II 

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.

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 Service Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM 

2 FOR VETERINARY MEDICINE. 

3 The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and 

4 Teaching Policy Act of 1977 is amended by inserting after 

5 section 1415 (7 U.S.C. 3151) the following: 

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

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS. 

8 ‘‘In this section: 

9 ‘‘(A) QUALIFYING EDUCATIONAL LOAN.—

10 The term ‘qualifying educational loan’ means a 

11 government or commercial loan incurred by an 

12 individual to pay for attendance at an accred13 ited college of veterinary medicine resulting in 

14 a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or 

15 the equivalent, including—

16 ‘‘(i) tuition expenses; 

17 ‘‘(ii) other reasonable educational ex18 penses, including fees, books, and labora19 tory expenses; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) reasonable living expenses, as 

21 determined by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(B) VETERINARIAN SHORTAGE SITUA23 TION.—

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘veteri25 narian shortage situation’ shall have the 

26 meaning that the Secretary shall prescribe. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In deter2 mining what constitutes a veterinarian 

3 shortage situation, the Secretary may con4 sider—

5 ‘‘(I) urban or rural areas that 

6 the Secretary determines have a 

7 shortage of veterinarians; 

8 ‘‘(II) areas of veterinary practice 

9 that the Secretary determines have a 

10 shortage of veterinarians, such as 

11 public health, epidemiology, and food 

12 safety; 

13 ‘‘(III) areas of veterinary need in 

14 the Federal Government; and 

15 ‘‘(IV) other factors that the Sec16 retary considers to be relevant. 

17 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—

18 ‘‘(1) SERVICE IN VETERINARIAN SHORTAGE

19 SITUATIONS.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the avail21 ability of funds under subsection (d), the Sec22 retary shall carry out a program to enter into 

23 agreements with veterinarians under which a 

24 veterinarian agrees to provide, for a period of 

25 time determined by the Secretary and specified 
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1 in the agreement, veterinary services in veteri2 narian shortage situations. 

3 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL LOAN REPAYMENT.—For 

4 each year of service under an agreement under 

5 this paragraph, the Secretary shall pay an 

6 amount, determined by the Secretary and speci7 fied in the agreement, of the principal, interest, 

8 and related expenses of the qualifying edu9 cational loans of the veterinarian. 

10 ‘‘(2) SERVICE TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN

11 EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.—The Secretary may enter 

12 into a 1-year agreement with a veterinarian who has 

13 entered into an agreement under paragraph (1) for 

14 the veterinarian to provide service to the Federal 

15 Government in an emergency situation, as deter16 mined by the Secretary, under terms and conditions 

17 specified in the agreement. 

18 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL ANNUAL LOAN REPAY19 MENT.—

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Under an agree21 ment under this paragraph, the Secretary 

22 shall pay an amount, as determined by the 

23 Secretary and specified in the agreement, 

24 of the principal, interest, and related ex-
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1 penses of the qualifying educational loans 

2 of the veterinarian. 

3 ‘‘(ii) AMOUNT IN ADDITION.—An 

4 amount paid under clause (i) shall be in 

5 addition to the amount paid under the 

6 agreement under paragraph (1). 

7 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS.—An agreement 

8 under this paragraph shall provide that—

9 ‘‘(i) a veterinarian shall not be re10 quired to serve more than 60 working days 

11 per year of the agreement; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) a veterinarian who provides serv13 ice in accordance with the agreement—

14 ‘‘(I) shall receive a salary com15 mensurate with the duties performed; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(II) shall be reimbursed for 

18 travel and per diem expenses as ap19 propriate for the duration of the serv20 ice. 

21 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—

22 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may carry 

23 out the program under subsection (b) directly or 

24 through an agreement with another Federal agency 

25 or service provider. 
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1 ‘‘(2) BREACH REMEDIES.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An agreement under 

3 paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) shall pro4 vide remedies for a breach of the agreement by 

5 the veterinarian, including repayment or partial 

6 repayment of financial assistance received, with 

7 interest. 

8 ‘‘(B) AMOUNTS RECOVERED.—Funds re9 covered under this subsection—

10 ‘‘(i) shall be credited to the account 

11 available to carry out this section; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) shall be available to carry out 

13 this section without further appropriation 

14 until expended. 

15 ‘‘(C) WAIVER.—If the Secretary deter16 mines that a veterinarian has breached an 

17 agreement due to extreme hardship or extreme 

18 need, the Secretary may grant a waiver of the 

19 repayment obligation for breach of contract. 

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

21 may enter into an agreement with the holder of a 

22 qualifying educational loan for which payments are 

23 made under this section to establish a schedule for 

24 the making of payments. 
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1 ‘‘(5) TAX LIABILITY.—In addition to edu2 cational loan repayments, the Secretary shall make 

3 such additional payments to a participating veteri4 narian as the Secretary determines to be appropriate 

5 to reimburse the veterinarian for tax liability result6 ing from participation in the program under this 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec10 essary to carry out this section, to remain available until 

11 expended.’’.

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