE.
The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching
Policy Act of 1977 (7
[[Page H11165]]
U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section
1415 the following new section:
``SEC. 1415A. VETERINARY MEDICINE LOAN REPAYMENT.
``(a) Program.--
``(1) Service in shortage situations.--The Secretary shall
carry out a program of entering into agreements with
veterinarians under which the veterinarians agree to provide,
for a period of time as determined by the Secretary and
specified in the agreement, veterinary services in
veterinarian shortage situations. For each year of such
service 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 and interest
of qualifying educational loans of the veterinarians.
``(2) Service to federal government in emergency
situations.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may enter into agreements
of one year duration with veterinarians who have agreements
pursuant to paragraph (1) for such veterinarians to provide
services to the Federal Government in emergency situations,
as determined by the Secretary, under terms and conditions
specified in the agreement. Pursuant to an agreement under
this paragraph, the Secretary shall pay an amount, in
addition to the amount paid pursuant to the agreement in
paragraph (1), as determined by the Secretary and specified
in the agreement, of the principal and interest of qualifying
educational loans of the veterinarians.
``(B) Requirements.--Agreements entered into under this
paragraph shall include the following:
``(i) A veterinarian shall not be required to serve more
than 60 working days per year of the agreement.
``(ii) A veterinarian who provides service pursuant to the
agreement shall receive a salary commensurate with the duties
and shall be reimbursed for travel and per diem expenses as
appropriate for the duration of the service.
``(b) Determination of Veterinarian Shortage Situations.--
In determining `veterinarian shortage situations' the
Secretary may consider the following:
``(1) Urban or rural areas that the Secretary determines
have a shortage of veterinarians.
``(2) Areas of veterinary practice that the Secretary
determines have a shortage of veterinarians, such as public
health, epidemiology, and food safety.
``(3) Areas of veterinary need in the Federal Government.
``(4) Other factors that the Secretary considers to be
relevant.
``(c) Administration.--
``(1) Authority.--The Secretary may carry out this program
directly or enter into agreements with another Federal agency
or other service provider to assist in the administration of
this program.
``(2) Breach remedies.--
``(A) In general.--Agreements with program participants
shall provide remedies for any breach of an agreement by a
participant, including repayment or partial repayment of
financial assistance received, with interest.
``(B) Amounts recovered.--Funds recovered under this
subsection shall be credited to the account available to
carry out this section and shall remain available until
expended.
``(3) Waiver.--The Secretary may grant a waiver of the
repayment obligation for breach of contract in the event of
extreme hardship or extreme need, as determined by the
Secretary.
``(4) Amount.--The Secretary shall develop regulations to
determine the amount of loan repayment for a year of service
by a veterinarian. In making the determination, the Secretary
shall consider the extent to which such determination--
``(A) affects the ability of the Secretary to maximize the
number of agreements that can be provided under the
Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program from the amounts
appropriated for such agreements; and
``(B) provides an incentive to serve in veterinary service
shortage areas with the greatest need.
``(5) Qualifying educational loans.--Loan repayments
provided under this section may consist of payments on behalf
of participating individuals of the principal and interest on
government and commercial loans received by the individual
for attendance of the individual at an accredited college of
veterinary medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor of
Veterinary Medicine or the equivalent, which loans were made
for--
``(A) tuition expenses;
``(B) all other reasonable educational expenses, including
fees, books, and laboratory expenses, incurred by the
individual; or
``(C) reasonable living expenses as determined by the
Secretary.
``(6) Repayment schedule.--The Secretary may enter into an
agreement with the holder of any loan for which payments are
made under this section to establish a schedule for the
making of such payments.
``(7) Tax liability.--In addition to educational loan
repayments, the Secretary shall make such additional payments
to participants as the Secretary determines to be appropriate
for the purpose of providing reimbursements to participants
for individual tax liability resulting from participation in
this program.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated for carrying out this section
such sums as may be necessary and such sums shall remain
available to the Secretary for the purposes of this section
until expended.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht).
Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1367, the National
Veterinary Medical Service Act. I commend the gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Pickering) for his leadership on this issue.
H.R. 1367, as amended, authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture,
subject to the availability of appropriations, to assist veterinarians
in repaying their educational loans if they agree to provide veterinary
medical services in areas where the Secretary has determined a shortage
of qualified veterinarians exists.
In addition, at the request of the USDA, the bill authorizes the
Secretary to provide additional loan repayment for those veterinarians
in this program who agree to provide services to the Federal Government
in emergency situations. Examples of when this may be important include
California's recent experience with Exotic Newcastle Disease, or in a
case closer to home, an outbreak of low pathogenic Avian influenza in
Virginia here in 2002. In both of these examples, the Federal
Government, acting through USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service, mobilizes its resources in order to detect, control and
eradicate disease. Having a pool of qualified veterinarians able to
assist in a time of emergency simply bolsters our ability to rapidly
contain diseases which can cost our economy millions or even billions
of dollars.
Once again, I commend the gentleman from Mississippi for his hard
work on this important legislation and urge all Members to support it.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise today in support of H.R. 1367, the National Veterinary Medical
Services Act. I want to commend the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr.
Pickering) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner) for their good
work in advancing this legislation.
Assuring an adequate supply of veterinarians in many underserved
rural and urban areas is a critical issue for our Nation's animal
health infrastructure. It is generally private veterinarians who are
the first to identify and respond to animal disease outbreaks. In
addition, there is a great need for private veterinarians to supplement
the Federal response during future animal health emergencies. The
assistance that this legislation will provide to encourage veterinary
practice in underserved areas, along with the creation of something
like a ``National Guard'' for private veterinarians who can be called
up in emergencies, should wisely enhance our preparation to deal with
future animal health emergencies.
The bill under consideration will help to encourage both goals
through a very modest public investment with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. I believe H.R. 1367 is a good, cost-effective policy. I
encourage Members to support passage of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Pickering), the author of the bill.
Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from
Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), and
the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and all of his staff who
have worked in a bipartisan manner with the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Turner) and myself as we have brought this much-needed legislation
through the committee and now to the floor of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
I want to thank those leaders at Mississippi State University who had
the foresight and the ability to bring to our attention here on the
committee and in my office the need that we have, the critical need,
the desperate need that we have to be able to help our students, our
veterinarian students who
[[Page H11166]]
often end up their education with up to, on average, $70,000 in debt.
When that occurs, it is so difficult for them to pay the debt and
practice in rural or underserved markets and make the type of salary
that is needed to be able to retire that debt and pay that debt and
raise a family, start a family and start their dreams. And so we are
doing just as we have done for medical doctors and dentists and nurses
and teachers, and, that is, starting a program that will help them
repay their debt, that will pick up those obligations, if in return,
they will agree to serve in those areas where we have critical
shortages in the rural and the large-animal practices and the
underserved markets. Not only will they fill that critical need that is
so important not only in animal health, but as it relates to the
connections to human health, and in national security, and in homeland
security, where we have new threats of bioterrorism, or we have the
outbreaks of dreaded diseases that we have seen ravage not only Europe,
the economy and the agricultural economy in Europe with mad cow
disease, that in those times of crisis those that sign up and meet
these requirements and then have their debts repaid, will agree to
serve their country, in essence, a National Guard for veterinarians.
{time} 1415
So we see today a way to meet the critical shortage of veterinarians
in rural and underserved markets. We see a way to encourage the service
to our country in homeland security and to meet the threats of either
bioterrorism or major animal disease outbreaks. This is much-needed
legislation that will help us as we go forward.
Again, I want to thank the committee, the staff, the chairman, and
the ranking member for all their help and assistance in getting us to
this point. We hope that this legislation can pass not only today in
the House but move quickly through the Senate as we address this much-
needed legislation and to address the critical shortages that we face
in rural districts like mine and across the country.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I would ask to engage the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) on
behalf of the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Goodlatte) in a brief
colloquy.
During the Committee consideration of H.R. 1367, I raised some
concerns about the potential that implementation of this bill, should
it be passed and signed into law, might include an arbitrary graduation
cutoff date for veterinarians wishing to participate. We certainly do
not want to preclude participation by veterinarians that may have years
of valuable experience. This has been a problem with regard to a
different educational loan repayment program that folks from my
district have tried to access in the past. It is my understanding that
nothing in this legislation before us today would encourage the
establishment of such a standard by USDA. It is my understanding that
any veterinarian who meets the general standards for participation
would be eligible to apply for this program no matter how long might
have elapsed since her or his graduation from an accredited school of
veterinary medicine. Is that the gentleman's understanding of the bill
language?
Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. STENHOLM. I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota.
Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Stenholm) for yielding and for raising this issue. We have talked to
the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Goodlatte), and it is our
understanding and intent that nothing in this language would preclude
any veterinarian, no matter when they graduated from vet school, from
applying or to participate so long as they have eligible student loan
debt and meet other criteria for participation as described in the
legislation.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for helping to make
this point clear.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I would like to thank the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Pickering).
I think this is a very important piece of legislation. I think
veterinarians in some respects are like tourniquets: we do not need one
often; but when we do need one, we need one rapidly; and in underserved
areas, it could become a very serious problem. So I think this is an
important piece of legislation. I hope my colleagues will join me in
supporting this bill.
Mr. HAYES. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleagues for this
needed legislation which ensures the Federal Government's deep
commitment to a highly trained and diverse workforce in rural and
underserved areas, and encourages veterinarians to assist the U.S.
Department of Agriculture in emergency disease outbreak situations. But
we should go even further. In order to best maximize Federal Government
resources, both in this program at the Department of Agriculture, as
well as loan repayment programs throughout the Federal Government, we
should allow competition within other aspects of the student loan
program, including consolidation loans.
The 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act allowed Federal
Family Education Loan (FFEL) student loan borrowers who hold loans from
more than one underlying lender to select from those lenders when
consolidating their loans. This change has enabled many recent college
graduates to refinance their loans at a lower fixed-interest rate.
However, student loan borrowers who hold loans through a single lender
must consolidate loans through their current lender. This rule is known
as the ``Single Holder Rule.''
In order to ensure that we instill competition, we will need to make
sure that during the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which
is currently moving through the Education and the Workforce Committee,
we repeal the single holder rule. I want to thank Chairman Boehner and
Congressman McKeon for their efforts to keep college costs under
control during consideration of this important legislation. It will be
part of my commitment to Federal agencies, students and families
everywhere that they have the benefit of competition from qualified
lenders in the program when they consolidate their loans and, thus,
allow them to take advantage of historically low fixed interest rates--
just as other borrowers are able to do every day.
Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Petri). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1367, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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