1. "Veterinary Medical Science and Human Health." Committee on Government Operations and its Subcommittee on Reorganization and International Organizations, U.S. Senate. H. H. Humphrey, Chr., 1961. 2. "Report on Manpower for Medical Research-Part Four". Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1962, Subcommittee on Departments of Labor and Health, Education and Welfare, and Related Agencies Appropriations, John E. Fogarty, Chr., page 182. 3. Mr. William Barbeau, Executive Secretary, Board of Examiners in Veterinary Medicine, Sacramento, California. Personal communication. 4. "Age Distribution of Veterinarians with Projections to 1985," Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 146:536-543 (1965). UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS, I am Dr. Emil M. Mrak, Chancellor of the University of California at Davis. Prior to being named Chancellor, I was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Food Science. I wish to strongly support the Veterinary Medical Educational Facilities Construction Act of 1966. I am, in fact, amazed that veterinary medical educational facilities were not included with other medical facilities in the original medical educational facilities legislaton. As a food scentists and chancellor of a campus with an outstanding school of veterinary medicine, I have long been aware of the close relationship between veterinary and human medicine and the contributions of veterinary medicine to human health and welfare. We are embarking upon a unique medical educational venture on our campus which I believe holds a great deal of promise for improved teaching and research in the medical sciences and for improved medical services to the people of our state and nation. Our campus has long been noted for its strong, basic program in biological sciences. Few other campuses in the world have as many outstanding biological scientists conducting research on fundamental life processes. We have, too, a vital, research-oriented veterinary medical school dedicated to providing the campus with the unique contributions of comparative biology and comparative medicine. To these programs we are adding a human medical school which we hope will be dedicated to the advancement of the principles of improved patient care. Hence our medical program will, in fact, include the basic biological, physical and social sciences of the University, the comparative medical program in veterinary medicine and the human oriented medical program of our School of Medicine. Few other universities can compare with us in the depth, breadth and potential of this program. I wish finally to say that we consider modern veterinary medicine to play the same role in medical research and teaching that was played by the so-called experimental medical experts of the past. The veterinarian, at least in my school, is demonstrating his ability to conduct research on diseases and disease processes in animals for the purpose of developing knowledge on principles that apply to diseases in both man and animals. Veterinary medicine has become the very heart of modern experimental medicine and in this way is vital to our health and welfare. I hope that you will consider favorably the important legislation that you currently have under consideration. Respectfully submitted by, EMIL M. MRAK, Chancellor. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS, SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, Davis, Calif., April 14, 1966. I am Dr. C. J. Tupper, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Dean of the School of Medicine at The University of California, Davis. It is my wish to express strong support for the passage of H.R. 409 introduced by Mr. Leggett of California and entitled, "Veterinary Medical Educational Facilities Construction Act of 1966.” It has been my recent opportunity to become intimately acquainted with veterinary medicine and the role it plays in the overall educational scene in the United States where medicine is concerned. The modern school of veterinary medicine mounts investigation, research, teaching and clinical efforts that are of significant importance to the health of the nation and to human medicine. Veterinary medicine has been defined as "That branch of medical science responsible for the health of all species of animals, except man." The definition in the modern world has been broadened to include a number of responsibilities that impact quite directly on the health of man. These include the measures for control of many infectious diseases, including plague, rabies, typhus, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis and encephalitis, to name but a few. Much of modern medicine's scientific knowledge has involved studies in comparative physiology where animal work has been essential and much more such effort must be undertaken by the schools of veterinary medicine in the cooperation and conjunction with the schools of human medicine. The development of suitable animal models for drug testing in primates is one important example. Veterinary medicine is now undergoing the experience of having members of the profession attracted to the faculties of medical schools throughout the United States as the field of laboratory animal care continues to develop. More and more veterinary research personnel and teachers are being added to schools of human medicine and it is most important that facilities for the education of the veterinarian be supported in the same effective fashion as have facilities and programs in human medical education. At the Davis Campus of the University of California, the new four year medical school is basing its plans on the closest type of interrelationship and integration with the School of Veterinary Medicine and this move is, in fact, a concrete demonstration of the many areas that permit a synergistic reaction whereby the total achievement is greater than the simple sum of the two efforts. I urge the passage of the Veterinary Medical Educational Facilities Construction Act as indicated, needed, and necessary for the health and the welfare of the people and in the best interest of the citizens of our country. C. J. TUPPER, M.D., Dean. Mr. LEGGETT. I am pleased to join my colleague, George Andrews, of Alabama, whom I note from a note from the Library of Congress, filed the first bill on January 18, 1960, and he was joined a few months later, April 20, 1960, by our now Vice President Humphrey. He subsequently reintroduced the legislation in 1961. Many of us then joined him in 1963, and in 1964, and again we have filed this legislation in the 89th Congress. I would like to congratulate my colleague, George Andrews for pioneering this legislation. I would also like to thank very sincerely this committee for scheduling hearings on this legislation at this time. We have heard a great deal about the revolution in science and medicine that has occurred in the last two decades. We know about open-heart surgery, many of us have even seen this operation on public television. We are familiar with the wonder drugs, such as penicillin and the tranquilizers. We are aware that polio, once one of man's most dreaded diseases, nearly has been eliminated. Yes, we all know very much about medical science and the medical specialists who minister to our health needs. I want to talk about another kind of medical specialist, a specialist who is every bit as important to your health and welfare as the glamorous surgeons, psychiatrists, and internists, but one whose exploits and contributions are largely unsung and are well known only to the world of science. He is the doctor of veterinary medicine, he is the medical specialist trained and skilled in diseases of all kinds of animals, except man-a physician who devotes his medical skill and compassion to the alleviation of pain, suffering, and ill health in the host of animals that serve man and contribute to his health and welfare. My statement precedes and lists the problem which my colleague, Mr. Andrews, has very elaborately started out and points out that we are not here just on behalf of impoverished and potentially ill dogs and cats, but really, we are here for people. That we would not only have to keep our animals in proper health for their own sakes but we buy food which are produced from animals and today the housewives' food bill is needlessly overburdened at the rate of an estimated $3 billion every year, which represents the current U.S. loss from animal dis eases, which, of course, must be passed on to the consumer. And an important reason why the United States is one of the most healthy nations, is because veterinarians have controlled or eliminated a host of animal diseases that are also capable of infecting people. I think this is pronounced as zoonoses, and I am not going to elaborate on that, but I am sure the deans of the veterinary colleges who are here would be pleased to spell that out. But we are making some progress. Veterinary medicine is currently making key contributions to our knowledge of human health. This is due to the fact that man and animals share many of the same diseases. Hence, a better understanding of a disease or disease process in an animal often leads to a better understanding of the disease in people. Veterinarians are badly needed for our Nation's international development programs. In some of the areas of the world, the chief limiting factor in development is animal disease that reduces food production and debilitates the human population. In South America alone, according to the Pan-American Sanitary Bureau, the control of livestock diseases would increase the supply of protein for human consumption by 25 percent. The world can ill-afford this loss. There is today in this Nation an acute shortage of veterinarians to carry out the functions that I have briefly outlined. This is indeed paradoxical, because thousands of exceedingly bright American boys and girls compete for a very limited number of openings in veterinary medical schools. In my own State of California, 2,810 young people wrote to the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine to inquire about a veterinary education last year. Out of this number, 420 had completed their preveterinary medicine and were qualified were permitted to apply. Only 80, however, could be admitted because of a lack of teaching facilities. Most of the rest will be permanently deprived of the opportunity to study veterinary medicine. This lack of opportunity for a veterinary medical education becomes highly significant in view of the critical shortage of veterinarians facing our State and the entire Nation. The California Veterinary Medical Association has estimated that there is a need for at least 300 to 500 additional veterinarians in the States. The dean of the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine informs me that there will be at least 300 inquiries for veterinarians that will go unfilled after the 51 1966 graduates of the school select positions. At least one-half of these openings are in public health, research, and teaching, and laboratory animal-medical programs. Veterinarians are being sought by the space industry for biomedical research, hundreds of medical research organizations and hospitals are seeking veterinarians to supervise the care and health of laboratory animals, national and international fish and marine biology research organizations are looking for veterinarians to play leading roles in their research programs. The Peace Corps is looking for a large number of veterinarians for their programs. The Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization of the United Nations both need veterinarians. The U.S. State Department has a chronic problem of obtaining sufficient numbers of veterinarians for their program. This demand for veterinarians reflects for tremendous change that has occurred in this profession over the last several decades. The veterinarian is looked to now as the medical specialist who deals with disease in all species of animals. He is in great demand because of his basic biological and medical competence. Finally, there are only 18 schools of veterinary medicine serving the needs of the 50 States of this Nation. There are only 3 in the entire 12-State western region. Veterinary medical education is truly a matter of national and regional concern. Like all medical education it is very expensive. Consequently, the 17 States having veterinarian medical schools should not be expected to bear the entire burden of providing the Nation with veterinary medical educational progr I strongly urge you to favorably consider the legislation before you which will make Federal funds available for the construction of veterinary medical educational facilities, also for the scholarship program and for funding these school programs. Mr. JARMAN. We appreciate our colleague's testimony this morning. Are there any questions? Mr. NELSEN. Off the record. (Discussion off the record.) Mr. JARMAN. Thank you very much. Our next witness is our colleague from Georgia, Congressman Robert G. Stephens, Jr. It is a pleasure to have you here this morning. STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT G. STEPHENS, JR., A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF GEORGIA Mr. STEPHENS. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I appreciate your giving me the opportunity for appearing before the committee on the bill that I introduced that is similar. I have a prepared statement that I would like to ask be presented and placed in the record. But I have one or two remarks that I would like to make in addition, and I will not repeat what is said in that except to emphasize one or two points. (The statement referred to follows:) STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT G. STEPHENS, JR., A REPRESENTATIVE IN Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee, I am glad to be given the opportunity to acquaint you with the bill I have introduced along with Congressman George Andrews, of Alabama, Congressman James Mackay, of Georgia, and others. It may surprise you to know that I taught in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia for ten years. Because of that experience, I feel both qualified as well as interested to urge favorable consideration of this legislation. The profession of veterinary medicine is responsible for the health of animals, and through its participation in such fields as basic biomedical research, public health, aerospace and military medicine, is also a fundamental contributor of the health and well-being of the human population. This expanding population with its increased demands for animal food and fiber products, the increasing danger from the more than 100 zoonotic diseases shared by man and animals, current increasing demands and emphasis on basic biomedical research and other accelerated programs in which the veterinarian is indispensable because of his unique knowledge of animals as experimental subjects and of their diseases have all combined to create an acute and critical shortage of this important member of the nation's health team. The rural veterinarian assists in the control, prevention and eradication of livestock and poultry diseases to insure that milk, eggs, meats, and their products are disease free. Because of his activities, this country is probably the safest place on earth in which to raise food producing animals. Even today, however, animal diseases cause the American producer a staggering annual loss of $2.7 billion which is passed on to the consumer. Urban veterinarians minister to the health problems of the small domestic or pet animals, serve on boards of health, inspect meat and perform numerous other functions. In many communities veterinarians engage in general practice in which both farm and pet animals are treated. Veterinarians actively participate in teaching and research in all colleges of veterinary medicine, veterinary science departments of Land-Grant Universities, and in an increasing number of medical schools. Faculty shortages in many of these schools are acute. Laboratory animal medicine is an expanding facet of veterinary medicine. Each year 37 million animals, valued at $250,000,000 are used for medical research, laboratory instruction, and drug testing. In 1958, 125 veterinarians were employed as laboratory animal specialists; today, over 250 are so employed, and a recent study by the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council projected a need of 850 within ten years. These veterinarians are needed in medical and veterinary schools, all facilities conducting research on the cause and effects of disease and in pharmaceutical companies in the development of therapeutic and preventive products for human and animal diseases. The United States Army and the United States Air Force commission veterinarians to maintain a sanitary food supply for military personnel, maintain proper sanitary conditions at military installations and to participate in applied military research. Military veterinarians have participated in aviation and space research programs leading to the orbiting of man in space. Veterinarians in the U.S. Public Health Service are concerned with the diseases transmissable between animals and man, air pollution, radiological health, arctic health, milk and food sanitation programs, cardiac studies, allergies and infectious diseases and others. The U.S. Public Health Service in the state and local health departments report a combined shortage of about 535 veterinarians. The largest employer of veterinarians in the United States is the U.S. Department of Agriculture with principal duties in eradication and control of animal diseases, inspection of meat and poultry for wholesomeness, research on animal diseases and parasites and inspection of animals and animal products entering the United States from other countries. According to a study completed by the Agriculture Science Advisory Committee of the Secretary of Agriculture, approxi |