Progress on the Hill

By Dr. Mark Lutschaunig, Director of the GRD

"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber." -Plato

This has been a good month for the veterinary profession. The Veterinary Services Investment Act was introduced in the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. This important piece of legislation will help to provide veterinary services to underserved geographic and professional areas of the profession. In addition, the final FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill contained $4.8M for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (NVMSA); $1M for the Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank (FARAD); and $495,000 for the National Research Support Project-7 (NRSP-7). NRSP-7 identifies animal drug needs for minor species and minor uses in major species, generates and disseminates data for safe and effective therapeutic applications, and facilitates FDA/CVM approvals for drugs identified as a priority for a minor species or minor use.

We are pleased with these successes and thank Congress for its support of the veterinary profession. But we could not have done it without you. More than 90 groups have endorsed the Veterinary Services Investment Act. This makes our job much easier. When Members of Congress and their staffs see the tremendous support for the legislation, they realize that the legislation is important and will address a significant need in our country. We also had a number of individuals contact their Members to ask them to cosponsor the legislation. This grassroots support is essential if we are going to advance the profession's legislative agenda.

Over the past few years, we have seen numerous instances when grassroots support helped move legislation or attain appropriations for our programs. Tip O'Neill, former Speaker of the House, once stated "All politics is local." We see this day-in and day-out – Members of Congress want to hear from their constituents about the issues.

As a profession, we need to become more involved in the political process - both at the state and federal levels. The AVMA Congressional Advocacy Network was formed to help advocate for the profession's issues. It is not hard to join, costs nothing except a bit of time, and is an essential tool to advance our legislative agenda. Join today, and make your voice heard!

For more information, please contact Dr. Mark Lutschaunig at mlutschaunig@avma.org.