Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act

Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act with my friend, Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho. This bipartisan bill would exempt Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program, VMLRP, awards from federal income taxation in order to increase veterinary services in areas around the country that lack adequate veterinary expertise.

Authorized in 2003 by the National Veterinary Medical Services Act, NVMSA, the United States Department of Agriculture's, USDA, Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program serves a dual purpose in assisting qualified veterinarians in reducing their student debt while also alleviating veterinarian shortages in rural areas. Specifically, the program authorizes the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, NIFA, to repay up to $25,000 of a veterinarian's debt per year if they agree to serve in high-priority veterinary shortage areas for at least 3 years. However, awards under the program continue to be taxed at a rate of 39 percent, effectively limiting the number of awards that can be provided and delaying veterinary services to areas in desperate need. The awards are taxed with the tax payments paid under the program by the federal government, and the tax payments themselves are also taxed.

The Department of Agriculture determines whether an area is eligible for assistance under the VMLRP through a ``shortage situation'' declaration process. Currently, two circumstances lead to such a designation. A geographic designation is made when a given geographic area suffers from a shortage of veterinarians overall and an area can also be designated as a shortage area when it suffers from a shortage of veterinarians who practice in a particular field of veterinary specialty. Currently, my home state of South Dakota has 6 designated shortage situations; three of them are statewide designations noting a shortage of practitioners in veterinary specialties. Moreover, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that employment of veterinarians will grow by 36 percent by 2020, creating a need for 22,000 additional veterinarians. The future growth and increased demand for veterinarians becomes even more pressing when considered in combination with national statistics that show

dozens of counties across the country that have more than 25,000 food animals but zero veterinarians.

Attaining a professional degree in a specialized and advanced field like veterinary medicine takes more than academic fortitude and personal dedication. According to the American Veterinary Medicine Association, the average VMLRP award recipient in Fiscal Year 2011 had an average eligible debt of over $100,000. Given the financial resources necessary to pursue a degree in higher education, I have long fought for this legislation to make it easier for students to pay off their loans. While South Dakota is truly a wonderful place to call home, it is a difficult place for a young veterinarian to earn a living when saddled with 6 figures of school debt. My legislation will help by enhancing the assistance veterinary graduates receive in exchange for meaningful public service while also providing important services to underserved rural areas.

With an economic impact of $21.4 billion each year, according to the South Dakota Department of Agriculture, the importance of agriculture to the South Dakota economy cannot be understated. Our ranchers, many of whom operate in very rural areas, rely on the access they have to qualified veterinarians to care for their livestock and many of them must drive long distances to access the nearest veterinarian that works with their specific type of livestock. This lack of adequate access to veterinary services could have ramifications for both human and animal health, as well as animal welfare, disease surveillance, public safety and economic development. Farmers and ranchers make their living in agriculture but food security is fundamentally in all of our interests. Everyone in America benefits from the veterinary services provided in even the most remote areas of the country. As such, I am committed to doing all I can to help bring veterinarians to underserved parts of our state.

I am proud to have fought for the establishment of the VMLRP program and for securing funding for the program through my seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Unfortunately, the 39 percent tax that is assessed on these benefits continues diminish the full benefits of the program. With enactment of this legislation, for every three veterinarians selected for the loan repayment awards, an additional veterinarian could also be selected to serve in an underserved shortage area. Moreover, such an exemption is not without precedent. In 2004, Congress exempted from taxation the assistance received by participants in the National Health Services Corps, NHSC.

It should be noted that nearly 140 organizations from across the nation have announced their support for a tax exemption for VMLRP, including the South Dakota Veterinary Medical Association, South Dakota Farmers Union, South Dakota Farm Bureau, South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, South Dakota Pork Producers Council, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Sheep Industry Association, the National Farmers Union, and many, many others.

The VMLRP has had proven success in providing our agricultural producers with access to the veterinary services that they need to be effective. In fiscal year 2011, the program filled at least one shortage area in 35 States. Through the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act, we can ensure that the program, and the awards offered through it, is continued and strengthened for the benefit of our students, rural communities, and family farms and ranches.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act with my friend, Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho. This bipartisan bill would exempt Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program, VMLRP, awards from federal income taxation in order to increase veterinary services in areas around the country that lack adequate veterinary expertise.

Authorized in 2003 by the National Veterinary Medical Services Act, NVMSA, the United States Department of Agriculture's, USDA, Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program serves a dual purpose in assisting qualified veterinarians in reducing their student debt while also alleviating veterinarian shortages in rural areas. Specifically, the program authorizes the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, NIFA, to repay up to $25,000 of a veterinarian's debt per year if they agree to serve in high-priority veterinary shortage areas for at least 3 years. However, awards under the program continue to be taxed at a rate of 39 percent, effectively limiting the number of awards that can be provided and delaying veterinary services to areas in desperate need. The awards are taxed with the tax payments paid under the program by the federal government, and the tax payments themselves are also taxed.

The Department of Agriculture determines whether an area is eligible for assistance under the VMLRP through a ``shortage situation'' declaration process. Currently, two circumstances lead to such a designation. A geographic designation is made when a given geographic area suffers from a shortage of veterinarians overall and an area can also be designated as a shortage area when it suffers from a shortage of veterinarians who practice in a particular field of veterinary specialty. Currently, my home state of South Dakota has 6 designated shortage situations; three of them are statewide designations noting a shortage of practitioners in veterinary specialties. Moreover, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that employment of veterinarians will grow by 36 percent by 2020, creating a need for 22,000 additional veterinarians. The future growth and increased demand for veterinarians becomes even more pressing when considered in combination with national statistics that show

dozens of counties across the country that have more than 25,000 food animals but zero veterinarians.

Attaining a professional degree in a specialized and advanced field like veterinary medicine takes more than academic fortitude and personal dedication. According to the American Veterinary Medicine Association, the average VMLRP award recipient in Fiscal Year 2011 had an average eligible debt of over $100,000. Given the financial resources necessary to pursue a degree in higher education, I have long fought for this legislation to make it easier for students to pay off their loans. While South Dakota is truly a wonderful place to call home, it is a difficult place for a young veterinarian to earn a living when saddled with 6 figures of school debt. My legislation will help by enhancing the assistance veterinary graduates receive in exchange for meaningful public service while also providing important services to underserved rural areas.

With an economic impact of $21.4 billion each year, according to the South Dakota Department of Agriculture, the importance of agriculture to the South Dakota economy cannot be understated. Our ranchers, many of whom operate in very rural areas, rely on the access they have to qualified veterinarians to care for their livestock and many of them must drive long distances to access the nearest veterinarian that works with their specific type of livestock. This lack of adequate access to veterinary services could have ramifications for both human and animal health, as well as animal welfare, disease surveillance, public safety and economic development. Farmers and ranchers make their living in agriculture but food security is fundamentally in all of our interests. Everyone in America benefits from the veterinary services provided in even the most remote areas of the country. As such, I am committed to doing all I can to help bring veterinarians to underserved parts of our state.

I am proud to have fought for the establishment of the VMLRP program and for securing funding for the program through my seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Unfortunately, the 39 percent tax that is assessed on these benefits continues diminish the full benefits of the program. With enactment of this legislation, for every three veterinarians selected for the loan repayment awards, an additional veterinarian could also be selected to serve in an underserved shortage area. Moreover, such an exemption is not without precedent. In 2004, Congress exempted from taxation the assistance received by participants in the National Health Services Corps, NHSC.

It should be noted that nearly 140 organizations from across the nation have announced their support for a tax exemption for VMLRP, including the South Dakota Veterinary Medical Association, South Dakota Farmers Union, South Dakota Farm Bureau, South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, South Dakota Pork Producers Council, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Sheep Industry Association, the National Farmers Union, and many, many others.

The VMLRP has had proven success in providing our agricultural producers with access to the veterinary services that they need to be effective. In fiscal year 2011, the program filled at least one shortage area in 35 States. Through the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act, we can ensure that the program, and the awards offered through it, is continued and strengthened for the benefit of our students, rural communities, and family farms and ranches.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today marks the 25th anniversary of the appointment of Gallaudet University's first Deaf president, Dr. I. King Jordan. This historic appointment, the product of the ``Deaf President Now'' student protests, was truly a catalyzing moment--a moment to establish dignity--for the Deaf community. As President Jordan stated in his acceptance speech, the Deaf community would ``no longer accept limits on what we can achieve.''

Deaf President Now was significant not only for the Deaf community, but it also showed other Americans what Deaf individuals are capable of. We saw the rights of the Deaf community brought to the forefront. And the Deaf President Now movement, with the active involvement of the Deaf community, helped lead to passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act 2 years later, in 1990.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is one of the landmark civil rights laws of the 20th century--a long-overdue emancipation proclamation for Americans with disabilities. The ADA has played a huge role in making our country more accessible, in raising the expectations of people with disabilities about what they can hope to achieve at work and in life, and in inspiring all of us to view disability issues through the lens of equality and opportunity.

Before the ADA, life was very different for folks with disabilities. Being an American with a disability meant not being able to ride on a bus because there was no lift, not being able to attend a concert or ballgame because there was no accessible seating, and not being able to cross the street in a wheelchair because there were no curb cuts. In short, it meant not being able to work or participate in community life. Discrimination was both commonplace and accepted.

Since then, we have seen amazing progress. The ADA literally transformed the American landscape by requiring that architectural barriers be removed and replaced with accessible features such as ramps, lifts, curb cuts, widening doorways, and closed captioning. More importantly, the ADA gave millions of Americans the opportunity to participate in their communities. We have made substantial progress in advancing the four goals of the ADA--equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency.

But despite this progress, we still have more work to do. Although most television and home videos contain captioning for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing--or the rest of us--most movie theaters do not. Thus millions of Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing are not able to attend a movie with their families or friends, at a time and location that they want, simply because captioning is not available. The same is true for individuals who are blind or visually impaired; most movie theaters do not provide access to video description technology, which would allow these individuals to have access to the key elements of a motion picture by contemporaneous audio narrated descriptions during the natural pauses in the audio portion of the programming, usually through headphones.

A similar problem occurs in airplanes, with respect to in-flight entertainment. Many airlines are now providing in-flight entertainment for their passengers--but individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing cannot access it, because the overwhelming majority of this programming does not have captioning. Individuals who are blind or visually impaired are similarly excluded, since video description is not provided for such programming either.

So we have a situation where an individual, in his own home, can usually access captioning or similar technology on his television when watching live television, or a television show, or a movie. Such captioning is often available in other venues, such as restaurants and sports bars. I do not believe that it would be difficult to provide the same technology access for individuals with disabilities in movie theaters or on airplanes. This would allow these Americans with disabilities

to have the same access as everyone else.

Today I am introducing two bills. These bills will allow Americans with visual or hearing impairments to enjoy going to the movies and watching in-flight entertainment, through captioning and video description, just as they can at home.

The first S. 555, entitled the Captioning and Image Narration to Enhance Movie Accessibility, CINEMA, Act, would amend Title III of the ADA to require movie theater complexes of two or more theaters to make captioning and video description available for all films at all showings.

The second, S. 556, entitled the Air Carrier Access Amendments Act, would require air carriers to make captioning and video description available for visually-displayed entertainment programming--live televised events, recorded programming, and motion pictures--that is available in-flight for passengers. In instances where the programming is only available through the use of an individual touchscreen or other contact-sensitive controls, the bill would authorize the U.S. Access Board to develop accessibility standards so that individuals with disabilities can operate the displays independently.

I look forward to working with my fellow members to pass these two bills and ensure that individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who are blind or visually impaired, can have the same access to movies and in-flight entertainment as other Americans.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation aimed at increasing the production of our hardest working renewable resource, one that often gets overlooked in the clean energy debate-- hydropower. The Hydropower Improvement Act of 2013 is a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by my colleagues Senators Wyden, Risch, Cantwell, Crapo, Murray, and Begich, true hydropower advocates. The Hydropower Improvement Act of 2013 seeks to increase substantially the capacity and generation of our clean, renewable hydropower resources that will improve environmental quality and support local job creation and economic investment across the nation.

There is no question that hydropower is, and must continue to be, part of our energy solution. It is the largest source of renewable electricity in the United States. The approximately 100,000 megawatts of hydroelectric capacity we now have today provide about seven percent of the Nation's electricity needs. Hydro-electric generation is carbon- free baseload power that allows us to avoid over 200 million metric tons of carbon emissions each year. Hydropower is clean, efficient, and inexpensive. Yet, despite its tremendous benefits I am constantly amazed at how some undervalue this important resource.

Perhaps it's because conventional wisdom dismisses our Nation's hydropower capacity as tapped out. That is simply not the case. If anything, hydropower is really an underdeveloped resource--something we certainly understand in my home State of Alaska where hydro already supplies 24 percent of the State's electricity needs and over 200 promising sites for further hydropower development have been identified. There is great potential for additional hydropower development in every state, not just Alaska.

According to the Department of Energy, conventional hydropower facilities have the capacity to generate an additional 75,000 megawatts of power--a staggering amount of clean, inexpensive power. Now, that doesn't seem possible until you realize that only three percent of the country's 80,000 existing dams are even electrified. Significant amounts of new capacity--anywhere between 20,000 and 60,000 megawatts-- can be derived from simple efficiency improvements or capacity additions at existing facilities. Additional hydropower can be captured in existing man-made conduits and hydroelectric pumped storage projects can help reliably integrate other renewable resources that are intermittent, such as wind, onto our grid.

The Hydropower Improvement Act of 2013 seeks to multiply our nation's hydropower capacity in an effort to expand clean power generation and create domestic jobs. The bill provides the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with the authority to extend preliminary permit terms and to explore a possible 2-year licensing process for hydropower development at non-powered dams and closed loop pumped storage projects. The bill establishes an expedited process for FERC to consider ``qualifying conduit'' hydropower facilities and increases the rated capacity for small hydro projects to 10 megawatts. The act also calls for the Department of Energy to conduct studies of the technical flexibility and grid reliability benefits that pumped storage facilities can provide to support intermittent renewable energy, as well as on the range of opportunities for conduit hydropower potential. Importantly, the Hydropower Improvement Act of 2013 does not contain any spending authorizations and therefore does not represent any new funding.

It is my hope that as the Senate considers our Nation's long-term energy policy, we can finally recognize the important contribution the renewable resource of hydropower makes, and will continue to make, toward our clean energy goals. Our colleagues in the House have already done so. The Hydropower Improve Act of 2013 is a companion piece to H.R. 267, the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 sponsored by Representatives McMorris-Rogers and DeGette. H.R. 267 recently passed the House by a stunning 422-0 vote and is supported by both the National Hydropower Association and American Rivers. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this hydropower legislation to promote the further development of our most cost-effective, clean energy option.

Mr. President, today I am reintroducing a bill to reform the Capital Construction Fund. This legislation would allow fishers to withdraw monies from their CCF accounts without penalty or interest, preventing overfishing and overcapitalization.

The Capital Construction Fund, CCF, program was developed at a time when American fishers were having a hard time competing with highly efficient foreign fishing vessels. The program was designed to enable fishers to deposit a portion of their fishing-related earnings into a CCF account on a tax-deferred basis. Fishers then make withdrawals from their CCF account to construct, reconstruct, or under limited circumstances, acquire fishing vessels. However, any unauthorized withdrawal from CCF account is subject to severe interest and other penalties.

The program was a success. The CCF program helped U.S. fishers build a modern state-of-the-art fleet. Unfortunately, that U.S. fleet is now overcapitalized. This problem is exacerbated by concerns surrounding overfishing. Fisheries managers have begun to implement catch-share limits to reduce the number of fish that they allow fishers to catch each year. Now, the U.S. commercial fishing fleet has more harvesting capacity than our fisheries can sustainably support. However, the monies fishers put into CCF accounts remain and represent a potential for further overcapitalization. Yet, current CCF regulations penalize withdrawals made for anything other than authorized expenditures.

The resulting situation is problematic for the fishers, the industry and the resource. That is why I am reintroducing legislation today, along with my colleague Senator Murkowski, to address this problem and relieve the pressure to increase further capitalization of the fishing fleet. My legislation will enable CCF accountholders to make a one-time withdrawal from their CCF accounts. Accountholders would be required to pay the taxes due on the monies withdrawn, but without having to pay tax penalties. An income-averaging formula would be applied to the withdrawals in an effort to avoid assessing an excessive tax rate on the one-time withdrawal. Any fisher taking advantage of one-time withdrawal would then be required to close their CCF accounts and would be prohibited from further participation in the program.

This is a win-win-win situation. The fisher gets to take the money out of his CCF without having to pay penalties and interest, but still pays the taxes when due; the government gets taxes on the withdrawals; and the resource and the fishers who remain in the fishery avoid further capitalization of an already over-capitalized industry.

I look forward to working with Senators Murkowski, Murray, Cantwell, Begich and Merkley, the fishing community, and the bill's other supporters to advance this legislation to the President's desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.