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The Honorable Ann Veneman Dear Madam Secretary: It has come to my attention that the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has ceased operations of its J-1 Visa Waiver program which for years placed foreign medical graduates in rural, medically underserved areas to provide primary care medical services. Our community was and is well served by these foreign physicians and we expect that we will continue to require their services given our inability to recruit American physicians. Without this program our community will suffer tremendous hardship and proper healthcare will become nonexistent. I urge you to resume this critical and important program. The foreign doctors, trained in the United States, are dedicated practioners serving their communities and do not want to leave, but they will have no choice unless USDA continues this program. It is a shame that physicians who are willing to serve in rural areas such as ours are denied the opportunity to do so when we have such a severe and chronic shortage in our community of primary care physicians. I respectfully request that USDA resume this important program to the health of rural Americans.
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