Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

A critical legislative provision in the Farm Bill is at risk of being rejected by a U.S. Congress conference committee, and we need your help.

The U.S. House and the Senate passed their own versions of the Farm Bill reauthorization. The Veterinary Workforce Grant Program, which is included in the Senate version, would establish a competitive grant program to increase the number of veterinarians trained in agricultural biosecurity. This essential funding would be used by our nation's veterinary schools to increase capacity by building more classrooms and labs. The Veterinary Workforce Grant Program is now in danger of being removed from the final House and Senate approved Farm Bill.

With your active support and advocacy, we can insure that this important provision will remain in the final version of the Farm Bill.

Please stop what you are doing and take a few minutes to join us in the fight for this program. We expect the Farm Bill to come up for vote within the next two to three weeks, and it is urgent that you act now.

Taking action is easy. Just take the following steps:

1. Call Congress at 1-800-828-0498.
2. Ask to speak to the office of the Representative from your home district or to a Senator from your home state. (If you do not know the names of your Members of Congress click here.) It is essential that you call your Representative and your state's two Senators.
3. Once connected to your Member's office, ask to speak to the staff member who deals with agricultural issues.
4. Ask the staffer for their Member's support for the Veterinary Workforce Grant Program in the Farm Bill and ask them to contact the conference committee to insure that the Veterinary Workforce Grant Program remains in the final version of the bill.

Thank you for taking action with us.

If you would like more information on the Veterinary Workforce Expansion Program, you can find it by clicking here. If you have specific questions or want to tell us that you called Congress, please contact Dr. Mark Lutschaunig, Director, AVMA Governmental Relations Division, Email or Call 1-800-321-1473.

Sincerely,

Gregory S. Hammer, DVM
President