Expressing support for designation of 2011 as "World Veterinary Year" to bring attention to and show appreciation for the veterinary profession on its 250th anniversary.

Thank you, Mr. Clay, once again. And certainly I want to thank the outstanding leadership of my colleague, Mr. Kurt Schrader of Oregon, who's the chief sponsor of this bill, for it is, indeed, a very important bill.

I too want to thank the gentlelady from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) for her leadership on this, and Mr. Towns, chairman of our Oversight Committee, for assisting us with making sure this bill got on the suspension calendar.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 1531, designating 2011 as World Veterinary Year, is a simple but an extraordinarily important gesture, offering recognition for an often overlooked yet increasingly very important profession, and that is the field of veterinary medicine.

We all know the role veterinarians play in keeping our pets healthy. As a pet owner myself, I've come to depend on the expertise and the skill of my vet to keep my precious dog, Jazz, very healthy.

But the work of veterinarians is so much more vital than just giving rabies shots and passing out medicine. As chairman of our Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry, what I would like to highlight, Madam Speaker, is the crucial role that our veterinarians play in keeping our food supply safe--not just keeping our animals safe and healthy, but keeping our food supply safe and healthy.

They are the ones that we are growing more and more to depend upon for this important role. Whether in the movement with antibiotics or farm animal safety, who better to provide the leadership on these critical issues than the veterinarians, the physicians for the animals.

Veterinarians have an important responsibility to prevent contamination from bacteria and diseases. In a world of rapid trade, food animal veterinarians serve a crucial role in protecting our country from serious food-borne illnesses, from biological hazards, from pathogens. Veterinarians work to curb bacterial infections and diagnose conditions such as foot-and-mouth disease and avian flu before they really have a chance to become a threat to our food supply.

Having someone in the field to monitor these dangers is critical to our safety in a world of global trade, and particularly, constant trading in and out of different countries of food and animals over our wide, incredible differences.

But, Madam Speaker, what worries me the most and worries me greatly is that our Nation is now in dire need of many more veterinarians to provide us with this undeniably vital service. The American Veterinary Medical Association has found several vast regions of the country that currently lack sufficient food animal veterinarians. Throughout the center of this country, from Texas to North Dakota, numerous counties don't even have a single food animal veterinarian despite having more than 25,000 animals. Some areas have many more than 100,000 animals with no food animal veterinarian nearby.

Without a serious endeavor to train more large animal veterinarians, the country could be in a position where dangerous pathogens and disease go unchecked, leading to a major, major food safety hazard. We have come close in numerous threats, and we have to keep our food supply safe. At the forefront of that are our veterinarians.

Earlier this year, the House passed H.R. 3519, Veterinarian Services Investment Act. This bill creates grants to develop, deploy, and sustain veterinarian services and provides our Nation's current and future animal physicians with the resources they desperately need. While Senate prospects for this bill are uncertain, unfortunately, as the remaining legislative year dwindles, I am hopeful that the Senate will act soon. It is imperative that we address this dire shortage of veterinarians by supporting the training of new vets and by helping those already in the field by equipping them with the tools they need to maintain successful practices.

So I welcome this resolution, and I commend Mr. Schrader for offering it, and any chance we have to mention the crucial work of our veterinarians and highlight the need to train and employ more of them is a chance we must take to do just that.

Once again, Madam Speaker, I offer my wholehearted approval for this resolution for the veterinarians it seeks to honor.

I appreciate Mr. Clay for yielding time to me.

I would like to take a moment here and thank Chairman Towns and Ranking Member Issa and their staffs on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee for helping to bring this resolution to the floor.

As a veterinarian myself and a Member of Congress, I introduced this resolution to bring attention to the veterinary profession at a time when it faces some challenges and to honor the contributions veterinary medicine has made in animal health, public health, animal welfare, and our food safety.

Next year will mark the 250th anniversary of the opening of the first Veterinary school in Lyon, France, and the beginning of our veterinary profession. The school in Lyon was authorized by King Louis XV, August 4, 1761, based on the principles and methods of curing livestock. The reputation of this school soon spread and students from all over Europe attended, and these students became the leading lights of veterinary science when they returned to their own countries.

A second school was established in Alfort, France, and soon secondary schools built on the Lyon model appeared in Germany, England, and other European countries. Since its humble beginnings in Lyon in the year 1761, the practice of veterinary medicine has spread across the globe for the betterment of animals, humans, and our environment.

As a result, veterinarians have become the most qualified health professionals to help us deal with zoonotic diseases, bioterrorism, comparative medicine, and food safety issues on our front lines and leaders in research and scientific innovation as well as the scientific benefits of the animal-human companion bond.

Veterinarians have always been an integral part of their communities and expected to be community leaders. I may have carried it to an extreme.

In my lifetime, I have been actually blessed to see some exponential growth in the veterinary medical field. We went from the James Herriot era of liniments and potions to the ongoing use of antibiotics and steroids; advances in diagnostics and treatments, including IV therapy, dentistry; second and third generation of antibiotics and steroids, new anti-inflammatories; treatments for diabetes, Cushing's, Addison's-- diseases we see both in humans and in animals--and advances in nutrition that our human colleagues could take advantage of.

I encourage my colleagues to join me in commemorating this important milestone by supporting H. Res. 1531 and proclaiming 2011 as World Veterinary Year in honor of the 250th anniversary of the veterinary profession.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1531) expressing support for designation of 2011 as ``World Veterinary Year'' to bring attention to and show appreciation for the veterinary profession on its 250th anniversary.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

At this time, Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my colleague, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Schrader).

Madam Speaker, at this time I would like to recognize the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott) for 5 minutes.

I yield 2 additional minutes to the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, again let me thank the gentleman from Oregon (Dr. Schrader) for introducing this important piece of legislation. And in closing, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting House Resolution 1531 supporting the goals and ideals of World Veterinary Year.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today to support House Resolution 1531, which expresses support for designation of 2011 as World Veterinary Year, with the goal of helping to bring attention to and showing appreciation for the veterinarian profession on its 250th anniversary.

I believe that those who choose to enter into the medical profession deserve our gratitude for entering into a life where they help heal the sick, be it human or animal. And for many of us, our pets become a huge part of our family, and our Nation's veterinarians help ensure our furry family members live long and rewarding lives.

So, Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to join me in support of this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.