IIB 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1367
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
NOVEMBER 18, 2003
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
and Forestry 
AN ACT 
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Veterinary 
Medical Service Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM 
REGARDING VETERINARY MEDICINE. 
The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and 
Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 1415 the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 1415A. VETERINARY MEDICINE LOAN REPAYMENT. 
‘‘(a) PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) SERVICE IN SHORTAGE SITUATIONS.—The 
Secretary shall carry out a program of entering into 
agreements with veterinarians under which the vet-
erinarians agree to provide, for a period of time as 
determined by the Secretary and specified in the 
agreement, veterinary services in veterinarian short-
age situations. For each year of such service under 
an agreement under this paragraph, the Secretary 
shall pay an amount, as determined by the Secretary 
and specified in the agreement, of the principal and 
interest of qualifying educational loans of the veteri-
narians. 
‘‘(2) SERVICE
TO
FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT
IN 
EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.—
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
enter into agreements of one year duration with 
veterinarians who have agreements pursuant to 
paragraph (1) for such veterinarians to provide 
services to the Federal Government in emer-
gency situations, as determined by the Sec-
retary, under terms and conditions specified in 
the agreement. Pursuant to an agreement 
under this paragraph, the Secretary shall pay 
an amount, in addition to the amount paid pur-
suant to the agreement in paragraph (1), as de-
termined by the Secretary and specified in the 
agreement, of the principal and interest of 
qualifying educational loans of the veterinar-
ians. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—Agreements en-
tered into under this paragraph shall include 
the following: 
‘‘(i) A veterinarian shall not be re-
quired to serve more than 60 working days 
per year of the agreement. 
‘‘(ii) A veterinarian who provides serv-
ice pursuant to the agreement shall receive 
a salary commensurate with the duties and 
shall be reimbursed for travel and per diem
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‘‘(B) AMOUNTS
RECOVERED.—Funds re-
covered under this subsection shall be credited 
to the account available to carry out this sec-
tion and shall remain available until expended. 
‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may grant a 
waiver of the repayment obligation for breach of 
contract in the event of extreme hardship or extreme 
need, as determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(4) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall develop 
regulations to determine the amount of loan repay-
ment for a year of service by a veterinarian. In mak-
ing the determination, the Secretary shall consider 
the extent to which such determination—
‘‘(A) affects the ability of the Secretary to 
maximize the number of agreements that can 
be provided under the Veterinary Medicine 
Loan Repayment Program from the amounts 
appropriated for such agreements; and 
‘‘(B) provides an incentive to serve in vet-
erinary service shortage areas with the greatest 
need. 
‘‘(5) QUALIFYING EDUCATIONAL LOANS.—Loan 
repayments provided under this section may consist 
of payments on behalf of participating individuals of 
the principal and interest on government and com-
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mercial loans received by the individual for attend-
ance of the individual at an accredited college of vet-
erinary medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor of 
Veterinary Medicine or the equivalent, which loans 
were made for—
‘‘(A) tuition expenses; 
‘‘(B) all other reasonable educational ex-
penses, including fees, books, and laboratory ex-
penses, incurred by the individual; or 
‘‘(C) reasonable living expenses as deter-
mined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(6) REPAYMENT
SCHEDULE.—The Secretary 
may enter into an agreement with the holder of any 
loan for which payments are made under this section 
to establish a schedule for the making of such pay-
ments. 
‘‘(7) TAX
LIABILITY.—In addition to edu-
cational loan repayments, the Secretary shall make 
such additional payments to participants as the Sec-
retary determines to be appropriate for the purpose 
of providing reimbursements to participants for indi-
vidual tax liability resulting from participation in 
this program. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated for carrying out this sec-
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tion such sums as may be necessary and such sums shall 
remain available to the Secretary for the purposes of this 
section until expended.’’.
Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 
2003. 
Attest: 
JEFF TRANDAHL, 
Clerk.