I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1367

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a loan repayment program regarding the provision of veterinary services in shortage situations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2003

Mr. PICKERING (for himself and Mr. TURNER of Texas) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a loan 

repayment program regarding the provision of veterinary 

services in shortage situations, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Veterinary 

5 Medical Services Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM 

7 REGARDING VETERINARY MEDICINE. 

8 The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and 

9 Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) is 
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1 amended by inserting after section 1415 the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 1415A. VETERINARY MEDICINE LOAN REPAYMENT. 

4 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out a pro5 gram of entering into agreements with veterinarians under 

6 which the veterinarians agree to provide, for a period of 

7 time as determined by the Secretary and specified in the 

8 agreement, veterinary services in veterinarian shortage sit9 uations. For each year of such service under an agreement 

10 under this subsection, the Secretary shall pay an amount, 

11 as determined by the Secretary and specified in the agree12 ment, of the principal and interest of qualifying edu13 cational loans of the veterinarians. 

14 ‘‘(b) VETERINARIAN SHORTAGE SITUATIONS.—In de15 termining ‘veterinarian shortage situations’ the Secretary 

16 may consider the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) Urban or rural areas that the Secretary 

18 determines have a shortage of veterinarians. 

19 ‘‘(2) Population groups that the Secretary de20 termines have a shortage of veterinarians. 

21 ‘‘(3) Areas of veterinary practice that the Sec22 retary determines have a shortage of veterinarians. 

23 ‘‘(4) Other factors that the Secretary considers 

24 to be relevant. 

25 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—
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1 ‘‘(1) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 

2 may carry out this program directly or enter into 

3 agreements with another Federal agency or other 

4 service provider to assist in the administration of 

5 this program. 

6 ‘‘(2) BREACH REMEDIES.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Agreements with pro8 gram participants shall provide remedies for 

9 any breach of an agreement by a participant, 

10 including repayment of financial assistance re11 ceived in proportion to the time served in the 

12 veterinary shortage situation. 

13 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—The Secretary may estab14 lish a waiver process of this repayment obliga15 tion in the event of extreme hardship, as deter16 mined by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(C) AMOUNTS RECOVERED.—Funds re18 covered under this subsection shall be credited 

19 to the account available to carry out this sec20 tion and shall remain available until expended. 

21 ‘‘(3) QUALIFYING EDUCATIONAL LOANS.—Loan 

22 repayments provided under this section may consist 

23 of payments on behalf of participating individuals of 

24 the principal, interest, and related expenses on gov25 ernment and commercial loans received by the indi-
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1 vidual for attendance of the individual at an accred2 ited college of veterinary medicine resulting in a de3 gree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or the equiva4 lent, which loans were made for—

5 ‘‘(A) tuition expenses; 

6 ‘‘(B) all other reasonable educational ex7 penses, including fees, books, and laboratory ex8 penses, incurred by the individual; or 

9 ‘‘(C) reasonable living expenses as deter10 mined by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(4) REPAYMENT SCHEDULE.—The Secretary 

12 may enter into an agreement with the holder of any 

13 loan for which payments are made under this section 

14 to establish a schedule for the making of such pay15 ments. 

16 ‘‘(5) TAX LIABILITY.—In addition to making 

17 educational loan repayments, the Secretary shall 

18 make such additional payments to participants as 

19 the Secretary determines to be appropriate for the 

20 purpose of providing reimbursements to participants 

21 for individual tax liability resulting from participa22 tion in the program under this section. 
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1 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated for carrying out this sec3 tion such sums as may be necessary.’’.

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