[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11201-11202]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   IMPROVING ACCESS TO PHYSICIANS IN MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS ACT

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to support H.R. 4858, the 
Improving Access to Physicians in Medically Underserved Areas Act 
introduced by my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Kansas 
(Mr. Moran).
  As the representative of the Second District of Nevada, I represent 
an area of over 100,000 square miles, including every rural community 
in the State, and I know all too well how difficult it is to recruit 
doctors and nurses to these areas. One program which has assisted our 
State in recruiting doctors to Nevada is the J-1 visa program.
  H.R. 4858 reauthorizes the J-1 visa program and increases the number 
of visa waivers for international medical graduates that a State may 
request from 20 to 30. Rural Americans deserve access to quality health 
care, and the J-1 visa program helps to achieve this goal. In fact, 
thanks to the J-1 visa program, over 60 doctors have come to Nevada 
over the past few years to practice medicine in underserved areas.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to support the successful program 
and vote for H.R. 4858.

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