[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.

                          ____________________