[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2726]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. CONRAD (for himself and Mr. Brownback):
  S. 2672. A bill to provide incentives to physicians to practice in 
rural and medically underserved communities; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Conrad State 30 
Improvement Act to extend and expand this program's success in bringing 
doctors to communities that would otherwise not have access to health 
care services.
  The Conrad State 30 program, which I helped create in 1994, has 
brought thousands of physicians to underserved communities in all 50 
states, across our great country. These doctors are foreign born, but 
have all received training in the United States. Under the Conrad 30 
program, foreign doctors already in the country for medical training 
are granted a waiver from a visa requirement to return to their home 
country for 2 years. In exchange for this waiver, the doctors must 
commit to providing health care to underserved populations in the 
United States for 3 years.
  By 2020, some projections show that the United States may have 
200,000 fewer doctors than it needs; that is a staggering statistic, 
and one that cannot be taken lightly. If this shortfall is allowed to 
materialize, rural areas, like my State of North Dakota, will 
undoubtedly be among the hardest hit.
  Given the looming deficit of doctors and an increasingly competitive 
global marketplace, it is vital that we maintain the incentives for 
qualified foreign physicians to serve patients in this country. The 
immigration benefits historically provided by the Conrad program, and 
enhanced in this bill, provide crucial incentives to foreign doctors. 
And when they do come to our country, it is vital that we make sure 
that they end up in the places that need them most.
  This bill makes the Conrad 30 program permanent, something that I 
believe is long overdue. It also invites a new group of foreign doctors 
to take part in the program, a change that could dramatically expand 
the pool of doctors practicing in rural and underserved areas. Further, 
the bill creates a mechanism by which the current cap of 30 doctors per 
state can significantly expand, while protecting the interests of those 
states that have had difficulty recruiting doctors under the program. 
The bill also creates an important new incentive for doctors to 
participate in the program by granting them a green card cap exemption 
when they have completed their service. Finally, the bill gives 
increased flexibility to State health authorities to determine the 
needs of their State in utilizing Conrad waivers.
  I strongly believe the Conrad State 30 Improvement Act can be of 
great benefit to every state in the country and help combat the growing 
shortage of health care providers in the United States.

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