Veterinary Public Health Amendments Act of 2011

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 525, the Veterinary Public Health Amendments Act.

Although we may not know it, our health depends, in part, on a small

army of veterinarians working in public health. Their role was never clearer than during the H1N1 virus outbreak. We now see that diseases can travel from animals to humans seemingly overnight.

Public health veterinarians are our frontline of defense against another outbreak. They inspect our slaughterhouses, prevent a foot-and- mouth disease outbreak from devastating our economy and our agriculture industry, and protect our citizens against the threat of bioterrorism.

Unfortunately, our current workforce cannot meet these public health challenges. In the next 20 years, experts predict a shortage of 15,000 veterinarians; and between 2006 and 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the demand for veterinary services will increase by 35 percent. Something must be done to protect our national health by preventing and controlling infectious diseases, ensuring the safety and security of the Nation's food supply, promoting healthy environments, and providing health care for animals.

H.R. 525 will help to ensure that we have a more robust veterinary public health workforce. The bill has two main components: loan repayment for veterinarians who commit to teaching or to working in public health and a new fellowship program for public health veterinarians.

I want to thank the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges and the American Veterinary Medical Association for their tireless work on behalf of public health veterinarians.

I would also like to thank Chairman Pitts and Ranking Member Pallone for their support on this important legislation.

This bill is identical to the Veterinary Public Health Amendments Act that passed the House by voice vote in the last Congress. This bill also passed the Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously.

I urge my colleagues to support this critical bill to ensure that our veterinary workforce is prepared to meet our public health needs.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 525) to amend the Public Health Service Act to enhance and increase the number of veterinarians trained in veterinary public health.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 525 currently under consideration.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 525, the Veterinary Public Health Amendments Act of 2011, would take important steps to increase the number of public health veterinarians.

Food animal veterinarians have a vital role in our Nation's public health, and experts have informed us that there is, in fact, a shortage. This shortage could negatively affect our Nation's public health, including the safety of our Nation's food. We expect that this legislation will help greatly in solving that problem.

H.R. 525 would enable individuals seeking veterinary public health degrees to be eligible for existing public health workforce loan repayment programs. This legislation would also allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award existing training grants to increase the veterinary public health workforce.

I would like to thank all of the Members who have worked on this issue, including my physician colleague on the committee, Dr. Phil Gingrey of Georgia. I would also like to thank Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin for authoring the bill.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert into the Record a letter from the American Farm Bureau Federation urging support of this legislation.

I would also like to point out that this legislation enjoyed unanimous support from both the Republican and Democratic sides of the dais in the full Committee on Energy and Commerce.

American Farm

Bureau Federation',

Washington, DC, March 8, 2011.

Hon. Fred Upton,

Chairman, House Energy and Commerce Committee, Washington,

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 525, the Veterinary Public Health Amendments Act of 2011. This is an important, bipartisan bill that we passed on the floor in the last Congress.

Veterinary medicine is an important component of our human public health system. From H1N1, to SARS, to food safety, public health veterinarians are critical to our protection of human health. This bill would ensure that veterinary public health professionals are eligible for two important public health workforce programs, but only to the extent that the work of these veterinarians has an impact on human health.

I want to commend Representative Baldwin for her leadership on this legislation. She has been working on this for a long time, and I was pleased to work with her. I also want to thank Chairman Pitts, Chairman Upton, and Representative Shimkus for their support; and I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

I now yield 3 minutes to the sponsor of the legislation, the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin).

I would certainly urge support for this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, as I have no further requests for time, I yield back the balance of my time.