We have a long standing relationship of cooperation on this issue. The need for physicians in underserved areas is not a partisan issue. The J1 Visa Waiver is also known as the Conrad program. to reflect the fact that Senator KENT CONRAD established it. Senator CONRAD and I have worked together on the program. We decided that more data was needed on how successfully the program is being implemented. so we asked the General Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the implementation of the J1 Visa Waiver Program. GAO issued a report in November of this year. Among other things. GAO found that the use of J1 visa waivers is a major means of providing physicians to practice in underserved areas of the United States. More than 1.000 waivers were requested in each of fiscal years 2003 through 2005 by states and three federal agenciesthe Appalachian Regional Commission. the Delta Regional Authority. and the Department of Health and Human Services. GAO also found that the present system of providing up to 30 waivers per state is not working well.
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