[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18790]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM

  (Mr. TIERNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues who have 
yet to do so to join almost 80 of my colleagues and myself in sending a 
bipartisan letter to the appropriators. That letter would support the 
National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.
  As my colleagues have probably seen, news accounts have highlighted 
funding shortfalls in the National Health Service Corps. The Corps 
recruits health care professionals to work in medically underserved 
communities. Regardless of one's particular disposition concerning how 
to improve health care, it is widely accepted that this important 
program provides underserved Americans with vital health care.
  We should not allow the current disagreement on health care matters 
to prevent us from properly funding this program and ensuring that not 
only the current participants can continue to provide this care but 
that we can attract enough clinicians to meet all the needs of these 
communities.
  The $49 million required to cover existing shortfalls is a fair price 
to pay to help our doctors and nurses help our neediest constituents. 
Let us take this opportunity to address this urgent need. If my 
colleagues have not already done so, I urge them to join us in this 
important effort.

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