I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2999 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to enhance and increase the number 

of veterinarians trained in veterinary public health. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2009 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, 

and Mr. SCHRADER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to enhance and 

increase the number of veterinarians trained in veterinary public health. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Veterinary Public Health Workforce and Education 

6 Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 


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Sec. 3. Veterinary education capacity building initiatives through the National 

Center for Research Resources. 

Sec. 4. Enhancing the public health veterinary medicine workforce. 

Sec. 5. Implementation plan. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Veterinary medicine is an integral and in4 dispensable component of the Nation’s public health 

5 system. Veterinarians protect human health by pre6 venting and controlling infectious diseases, ensuring 

7 the safety and security of the Nation’s food supply, 

8 promoting healthy environments, and providing 

9 health care for animals. 

10 (2) Veterinarians are essential for early detec11 tion and response to unusual disease events that 

12 could be linked to newly emerging infectious dis13 eases, such as, SARS, and West Nile Virus, or other 

14 biothreat agents of concern. 

15 (3) Veterinarians have been intimately involved 

16 in responding to recent disease threats, such as the 

17 H1N1 outbreak in North America in the spring of 

18 2009. 

19 (4) There is a need to build national capacity 

20 in research and training in the prevention, surveil21 lance, diagnosis, and control of newly emerging and 

22 re-emerging infectious diseases. 


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1 (5) Veterinarians are uniquely qualified to ad2 dress these high priority public health issues because 

3 of their extensive professional training in basic bio4 medical sciences, population medicine, and broad, 

5 multi-species, comparative medical approach to dis6 ease prevention and control. 

7 (6) There is a shortage of veterinarians working 

8 in veterinary public health. 

9 (7) The Government Accountability Office 

10 (GAO) released a study in February 2009 that fo11 cused on the Federal Government’s lack of veteri12 nary manpower and coordination of human capital 

13 needs for veterinarians (GAO–09–178). The GAO 

14 report found the workforce shortage will worsen ‘‘as 

15 a result of space constraints at the Nation’s 28 vet16 erinary colleges’’. 

17 (8) The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects 

18 there to be 28,000 job openings in the veterinary 

19 medical profession by 2012 due to growth and net 

20 replacements, a turnover of nearly 38 percent. 

21 (9) The Nation’s veterinary medical colleges do 

22 not have the capacity to meet the current and future 

23 demand for veterinarians and veterinary expertise 

24 that is vital to maintain public health preparedness. 


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1 (10) The Federal Government has not provided 

2 resources to increase the number of veterinarians in 

3 the workforce in over 30 years. 

4 SEC. 3. VETERINARY EDUCATION CAPACITY BUILDING INI5 TIATIVES THROUGH THE NATIONAL CENTER 

6 FOR RESEARCH RESOURCES. 

7 Subpart 1 of part E of title IV of the Public Health 

8 Service Act is amended by adding at the end the following 

9 new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 481E. VETERINARY EDUCATION CAPACITY BUILDING 

11 GRANTS. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

13 the Director of the National Center for Research Re14 sources, shall award competitive grants to eligible entities 

15 for purposes of increasing the number of veterinarians in 

16 the workforce and veterinary teaching faculty in the field 

17 of veterinary public health as defined by section 774. 

18 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive 

19 a grant under subsection (a), an entity shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) be— 

21 ‘‘(A) a public or other nonprofit college or 

22 school of veterinary medicine accredited by the 

23 American Veterinary Medical Association; 

24 ‘‘(B) a public or nonprofit, department of 

25 comparative medicine, department of veterinary 


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1 science, school of public health, or school of 

2 medicine that is accredited by at least one rec3 ognized body approved for such purpose by the 

4 Department of Education and that offers grad5 uate training for veterinarians in an area of 

6 veterinary public health; or 

7 ‘‘(C) a public or nonprofit entity that con8 ducts residency training programs for veterinar9 ians that are approved by a veterinary specialty 

10 organization that is recognized by the American 

11 Veterinary Medical Association and that offers 

12 advanced training for veterinarians in an area 

13 of veterinary public health; and 

14 ‘‘(2) prepare and submit to the Secretary an 

15 application, at such time, in such manner, and con16 taining such information as the Secretary may re17 quire. 

18 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS.—The Sec19 retary shall establish procedures to ensure that applica20 tions submitted under subsection (b)(2) are rigorously re21 viewed and that grants are competitively awarded based 

22 on— 

23 ‘‘(1) the ability of the applicant to increase the 

24 number of veterinarians who are trained in areas of 

25 veterinary public health; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the ability of the applicant to increase ca2 pacity in research on high priority disease agents; 

3 ‘‘(3) the ability of the applicant to increase the 

4 number of faculty who are trained in areas of veteri5 nary public health; or 

6 ‘‘(4) any other consideration the Secretary de7 termines necessary. 

8 ‘‘(d) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under sub9 section (a)(1), the Secretary shall give preference to— 

10 ‘‘(1) applicants that involve more than one col11 lege or school of veterinary medicine, department of 

12 comparative medicine, department of veterinary 

13 science, school or program of public health, school of 

14 medicine, or residency training program that offers 

15 postgraduate training for veterinarians in an area 

16 defined in section 774; and 

17 ‘‘(2) applicants that significantly increase en18 rollment in veterinary public health education pro19 grams. 

20 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received under a 

21 grant in this section shall be used by a grantee to increase 

22 the number of veterinarians in the workforce through— 

23 ‘‘(1) paying the costs associated with construc24 tion, the acquisition of equipment, and other capital 

25 costs relating to the expansion of new or existing 


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1 colleges or schools of veterinary medicine, depart2 ments of comparative medicine, departments of vet3 erinary science, or entities offering residency train4 ing programs to veterinarians; 

5 ‘‘(2) paying the capital costs associated with the 

6 expansion of academic programs that offer post7 graduate training for veterinarians or concurrent 

8 training for students in veterinary public health; 

9 ‘‘(3) paying the salaries associated with hiring 

10 additional faculty to meet an increase in veterinary 

11 student capacity; 

12 ‘‘(4) developing a veterinary public health cur13 riculum to attract veterinarians into careers in pub14 lic health; and 

15 ‘‘(5) providing scholarships to graduated veteri16 narians or veterinary students to receive a master’s 

17 in public health. 

18 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

20 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, $100,000,000 for fis21 cal year 2011, and $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

22 2012 through 2014. Such sums shall remain available 

23 until expended.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. ENHANCING THE PUBLIC HEALTH VETERINARY 

2 MEDICINE WORKFORCE. 

3 Part E of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 294n et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new subpart: 

6 ‘‘Subpart 3—Veterinary Medicine Workforce 

7 ‘‘SEC. 771. VETERINARY FACULTY LOAN REPAYMENT PRO8 GRAM. 

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

10 through the Administrator of the Health Resources and 

11 Services Administration, may enter into an agreement 

12 with eligible individuals for the repayment of education 

13 loans, in accordance with this section, to increase the num14 ber of qualified veterinary faculty in the field of veterinary 

15 public health. 

16 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENTS.—Each agreement entered into 

17 under subsection (a) shall require that the eligible indi18 vidual shall serve as a full-time member of the faculty of 

19 a school of veterinary medicine accredited by the American 

20 Veterinary Medical Association, or a department of com21 parative medicine, department of veterinary science, 

22 school of public health, or school of medicine accredited 

23 by the Department of Education for a total period, in the 

24 aggregate, of at least four consecutive years during the 

25 ten-year period beginning on the later of— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the date on which the individual receives 

2 a master’s level degree in an approved field of study 

3 and doctorate veterinary medicine degree from a col4 lege or school of veterinary medicine accredited by 

5 the Department of Education or a doctorate in an6 other approved field of study; or 

7 ‘‘(2) the date on which the individual enters 

8 into an agreement under subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘(c) AGREEMENT PROVISIONS.—Agreements entered 

10 into pursuant to subsection (a) shall be entered into on 

11 such terms and conditions as the Secretary may specify, 

12 consistent with the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) Not later than 10 months after the date 

14 on which the ten-year period described in subsection 

15 (b) begins, but in no case before the individual 

16 starts as a full-time member of the faculty of a 

17 school, department, or college described in such sub18 section, the Secretary shall begin making payments, 

19 for and on behalf of that individual, on the out20 standing principal of, and interest on, any loan of 

21 that individual obtained to pay for such degree. 

22 ‘‘(2) For an individual who has completed a 

23 master’s level degree in an approved field of study— 

24 ‘‘(A) payments may not exceed $10,000 

25 per calendar year; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) total payments may not exceed 

2 $40,000. 

3 ‘‘(3) For an individual who has completed a 

4 doctorate degree in an approved field of study— 

5 ‘‘(A) payments may not exceed $25,000 

6 with respect to fiscal year 2010, adjusted for 

7 subsequent fiscal years to reflect the increase in 

8 Consumer Price Index; and 

9 ‘‘(B) total payments may not exceed 

10 $100,000 with respect to fiscal year 2010, ad11 justed for subsequent fiscal years to reflect the 

12 increase in Consumer Price Index. 

13 ‘‘(d) BREACH OF AGREEMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any agree15 ment made under subsection (a), the individual is 

16 liable to the Federal Government for the total 

17 amount paid by the Secretary under such agree18 ment, and for interest on such amount at the max19 imum legal prevailing rate, if the individual fails to 

20 meet the agreement terms required under subsection 

21 (b). 

22 ‘‘(2) WAIVER, SUSPENSION, OR CANCELLATION

23 OF LIABILITY.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an indi25 vidual making an agreement for purposes of 


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1 paragraph (1), the Secretary may suspend or 

2 waive, in whole or in part, liability under such 

3 paragraph in accordance with this paragraph if 

4 the Secretary deems compliance by the indi5 vidual cannot be fulfilled. The Secretary or the 

6 designee of the Secretary shall review all re7 quests for suspensions and waivers under this 

8 paragraph. In addition, the Secretary may can9 cel or terminate an agreement made under sub10 section (a) under very limited circumstances 

11 consistent with the provisions of this paragraph. 

12 ‘‘(B) SUSPENSION.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A suspension of li14 ability of an individual under paragraph 

15 (1) may be granted under subparagraph 

16 (A) if compliance with such liability by the 

17 individual is temporarily impossible or 

18 would involve a temporary extreme hard 

19 ship such that enforcement of the liability 

20 would be unconscionable. 

21 ‘‘(ii) MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION; ILL22 NESS OF FAMILY MEMBER.—Such a sus23 pension shall be granted under subpara24 graph (A), for not more than one year, if 

25 the participant provides independent medVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:17 Jun 24, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999

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1 ical documentation of a physical or mental 

2 health disability, or a terminal illness of an 

3 immediate family member, that results in 

4 the participant’s temporary inability to 

5 perform the obligation. 

6 ‘‘(iii) CALL TO ACTIVE DUTY IN THE

7 ARMED FORCES.—Such a suspension shall 

8 be granted under subparagraph (A) if the 

9 participants is a member of a reserve com10 ponent of the Armed Forces who is called 

11 to serve on active duty, but for not more 

12 than one year beginning on the activation 

13 date described in the member’s call to ac14 tive duty order. 

15 ‘‘(C) WAIVER.—A waiver of liability of an 

16 individual under paragraph (1) may be granted 

17 under subparagraph (A) if compliance by the 

18 individual is permanently impossible or would 

19 involve a permanent extreme hardship such that 

20 enforcement of the liability would be uncon21 scionable. 

22 ‘‘(D) CANCELLATION.—The liability of an 

23 individual under paragraph (1) may be can24 celled in its entirety upon the death of the indi25 vidual. 


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1 ‘‘(3) DATE CERTAIN FOR RECOVERY.—Subject 

2 to paragraph (2), any amount that the Federal Gov3 ernment is entitled to recover under paragraph (1) 

4 shall be paid to the United States not later than the 

5 expiration of the 3-year period beginning on the date 

6 the United States becomes so entitled. 

7 ‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts recovered under 

8 paragraph (1) shall be available to the Secretary for 

9 making loan repayments under this section and shall 

10 remain available for such purpose until expended. 

11 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—For the pur12 poses of this section, the term ‘eligible individual’ means 

13 an individual who— 

14 ‘‘(1) is a United States citizen, national, or law15 ful permanent resident; 

16 ‘‘(2)(A) has a degree in an approved field of 

17 study as defined in section 774; or 

18 ‘‘(B) is enrolled on a full-time or part-time 

19 basis in such a program. 

20 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

22 2010 through 2014 to carry out this section. Such sums 

23 shall remain available until expended. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 772. VETERINARY PUBLIC HEALTH FELLOWSHIPS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

3 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

4 Administration, shall establish fellowship programs de5 scribed in subsections (b) and (c) for veterinarians to pro6 vide on-the-job training in food systems security and vet7 erinary public health. 

8 ‘‘(b) FULL-TIME ONE-YEAR FELLOWSHIPS.—The fel9 lowship program described in this subsection is a program 

10 under which— 

11 ‘‘(1) eligible individuals are hired through the 

12 Department of Health and Human Services as fel13 lows for a one-year period on a full-time basis; 

14 ‘‘(2) the Secretary may enter into cooperative 

15 agreements with other departments and agencies of 

16 the Federal Government that employ veterinarians 

17 (including the United States Department of Agri18 culture, the United States Agency for International 

19 Development, the Department of the Interior, the 

20 Department of Commerce, the Department of 

21 Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection 

22 Agency, and the Department of Defense) under 

23 which such fellows are placed with such other de24 partments and agencies; 


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1 ‘‘(3) to be eligible to receive a fellowship an in2 dividual would be a graduate of a school or college 

3 of veterinary medicine; and 

4 ‘‘(4) with respect to an individual receiving a 

5 fellowship under the program, the Federal Govern6 ment agrees to pay a monthly stipend for each 

7 month the individual participates in such fellowship, 

8 the amount of which shall be determined by the Sec9 retary based on the individual’s degree and relevant 

10 experience, such that— 

11 ‘‘(A) such individuals who have earned a 

12 doctoral level academic degree in an approved 

13 field of study shall be eligible for a monthly sti14 pend of $4,600 for fiscal year 2010; adjusted 

15 for subsequent fiscal years to reflect the in16 crease in Consumer Price Index, and 

17 ‘‘(B) such individuals who have earned an 

18 academic degree at a Masters level in an ap19 proved field of study shall be eligible for a 

20 monthly stipend of $1,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

21 adjusted for subsequent fiscal years to reflect 

22 the increase in Consumer Price Index. 

23 ‘‘(c) PART-TIME FELLOWSHIPS.—The fellowship pro24 gram described in this subsection is a program under 

25 which— 


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1 ‘‘(1) eligible individuals are hired on a part-time 

2 basis through the Department of Health and Human 

3 Services as fellows; 

4 ‘‘(2) the Secretary may enter into cooperative 

5 agreements with other departments and agencies of 

6 the Federal Government that have employ veterinar7 ians (including but not limited to: the United States 

8 Department of Agriculture, the United States Agen9 cy for International Development, the Department of 

10 the Interior, the Department of Commerce, the De11 partment of Homeland Security, the Environmental 

12 Protection Agency, and the Department of Defense) 

13 under which such fellows are placed with such other 

14 departments and agencies; 

15 ‘‘(3) to be eligible to receive a fellowship an in16 dividual shall be enrolled in a school of veterinary 

17 medicine or a graduate of a school of veterinary 

18 medicine; 

19 ‘‘(4) with respect to an eligible individual par20 ticipating in such program, the Federal Government 

21 agrees to pay a monthly stipend for each month of 

22 such participation in the amount of $2,000 for fiscal 

23 year 2010; adjusted for subsequent fiscal years to 

24 reflect the increase in Consumer Price Index; and 


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1 ‘‘(5) from amounts appropriated for carrying 

2 out this section, the Secretary shall transfer funds 

3 to the head of each agency participating in such pro4 gram for the costs of supporting the beginning sala5 ries of such veterinarians at such agency for not 

6 more than 2 years. 

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

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

9 $2,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

10 2014. For fiscal years after fiscal year 2010 such amount 

11 shall be adjusted to reflect the increase in Consumer Price 

12 Index. Such sums shall remain available until expended. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 773. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DIVISION OF VETERI14 NARY MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH AT 

15 HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMIN16 ISTRATION. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish, 

18 within the Health Resources and Services Administration, 

19 a Division of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health, to 

20 administer programs related to veterinary medicine and 

21 public health. 

22 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary shall appoint an in23 dividual to direct the Division who is a distinguished lead24 er from the field of veterinary medicine or public health. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 774. DEFINITIONS. 

2 ‘‘For purposes of this subpart: 

3 ‘‘(1) VETERINARY PUBLIC HEALTH DEFINED.— 

4 The term ‘veterinary public health’ includes— 

5 ‘‘(A) biodefense and emergency prepared6 ness, emerging and reemerging infectious dis7 eases, environmental health, ecosystem health, 

8 pre and post-harvest food protection, regulatory 

9 medicine, diagnostic laboratory medicine, veteri10 nary pathology, biomedical research, rural and 

11 government practice; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the sum of all contributions to the 

13 physical, mental, and social well-being of hu14 mans through an understanding and application 

15 of veterinary science. 

16 ‘‘(2) APPROVED FIELD OF STUDY.—The term 

17 ‘approved field of study’ includes— 

18 ‘‘(A) doctoral degrees (VMD, DVM, MD, 

19 DO, PhD, DDS) in veterinary medicine, human 

20 medicine, or another appropriate and applicable 

21 scientific field; and 

22 ‘‘(B) Masters degrees in veterinary pre23 ventative medicine, public health, science, vet24 erinary science, or another appropriate and ap25 plicable scientific field.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. 

2 Not later than 180 days after the enactment of this 

3 Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

4 through the Assistant Secretary for Legislation, shall sub5 mit to Congress an implementation plan for all provisions 

6 of this Act and amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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