CONSTRUCTION OF VETERINARY MEDICAL EDUCATION FACILITIES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 1966 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND WELFARE OF THE COMMITTEE ON The subcommittee met, pursuant to recess, at 10 a.m., in room 2218, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John Jarman (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. JARMAN. The committee will please be in order. The hearings today are on H.R. 490, H.R. 3348, and 14 similar bills relating to the construction of veterinary medical education facilities and providing assistance to students of veterinary medical education. These bills, although differing in details, provide in general for grants to cover a portion of the cost of construction of teaching facilities for the training of veterinary medical personnel, and for the replacement of rehabilitation of existing facilities. The bills also provide for assistance in establishment of loan funds for students at such schools. The original legislation on this subject was introduced by our colleague from Alabama, Mr. Andrews. Since the introduction of that bill a number of our colleagues have introduced bills having a similar purpose and it is these bills on which the subcommittee is holding its hearings today. It has been estimated that there will be a need for at least twice the number of veterinaries presently in practice in the United States by the year 1980. Because of the existing shortage of teaching facilities it will be impossible to provide the needed manpower in this area without a substantial increase in facilities. This problem is a national one. Illustrative of the need and the fact that this is a national rather than a local problem is the situation at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla. The university accepts students from eight States under interstate agreements-Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, West Virginia, and North Carolina. A report from the school shows that out of 139 applicants for admission last fall, only 48 could be admitted because of the shortage of training facilities. The purpose of these hearings is to examine present and future educational demands on the profession and determine the most feasible and productive means of meeting these demands. It is my hope that we will emerge with a bill which will afford adequate incentive and protection to the veterinary medical profession. At this point in the record there will be included the text of H.R. 490, H.R. 3348, and the agency reports thereon. (The 14 similar bills are: H.R. 4809, H.R. 5267, H.R. 5574, H.R. 5890, H.R. 5954, H.R. 6087, H.R. 6332, H.R. 6999, H.R. 8029, H.R. 11205, H.R. 12345, H.R. 14206, H.R. 14220, H.R. 14329.) [H.R. 490, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To authorize a three-year program of grants for construction of veterinary medical education facilities, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Veterinary Medical Educational Facilities Construction Act of 1964". NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL SEC. 2. Section 725 of the Public Health Service Act (relating to the National Advisory Council on Education for Health Professions) is amended as follows: (a) (1) In the first sentence of subsection (a) of such section, strike out "sixteen" and insert in lieu thereof "seventeen"; (2) In the second sentence of such subsection (a), (A) strike out "eight” and insert in lieu thereof "nine", and (B) strike out "or the public health professions" and insert in lieu thereof "the public health professions, or veterinary medicine"; (3) In the third sentence of such subsection (a), strike out "or schools of public health" and insert in lieu thereof "schools of public health or schools of veterinary medicine"; (b) In subsection (b) of such section, insert "and part A of tile VIII” after "this part"; and (c) In subsection (c) of such section, strike out "this part" (wherever it appears therein) and insert in lieu thereof "this part or part A of title VIII". GRANTS FOR VETERINARY MEDICAL TEACHING FACILITIES SEC. 3. The Public Health Service Act is amended by adding after title VII thereof (42 U.S.C. ch. 6A) the following new title: "TITLE VIII-TRAINING OF VETERINARY MEDICAL PERSONNEL "PART A-GRANTS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF TEACHING FACILITIES FOR VETERINARY MEDICAL PERSONNEL "DECLARATION OF POLICY "SEC. 801. (a) The Congress hereby finds and declares that (1) increased demand for veterinary services and rsearch necessitates the expansion and improvement of existing educational facilities for the training of veterinary medical personnel, and (2) steadily increasing tuition fees and increasing contributions from private citizens, State appropriations, and funds frrom the veterinary medical profession itself have proven insufficient to provide the necessary capital funds required for such expansion and improvement. "(b) It is, therefore, the policy of the Congress to provide funds for construction of veterinary medical teaching facilities for our public and nonprofit veterinary medical schools, thus insuring the continued production of an adequate number of properly qualified and trained veterinarians. "AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS "SEC. 802. (a) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated over a period of three fiscal years, beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1965, not to exceed the following amounts "(1) $2,000,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1964, and for each of the two succeeding fiscal years, for grants to assist in the replacement or rehabilitation of existing teaching facilities for the training of veterinary medical personnel; and "(2) $15,000,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1964, and for each of the two succeeding fiscal years, for grants to assist in the construction of new or expanded teaching facilities for the training of veterinary medical personnel. "(b) Sums appropriated pursuant to this section shall remain available until expended. "APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS "SEC. 803. (a) No application for a grant under this part may be approved unless it is submitted to the Surgeon General prior to July 1, 1966. "(b) To be eligible to apply for a grant to assist in the construction of any facility under this part, the applicant must be (A) a public or other nonprofit school of veterinary medicine, and (B) accredited by a recognized body or bodies approved for such purpose by the Commmissioner of Education, except that a new school which (by reason of no, or insufficient period of operation) is not, at the time of application for a grant to construct a facility under this part, eligible for accreditation by such a recognized body or bodies, shall be deemed accredited for purposes of this part if the Commissioner of Education finds, after consultation with the appropriate accreditation body or bodies, that there is reasonable assurance that the school will, upon completion of such facility, meet the accreditation standards of such body or bodies. "(c) A grant under this part may be made only if the application therefor is approved by the Surgeon General upon his determination that "(1) the applicant meets the eligibility conditions set forth in subsection (b); "(2) the application contains or is supported by reasonable assurances that (A) for not less than ten years after completion of construction, the facility will be used for the purposes of the teaching of veterinary medical personnel, (B) sufficient funds will be available to meet the non-Federal share of the cost of constructing the facility, (C) sufficient funds will be available when construction is completed, for effective use of the facility for the training for which it is constructed, and (D) in the case of an application for construction to expand the training capacity of an existing school of veterinary medicine, the first-year enrollment at such school during the first full school year after the completion of the construction and for each of the next nine school years thereafter will exceed the average first-year enrollment at such school for the five full school years preceding the year in which the application is made by at least 5 per centum of such highest first-year enrollment. "(3) (A) in the case of an application for a grant from funds appropriated pursuant to clause (1) of section 802(a), such application is for aid in construction which will replace or rehabilitate facilities of, or used by, an existing school of veterinary medicine which are so obsolete as to require the school to curtail substantially either its enrollment or the quality of the training provided, or (B) in the case of an application for a grant from funds appropriated pursuant to clause (2) of section 802(a), such application is for aid in the construction of a new school of veterinary medicine, or construction which will expand the training capacity of an existing school of veterinary medicine; "(4) the plans and specifications are in accordance with regulations relating to minimum standards of construction and equipment; and "(5) the application contains or is supported by adequate assurance that any laborer or mechanic employed by any contractor or subcontractor in the performance of work on the construction of the facility will be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar construction in the locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276a-276a-5); and the Secretary of Labor shall have, with respect to the labor standards specified in this clause, the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 F.R. 3176; 5 U.S.C. 133z-15), and section 2 of the Act of June 13, 1934, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276c). Before approving or disapproving an application under this part, the Surgeon General shall secure the advice of the National Advisory Council on Education for Health Professions established by section 725 (hereinafter in this part referred to as the 'Advisory Council'). "(d) In considering applications for grants, the Advisory Council and the Surgeon General shall take into account “(1)(A) in the case of a project for replacement or rehabilitation of existing facilities of, or used by, a school, the relative need for such replacement or rehabilitation to prevent curtailment of the school's enrollment or deterioration of the quality of the training provided by the school, and the relative size of any such curtailment and its effect on the geographical distribution of opportunities for training (giving due consideration to population, available veterinarians, and available resources in various areas of the Nation for training veterinarians); or "(B) in the case of a project for a new school or for expansion of the facilities of, or used by, an existing school, the relative effectiveness of the proposed facilities in expanding the capacity for the training of first-year students of veterinary medicine (or, in the case of a two-year school which is expanding to a four-year school, expanding the capacity for four-year training of students of veterinary medicine), and in promoting an equitable geographical distribution of opportunities for such training (giving consideration to the factors mentioned above in subparagraph (A)); and "(2) in the case of an applicant in a State which has in existence a State planning agency, or which participates in a regional or other interstate planning agency, described in section 809, the relationship of the application to the construction or training program which is being developed by such agency with respect to such State and, if such agency has reviewed such application, any comment thereon submitted by such agency. "AMOUNT OF GRANT; PAYMENTS "SEC. 804. (a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amount of any grant under this part shall be such amount as the Surgeon General determines to be appropriate after obtaining the advice of the Advisory Council; except that (A) in the case of a project for a new school, and in the case of a grant for new facilities for an existing school in cases where such facilities are of particular importance in providing a major expansion of training capacity, as determined in accordance with regulations, such amount may not exceed 66% per centum of the necessary cost of construction, as determined by the Surgeon General, of such project; (B) in the case of any other grant, such amount may not exceed 50 per centum of the necessary cost of construction, as so determined, of the project with respect to which the grant is made. "(2) Notwithstanding subsection (a), upon application of any veterinary medical school, a grant of not more than $25.000 may be made for the purpose of preparing initial plans with estimates for proposed new construction. "(b) Upon approval of any application for a grant under this part, the Surgeon General shall reserve, from any appropriation available therefor, the amount of such grant as determined under subsection (a); the amount so reserved may be paid in advance or by way of reimbursement, and in such installments consistent with construction progress, as the Surgeon General may determine. The Surgeon General's reservation of any amount under this section may be amended by him, either upon approval of an amendment of the application or upon revision of the estimated cost of construction of the facility. "(c) In determining the amount of any grant under this part, there shall be excluded from the cost of construction an amount equal to the sum of (1) the amount of any other Federal grant which the applicant has obtained, or is assured of obtaining, with respect to the construction which is to be financed in part by grants authorized under this part, and (2) the amount of any nonFederal funds required to be expended as a condition of such other Federal grant. "RECAPTURE OF PAYMENTS "SEC. 805. If, within ten years after completion of any construction for which funds have been paid under this part "(a) the applicant or other owner of the facility shall cease to be a public or nonprofit school, "(b) the facility shall cease to be used for the teaching purposes for which it was constructed (unless the Surgeon General determines, in accordance with regulations, that there is good cause for releasing the applicant or other owner from the obligation to do so), or "(c) the facility is used for sectarian instruction or as a place for religious worship, the United States shall be entitled to recover from the applicant or other owner of the facility the amount bearing the same ratio to the then value (as determined by agreement of the parties or by action brought in the United States district court for the district in which such facility is situated) of the facility, as the amount of the Federal participation bore to the cost of construction of such facility. "SEC. 806. As used in this part "DEFINITIONS "(1) The term 'Advisory Council' means the National Advisory Council on Education for Health Professions established by section 725; (2) The terms 'construction' and 'cost of construction' include (A) the construction of new buildings, the expansion of existing buildings, and remodeling, replacement, renovation, major repair (to the extent permitted by regulations), or alteration of existing buildings, including architects' fees, but not including the cost of acquisition of land or offsite improvements, and (B) initial equipment of new buildings and of the expanded, remodeled, repaired, renovated, or altered part of existing buildings; but such terms shall not include the construction or cost of construction of so much of any facility as is used or is to be used for sectarian instruction or as a place for religious worship; (3) The term 'nonprofit school' means a school owned and operated by one or more corporations or associations no part of the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual; and "(4) The terms 'school of veterinary medicine' and 'veterinary medical school' mean a school or college providing training leading to the degree of doctor of veterinary medicine. "NONINTERFERENCE WITH ADMINISTRATION OF INSTITUTIONS "SEC. 807. Nothing contained in this part shall be construed as authorizing any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over, or impose any requirement with respect to, the personnel, curriculum, methods of instruction, or administration of any institution. "REGULATIONS "SEC. 808. (a) The Surgeon General, after consultation with the Advisory Council and with the approval of the Secretary, shall prescribe general regulations for this part covering the eligibility of institutions, the order of priority in approving applications, the terms and conditions for approving applications, determinations of the amounts of grants, and minimum standards of construction and equipment for various types of institutions. "(b) The Surgeon General is authorized to make, with the approval of the Secretary, such other regulations as he finds necessary to carry out the provisions of this part. "TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE "SEC. 809. In carrying out the purposes of this part, and to further the development of State, or joint or coordinated regional or other interstate, planning of programs for relieving shortages of training capacity in the field of veterinary medicine through constructing teaching facilities, providing adequate financial support for schools, or otherwise, the Surgeon General is authorized to provide technical assistance and consultative services to State or interstate planning agencies established for such purpose." "PART B-STUDENT LOANS "LOAN AGREEMENTS "SEC. 820. (a) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is authorized to enter into an agreement for the establishment and operation of a student loan fund in accordance with this part with any public or other nonprofit school of veterinary medicine (as defined in section 806) which is located in a State and accredited as provided in section 803 (b) (B). |