[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6707-H6709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VETERINARIAN SERVICES INVESTMENT ACT
Mr. BOSWELL. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3519) to amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension
and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to establish a grant program to promote
efforts to develop, implement, and sustain veterinary services, and for
other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3519
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 ``Veterinarian Services
Investment Act''.
SEC. 2. VETERINARY SERVICES GRANT PROGRAM.
The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching
Policy Act of 1977 is amended by inserting after section
1415A (7 U.S.C. 3151a) the following new section:
``SEC. 1415B. VETERINARY SERVICES GRANT PROGRAM.
``(a) Establishment of Program.--
``(1) Competitive grants.--The Secretary shall carry out a
program to make competitive grants to qualified entities that
engage in activities described in paragraph (2) for the
purpose of developing, implementing, and sustaining
veterinary services.
``(2) Eligibility requirements.--To be eligible for a grant
under this subsection, a qualified entity must carry out
programs or activities that the Secretary determines will--
``(A) substantially relieve veterinarian shortage
situations;
``(B) support or facilitate private veterinary practices
engaged in public health activities; or
``(C) support or facilitate practices of veterinarians who
are participating in or have successfully completed a service
requirement under section 1415A(a)(2).
``(b) Award Processes and Preferences.--
``(1) Application, evaluation, and input processes.--In
administrating the grant program under this section, the
Secretary shall use an appropriate application and evaluation
process and seek the input of interested persons.
``(2) Grant preferences.--In the case of grants to be used
for any of the purposes described in paragraphs (2) through
(6) of subsection (c), the Secretary shall give a preference
to the selection of qualified entities that document
coordination between or with other qualified entities
regarding the applicable purpose.
``(3) Additional preferences.--When awarding grants under
this section, the Secretary may develop additional
preferences by taking into account the amount of funds
available for grants as well as the purposes for which the
grant funds will be used.
``(4) Applicability of other provisions.--Sections 1413B,
1462(a), 1469(a)(3), 1469(c), and 1470 shall apply to the
administration of the grant program under this section.
``(c) Use of Grants to Relieve Veterinarian Shortage
Situations and Support Veterinary Services.--Funds provided
by grants under this section may be used for the following
purposes to relieve veterinarian shortage situations and
support veterinary services:
``(1) Grants to assist veterinarians with establishing or
expanding practices for the purpose of equipping veterinary
offices, sharing in the reasonable overhead costs of such
practices (as determined by the Secretary), or establishing
mobile veterinary facilities where at least a portion of such
facilities will address education or extension needs.
``(2) Grants to promote recruitment (including programs in
secondary schools), placement, and retention of
veterinarians, veterinary technicians, students of veterinary
medicine, and students of veterinary technology.
``(3) Grants for veterinary students, veterinary interns,
externs, fellows, and residents, and veterinary technician
students to cover
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expenses (other than the types of expenses listed in
1415A(c)(5)) to attend training programs in food safety or
food animal medicine.
``(4) Grants establishing or expanding accredited
veterinary education programs (including faculty recruitment
and retention), veterinary residency and fellowship programs,
or veterinary internship and externship programs in
coordination with accredited colleges of veterinary medicine.
``(5) Grants for the assessment of veterinarian shortage
situations and preparation of applications for designation as
a shortage situation.
``(6) Grants in continuing education and extension,
including tele-veterinary medicine and other distance-based
education, for veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and
other health professionals needed to strengthen veterinary
programs and enhance food safety.
``(d) Special Requirements for Certain Grants.--
``(1) Terms of service requirements.--Grants provided under
this section for the purpose specified in subsection (c)(1)
shall be subject to an agreement between the Secretary and
the grant recipient that includes a required term of service
for the recipient, as established by the Secretary. In
establishing such terms, the Secretary shall consider only--
``(A) the amount of the grant awarded; and
``(B) the specific purpose of the grant.
``(2) Breach remedies.--An agreement under paragraph (1)
shall provide remedies for any breach of the agreement by the
grant recipient, including repayment or partial repayment of
the grant funds, with interest. The Secretary may waive the
repayment obligation in the event of extreme hardship or
extreme need, as determined by the Secretary.
``(3) Treatment of amounts recovered.--Funds recovered
under paragraph (2) shall be credited to the account
available to carry out this section and shall remain
available until expended.
``(e) Cost-Sharing Requirements.--
``(1) Recipient share.--A grant recipient shall provide
matching non-Federal funds, either in cash or in-kind
support, in an amount equal to not less than 50 percent of
the Federal funds provided in a grant under this section.
``(2) Waiver.--The Secretary may establish, by regulation,
conditions under which the cost-sharing requirements of
paragraph (1) may be reduced or waived.
``(f) Prohibition on Use of Grant Funds for Construction.--
Funds made available for grants under this section shall not
be used for the construction of a new building or facility or
the acquisition, expansion, remodeling, or alteration of an
existing building of facility, including site grading and
improvement and architect fees.
``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Veterinarian shortage situation.--The term
`veterinarian shortage situation' means a veterinarian
shortage situation determined by the Secretary under section
1415A(b).
``(2) Qualified entity.--The term `qualified entity' means
the following:
``(A) A for-profit or nonprofit entity located in the
United States that operates a veterinary clinic providing
veterinary services--
``(i) in a rural area, as defined in section 1393(a)(2) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
``(ii) in response to a veterinarian shortage situation.
``(B) A State, national, allied, or regional veterinary
organization or specialty board recognized by the American
Veterinary Medical Association.
``(C) A college or school of veterinary medicine accredited
by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
``(D) A university research foundation or veterinary
medical foundation.
``(E) A department of veterinary science or department of
comparative medicine accredited by the Department of
Education.
``(F) A State agricultural experiment station.
``(G) A State, local, or tribal government agency.
``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as
are necessary to carry out this section for fiscal year 2012
and each fiscal year thereafter. Amounts appropriated
pursuant to this authorization of appropriations 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
Iowa (Mr. Boswell) and the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Iowa.
General Leave
Mr. BOSWELL. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
on the bill, H.R. 3519.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Iowa?
There was no objection.
Mr. BOSWELL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. BOSWELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. BOSWELL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R.
3519, the Veterinarian Services Investment Act, which was introduced by
my good friend and colleague from Nebraska (Mr. Smith). I had the
privilege to be the lead Democrat on this legislation which is vital to
growing our rural communities across America and securing our Nation's
food supply.
Our veterinary workforce is responsible for ensuring that the food we
eat is safe, but they are facing a critical shortage in the public,
private, industrial and academic sectors, and the problem is growing.
Our Nation's large-animal vets are truly on the front lines of food
safety, public health, animal health and national security. The demand
for large-animal veterinarians is increasing, and lack of these
specialists in many areas of the country will continue to put our
agricultural economy and the safety of our food supply at risk.
I know firsthand how important large-animal veterinarians are to
farmers and ranchers. When I left the Army, I returned to my family
farm and realized that much had changed in agriculture during the 20-
plus years I had served. I decided to sit down with my local
veterinarian and have a discussion on the new animal health practices
that science and research had given agriculture. I was lucky because in
the small town of Lamoni in Decatur County we had a food animal
veterinarian who I could turn to; however, many are not so lucky today.
We are experiencing a shortage in large-food animal veterinarians
across the country.
I have worked over the years to try and correct the shortage of
livestock and large-animal veterinarians. Research has shown that the
demand for large-animal veterinarians will increase by 13 percent a
year, with four in every 100 positions remaining vacant.
{time} 1230
With just over 250 graduates from veterinary schools going into
livestock-related fields, this crisis is a problem that not only
affects rural America but also our major cities. These large animal
veterinarians are the first line of defense against animal disease,
outbreaks that can occur and cause serious health problems. Food and
animal veterinarians not only identify, treat, and prevent naturally
occurring diseases but are also on the front line of agroterrorism.
For all of the reasons above, I urge my colleagues to join me in
passing the Veterinary Services Investment Act today. This legislation
will authorize grants to address workforce shortages based on the needs
of underserved areas. For example, grants could be used to recruit
veterinarians and veterinary technicians in shortage areas and
communities. It could add veterinarians expanding and establishing
practices in high-need areas. It could establish mobile portable
clinics and televet services and establish education programs,
including continuing education, distance education, and factor
recruitment in veterinary science.
Our Nation faces major challenges to relieve veterinary shortages,
and the Veterinary Services Investment Act is a step in the right
direction.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3519, the Veterinary Services
Investment Act.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3519, the
Veterinarian Services Investment Act, and I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Since the fall of 2000, the Committee on Agriculture has worked on
ways of resolving the serious veterinary shortage problem confronting
many rural communities. With the passage of the National Veterinary
Medical Service Act in December of 2003, a program was finally
authorized to incentivize large animal veterinarians to practice in
communities that USDA designated as veterinarian shortage areas. With
this program in place, large animal veterinarians are able to apply on
a competitive basis for educational loan repayment assistance in
exchange for their commitment to practice in shortage
[[Page H6709]]
areas for the length of time as established by the regulations.
While it's unfortunate that it took almost 6 years for USDA to
establish a final rule implementing this first step, I'm optimistic
that when the first awards are issued in the coming weeks, we'll begin
a slowdown and hopefully reverse this problem.
To the extent that the loan program is successful, it's important to
consider that this was just the first step. While this assistance will
be very helpful in attracting veterinarians to these communities, there
remain gaps in veterinarian recruitment, attracting and training
technical support staff, and simply meeting the long-term costs of
operating veterinarian practices in these communities.
The Veterinarian Services Investment Act is meant to address these
secondary needs and is designed to complement the loan repayment
program to help large animal veterinarians become established in these
communities.
This bill recognizes and addresses a real problem in rural America,
and I'm proud to be an original cosponsor. I support this legislation,
and I encourage all of my colleagues to do the same.
Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my colleague
from Nebraska (Mr. Smith), who has done an outstanding job of
shepherding this bill through, understands the challenges in his State
and in rural communities across America, and he's trying to do
something.
Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. I sincerely appreciate today's consideration
of H.R. 3519, the Veterinarian Services Investment Act. The need for
skilled veterinarians has already been stated. It may not be at the
forefront of debate here in Washington, but it is an issue which
impacts many areas of our country and many aspects of our lives.
Our food animal veterinary workforce is on the front lines of food
safety, public health, and animal health. This vital profession,
however, is facing a critical shortage in the public, private,
industrial, and academic sectors. To make matters worse, the problem is
certainly on the rise.
Large animal veterinarians in particular are integral to small rural
communities, but in many of these communities--communities with few
people but with large numbers of animals--we are seeing a very
distressing trend. According to the USDA, Nebraska's Cherry County, one
of the top three beef production counties in the United States, has
145,000 food animals per one veterinarian.
To this end, I've introduced H.R. 3519, the Veterinarian Services
Investment Act, with Mr. Boswell. The legislation authorizes the
Secretary of Agriculture to award competitive grants to help develop,
implement, and sustain veterinary services especially in identified and
underserved areas.
Though we may not realize it, veterinarians make a difference every
day. They understand animals and are integral parts of our rural
communities. Unfortunately, too many rural communities don't have this
necessary support. This investment act will make a difference, and I
urge its passage.
Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BOSWELL. Madam Speaker, just a couple of things before we close.
There are an estimated 283 million pets and 2.3 billion farm animals
in our country. That's a lot of animals, Frank, don't you think? It is.
There are nearly 86,000 veterinarians in the U.S.; however, the
majority of them focus on pets--cats and dogs. Twenty-eight veterinary
schools in the country, and something that's very important to this
legislation, veterinary graduates have an average debt of $120,000. So
I think this is something that we ought to be aware of when we think of
food safety and so on. So the demand for large animal veterinarians is
increasing, and the lack of these faceless in many areas of the country
will continue to put our agricultural economy and the safety of our
food supply at risk.
H.R. 3519, the Veterinary Services Investment Act, will help address
this shortage and continue to ensure Americans have access to the
safest, most plentiful, and most available food supply in the world. So
I urge all of my colleagues to support this important legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Boswell) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 3519, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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