Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
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Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise in support of the Veterinary
Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act that I am introducing
today with Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. This bipartisan
legislation would address the shortage of veterinarians in many areas
of this Nation by helping to increase the placement of more
veterinarians in areas of the country where they are desperately
needed.
Veterinarians are a critical part of ensuring our access to a safe
and high-quality food supply. Americans depend on veterinarians to help
ensure food safety and public health, improve animal health and
welfare, promote sustainable economic development and safeguard our
homeland from foreign animal disease. Unfortunately, nearly every state
has a rural community that is suffering from a shortage in essential
veterinary services.
To help address this concern, in 2003, Congress established the
Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program, VMLRP. This program assists
selected food animal and public health veterinarians with student loan
repayment for a three-year commitment to practice in areas of the
country facing a veterinarian shortage. This program helps
veterinarians with daunting student loan debt with making a living in a
community where starting a practice may be otherwise financially
impossible. Through the program, more than 280 veterinarians have been
placed in communities throughout the country--a benefit for food
safety, the communities, farmers and ranchers, the veterinarians and
more.
The problem is the VMLRP is subject to a significant Federal
withholding tax on the assistance provided to qualifying veterinarians.
This affects the amount of limited resources that can go toward this
worthy effort and the reach of its benefits. The legislation we are
introducing will address this by providing an exemption from the
Federal income withholding tax for payments received under the VMLRP
and similar State programs. Thus, more veterinarians would have the
opportunity to practice in small, rural communities where their
services are so desperately needed and more communities will have much-
needed veterinarian services.
To illustrate the need for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment
Program Enhancement Act, consider the following example. In October
2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food
and Agriculture announced more than $4.5 million was awarded to 51
veterinarians through the VMLRP. The awards announced in October will
fill shortage needs in 22 States. However, estimates show that if this
withholding tax were to be eliminated, an additional veterinarian could
be placed in a shortage area for every three currently participating in
the program. That means approximately 17 additional awards could have
been issued last year had this tax been eliminated.
This legislation would also help bring the tax treatment of this
program in line with the tax treatment of assistance for doctors and
nurses who are serving areas of the country in need through the
National Health Service Corps' loan repayment program. In 2004,
Congress exempted the benefits available under the National Health
Service Corps' loan repayment program from the federal withholding tax.
Enactment of the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Enhancement Act
would create tax parity for the counterpart program for veterinary
medicine.
So far, 15 Senators--including Senators Thad Cochran, Johnny Isakson,
Jim Risch, Pat Roberts, Michael Bennet, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy
Klobuchar, Al Franken, Mazie Hirono, Angus King, Jr., Pat Leahy, Bernie
Sanders, and Tammy Baldwin--from both sides of the aisle have
cosponsored this important legislation and 152 national and local
organizations support the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program
Enhancement Act. Congress can help ensure that every community across
America has access to needed veterinary care. Please join us in this
effort to place more veterinarians in areas of the country where they
are desperately needed and support passage of this bipartisan,
commonsense legislation.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be
printed in the Record.
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