[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1858 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1858
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a loan repayment
program to encourage the provision of veterinary services in shortage
and emergency situations.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 13 (legislative day, November 12), 2003
Mr. Cochran (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Allard, Mr.
Ensign, and Mr. Crapo) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a loan repayment
program to encourage the provision of veterinary services in shortage
and emergency situations.
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 FOR VETERINARY
MEDICINE.
The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy
Act of 1977 is amended by inserting after section 1415 (7 U.S.C. 3151)
the following:
``SEC. 1415A. VETERINARY MEDICINE LOAN REPAYMENT.
``(a) Definitions.
``In this section:
``(A) Qualifying educational loan.--The term
`qualifying educational loan' means a government or
commercial loan incurred by an individual to pay for
attendance at an accredited college of veterinary
medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor of Veterinary
Medicine or the equivalent, including--
``(i) tuition expenses;
``(ii) other reasonable educational
expenses, including fees, books, and laboratory
expenses; and
``(iii) reasonable living expenses, as
determined by the Secretary.
``(B) Veterinarian shortage situation.--
``(i) In general.--The term `veterinarian
shortage situation' shall have the meaning that
the Secretary shall prescribe.
``(ii) Considerations.--In determining what
constitutes a veterinarian shortage situation,
the Secretary may consider--
``(I) urban or rural areas that the
Secretary determines have a shortage of
veterinarians;----------
``(II) areas of veterinary practice
that the Secretary determines have a
shortage of veterinarians, such as
public health, epidemiology, and food
safety;
``(III) areas of veterinary need in
the Federal Government; and
``(IV) other factors that the
Secretary considers to be relevant.
``(b) Program.--
``(1) Service in veterinarian shortage situations.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to the availability of
funds under subsection (d), the Secretary shall carry
out a program to enter into agreements with
veterinarians under which a veterinarian agrees to
provide, for a period of time determined by the
Secretary and specified in the agreement, veterinary
services in veterinarian shortage situations.
``(B) Annual loan repayment.--For each year of
service under an agreement under this paragraph, the
Secretary shall pay an amount, determined by the
Secretary and specified in the agreement, of the
principal, interest, and related expenses of the
qualifying educational loans of the veterinarian.
``(2) Service to federal government in emergency
situations.--The Secretary may enter into a 1-year agreement
with a veterinarian who has entered into an agreement under
paragraph (1) for the veterinarian to provide service to the
Federal Government in an emergency situation, as determined by
the Secretary, under terms and conditions specified in the
agreement.
``(C) Additional annual loan repayment.--
``(i) In general.--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,
interest, and related expenses of the
qualifying educational loans of the
veterinarian.
``(ii) Amount in addition.--An amount paid
under clause (i) shall be in addition to the
amount paid under the agreement under paragraph
(1).
``(D) Requirements.--An agreement under this
paragraph shall provide that--
``(i) a veterinarian shall not be required
to serve more than 60 working days per year of
the agreement; and
``(ii) a veterinarian who provides service
in accordance with the agreement--
``(I) shall receive a salary
commensurate with the duties performed;
and
``(II) shall be reimbursed for
travel and per diem expenses as
appropriate for the duration of the
service.
``(c) Administration.--
``(1) Authority.--The Secretary may carry out the program
under subsection (b) directly or through an agreement with
another Federal agency or service provider.
``(2) Breach remedies.--
``(A) In general.--An agreement under paragraph (1)
or (2) of subsection (b) shall provide remedies for a
breach of the agreement by the veterinarian, including
repayment or partial repayment of financial assistance
received, with interest.
``(B) Amounts recovered.--Funds recovered under
this subsection--
``(i) shall be credited to the account
available to carry out this section; and
``(ii) shall be available to carry out this
section without further appropriation until
expended.
``(C) Waiver.--If the Secretary determines that a
veterinarian has breached an agreement due to extreme
hardship or extreme need, the Secretary may grant a
waiver of the repayment obligation for breach of
contract.
``(4) Repayment schedule.--The Secretary may enter into an
agreement with the holder of a qualifying educational loan for
which payments are made under this section to establish a
schedule for the making of payments.
``(5) Tax liability.--In addition to educational loan
repayments, the Secretary shall make such additional payments
to a participating veterinarian as the Secretary determines to
be appropriate to reimburse the veterinarian for tax liability
resulting from participation in the program under this section.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section, to
remain available until expended.''.
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