The purpose of the bill is twofold: a. To authorize grants for construction of teaching facilities for veterinary medical personnel. b. To authorize the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to enter into agreement for the establishment and operation of a student loan fund with any accredited public or other nonprofit school of veterinary medicine located in a State. Inasmuch as the proposal would directly affect the appropriations and responsibilities of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Department of Defense defers to that Department as to the merits of the bill. The Bureau of the Budget advises that, from the standpoint of the Administration's program, there is no objection to the submission of this report to the Committee. Sincerely, Hon. HARLEY O. STAGGERS, (Signed) L. Niederlehner, L. NIEDERLEHNER, Acting General Counsel. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: We wish to thank you for your letter of February 4, 1965, giving us the opportunity to review and report on H.R. 490, a bill entitled "To authorize a three-year program of grants for construction of veterinary medical education facilities, and for other purposes." The purpose of the bill is to authorize aid in the form of grants for existing and new schools of veterinary medicine. The administration of the provisions of this bill would be under the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Th bill would provide for the construction of veterinary medical educational facilities including new buildings and equipment. It also provides for expansion, remodeling, and alteration of existing buildings, as well as containing provisions for the establishment and operation of a student loan fund. The bill would authorize appropriations over a period of three fiscal years beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1965, in the following amounts: (a) $2,000,000 to assist in the replacement or rehabilitation of existing teaching facilities for the training of veterinary medical personnel; (b) $15,000,000 for grants to assist in the construction of new or expanded teaching facilities for the training of veterinary medical personnel. The amount of any grant in the case of a project for a new school, or for new facilities for an existing school where they are of particular importance in providing for major expansion of training capacity, may not exceed 66% per centum of the cost of construction. In the case of any other grant, the amount may not exceed 50 per centum of the cost of construction. A grant of not more than $25,000 may be made for the purpose of preparing initial plans with estimates for proposed new construction. Appropriations would be authorized for student loans as follows: (a) $510,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1964; (b) $1,020,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1965; (c) $1,540,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and such sums for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967, and each of the two succeeding fiscal years as may be necessary for students to continue or complete their education if they received a loan for any year ending before July 1, 1967. Loans for any student may not exceed $2,000 for any academic year or its equivalent. Loans will be repayable in equal or graduated periodic installments over a ten-year period beginning three years after the student ceases a full-time course of study at a school of veterinary medicine. Since the administration of the provisions of H.R. 490 would be under the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, we make no recommendation as to its enactment but defer to the position of that Department. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely yours, JOHN A. SCHNITTKER, COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, B-152551. Hon. OREN HARRIS, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Your letter of February 4, 1965, requests our comments on H.R. 490, to authorize a three-year program of grants for construction of veterinary medical education facilities, and for other purposes. The bill would amend the Public Health Service Act by adding to it a new title VIII. It is declared therein to be the policy of the Congress to provide funds for construction of veterinary medical teaching facilities for public and nonprofit veterinary medical schools, thus insuring the continued production of an adequate number of properly qualified and trained veterinarians. Also, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is authorized to enter into agreements for the establishment and operation of student loan funds with certain accredited public or nonprofit schools of veterinary medicine. We have no information as to whether there is a need for the Federal Government to make grants to assist in the construction of teaching facilities for the training of veterinary medical personnel or to finance loans to students pursuing a full-time course at a school of veterinary medicine and therefore, we have no recommendation to make on the merits of the bill. We do, however, have some comments which we offer for consideration by your Committee. No provision is made in the bill nor in legislation applicable to other grant programs now authorized by the Public Health Service Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 201 et seq., to require a grantee to keep adequate cost records of the projects to which the Federal Government makes financial contributions, or specifically authorizing the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare or the Comptroller General to have access to the grantee's records for purposes of audit and examination. In view of the increase in grant programs over the last several years, we feel that in order to determine whether grant funds have been expended for the purpose for which the grant was made, the grantee should be required by law to keep records which fully disclose the disposition of such funds. We also feel that the agency as well as the General Accounting Office should be permitted to have access to the grantee's records for the purpose of audit and examination. We therefore suggest that consideration be given to amending the bill to include such requirements with respect to the proposed new grant program, or preferably to an amendment of the Public Health Service Act to cover all grant programs there in authorized. The latter could be accomplished by the following language: "RECORDS AND AUDIT "(a) Each recipient of assistance under this Act shall keep such records as the Surgeon General shall prescribe, including records which fully disclose the amount and disposition by such recipient of the proceeds of such grants, the total cost of the project or undertaking in connection with which such funds are given or used, and the amount of that portion of the cost of the project or undertaking supplied by other sources, and such other records as will facilitate an effective audit. (b) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and the Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their duly authorized representatives, shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination to any books, documents, papers, and records of the recipients that are pertinent to the grants received under this Act." Language similar to that suggested above is contained in section 11 of the Clean Air Act, approved December 17, 1963, Pub. L. 88-206, 77 Stat. 401, the act of May 31, 1962, Pub. L. 87-460, 76 Stat. 83, and in section 25 of the Area Redevelopment Act, approved May 1, 1961, Pub. L. 87-27, 75 Stat. 63, 42 U.S.C. 2522 (supp. IV). It is noted that the sentence beginning on line 10 of page 18 appears to be incomplete. Also, it appears that the date "1964" on line four of page one should be "1965", and that other dates appearing on subsequent pages should be similarly advanced one year. We have no other comments or recommendations with respect to the bill. Sincerely yours, JOSEPH CAMPBELL, Comptroller General of the United States. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Hon. HARLEY O. STAGGERS, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is to acknowledge receipt of the April 6, 1966, notice of public hearings to be held April 20, 1966, by the Subcommittee on Public Health and Welfare on H.R. 490 and other bills to authorize the construction of veterinary medical schools. We do not plan to testify but do wish to invite your attention to the report of our Office to your committee on H.R. 490, a bill to authorize a three-year program of grants for construction of veterinary medical education facilities. In that report, B-152551, dated February 23, 1965, we suggested that a provision be added to the bill to require a grantee to keep adequate cost records and to specifically authorize the Government to have access to such records for purposes of audit and examination. May I again suggest that the language included in our letter of February 23, 1965, to accomplish this purpose be considered in connection with these bills. That language is as follows: "RECORDS AND AUDIT "(a) Each recipient of assistance under this Act shall keep such records as the Surgeon General shall prescribe, including records which fully disclose the amount and disposition by such recipient of the proceeds of such grants, the total cost of the project or undertaking in connection with which such funds are given or used, and the amount of that portion of the cost of the project or undertaking supplied by other sources, and such other records as will facilitate an effective audit. "(b) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and the Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their duly authorized representatives shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination to any books, documents, papers, and records of the recipients that are pertinent to the grants received under this Act." Similar language is contained in section 909 of title IX of the Public Health Service Act as added by the Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke Amendments of 1965, approved October 6, 1965, Pub. L. 89-239, 79 Stat. 930. Similar language also is contained in section 604 of title VI of the Public Health Service Act as added by the Hospital and Medical Facilities Amendments of 1964, approved August 18, 1964, Pub. L. 88-443, 78 Stat. 452. Sincerely yours, FRANK H. WEITZEL, Assistant Comptroller General of the United States. The first witness this morning is our colleague from Alabama, Hon. George Andrews. STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE ANDREWS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ALABAMA Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Chairman, my name is George Andrews and I represent the Third Congressional District of Alabama. I am deeply grateful for the privilege of testifying in behalf of my bill, H.R. 3348, which relates to veterinary medicine. This is the first time I have appeared before your committee with reference to the needs of veterinary medicine, but this is by no means a new problem. The profession is long suffering, and if patience builds character, veterinary medicine is truly a virtuous art. A red flag signaling danger has been waving over this honorable profession for the last decade. In the 1950's it became apparent that as a nation we were beginning to experience shortages in the actual numbers of available veterinarians due to increasing demands. In fact a recent study entitled "Age Distribution of Veterinarians With Projections to 1985," reached the sobering conclusion that veterinary medicine will not be able to meet its responsibilities in new fields. More astounding than that is the study's projection of a decline after 1980 in the absolute number of veterinarians. This is due to attrition by death and retirement. Let me emphasize that we will not be able to train veterinarians as fast as we are losing them. Existing Federal programs are already attempting to alleviate similar shortages that exist in medical doctors, nurses, pediatricians, optometrists, and the like. Veterinary medicine is left out. It has been overlooked even though it plays an integral role in the whole arena of human medicine and public health. You will notice I use the word "overlooked" to describe the reason for the omission. This is the only possible explanation, since on examination it becomes vividly apparent that the public health would not be nearly so well served without veterinary medicine. If not attended to, this problem undoubtedly will become the bottleneck that prevents future growth in the whole field of medicine since its constituent sciences are closely interrelated and veterinary medicine plays an integral part in these sciences as the backbone of comparative medicine. Those who are willing to examine the matter, quickly lose the opinion that veterinarians are simply dog and cat doctors. The relationship of veterinary medicine to the public's health and welfare is very real and at the same time very intimate. The veterinarian not only assures that all kinds of meats are fit for human consumption, he also leads the fight in the field of zoonoses-the numerous infectious diseases of animals which are transmissible to man. There are over 100 known diseases, according to the World Health Organization, which people can, and do, acquire from animals. In addition, the veterinarian has a key role as a member of the medical teams which quell epidemics. These vital functions of veterinary medicine are in serious danger of being critically curtailed. It is conservatively estimated that in the next 15 years we will not have half the men in this profession that we need. The frightening fact to realize is that these projections do not make allowance for any new fields of endeavor that veterinary medicine might undertake as the mysteries of science unfold in the vast areas of research now going on in this country. Already the veterinarian has far outgrown his standard title as "animal doctor," accepting freely the mantle of responsibility cast on him by comparative medicine, biological research, food nutrition, and space-age medicine. We are already hurting for lack of veterinarians. When the average student graduates from veterinary school, he will be offered four positions. Of course, he can fill only one of them and many go unfilled. The lack of sheer numbers in the profession is alarming to the casual observer, but more disturbing perhaps to those looking beneath the surface of the problem is the lack of quality in veterinary research— not as a result of professional competence, but simply because of scarcity and inadequacy of facilities. I have heard of numerous heartbreaking situations where the tedious efforts of researchers were lost when experimental animals died or contracted diseases foreign to the particular experiment. Better facilities which allow controlled sanitation and which eliminate overcrowding could stop this waste. After I become aware of the insufficiencies that exist in this area, and which promise to become worse, I introduced a bill which I hoped would help solve the problem. This was in the early days of the 86th Congress. Vice President Humphrey, who was then a Senator, introduced an identical bill in the other body. Senator Hill followed suit shortly thereafter, and later numerous identical measures were introduced in the House. In every succeeding Congress I have introduced a similar bill which varied only in technical detail from the original. The proposal you are considering today calls for a program of grants for improving the plant facilities of veterinary schools. In addition, it will establish a loan program for students studying veterinary medicine. We are confronted with a problem that is clearly of national scope, for there are only 18 schools of veterinary medicine in the country and 2 are in my home State of Alabama. Collectively, these schools must bear the burden of training all of those students from the 33 States not having schools of veterinary medicine. These few schools cannot and should not be expected to foot the bill for a problem of such obvious significance to the whole United States. Existing Federal program do not offer a solution to the pending crisis, and it is my considered opinion that a remedial course of action should be undertaken immediately. I recommend a Veterinary Medical Educational Facilities Construction Act of 1966 as outlined in my bill, H.R. 3348, and in numerous identical bills before this committee. One might readily suggest with sound reasoning that the Office of Education could administer such a program or likewise the Department of Agriculture. Nevertheless, I believe evaluation reveals that the overriding consideration is the Congress responsibility to the public health. The Public Health Service appears ready and willing to administer such a program, and the precedent for such placement of the responsibility can be easily drawn from similar programs already tendered by the Public Health Service. I might add that they do a commendable job of it. The Department of Agriculture has issued several reports pointing up the critical needs in veterinary medicine. The United States Department of Agriculture also recommends remedial action like that called for in H.R. 3348. The Bureau of the Budget, as you know, does not have such a program earmarked for the coming fiscal year, but officials have not issued a negative report. To the contrary, they give every indication of being favorably disposed. Contingencies exist in the 1967 budget which could make room for a program designed to prevent the collision course veterinary medicine is now traveling. The first purpose of the Veterinary Medical Education Facilities Construction Act is to authorize aid in the form of grants for existing and new schools of veterinary medicine. The administration of the provisions of this bill would be under the Department of Health, Edu |