# 119-hr-8473: Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act

119-hr-8473, Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Begich, Nicholas J. [R-AK-At Large] (R-AK); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8473
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-8473
- Congress: 119
- Title: Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2026-04-23
- Sponsor: Rep. Begich, Nicholas J. [R-AK-At Large] (R-AK)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Native Americans
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**This bill would create a _public health veterinary services program within the Indian Health Service_ to prevent and control zoonotic disease threats in Tribal communities.** It centers work on a One Health approach that links people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. - Tribal communities and families would gain public health veterinary services such as spaying and neutering, vaccination, diagnosis, surveillance, epidemiology, control, and other activities aimed at lowering zoonotic disease risk and antimicrobial resistance. - The Indian Health Service would be able to fund and deliver these services directly or through the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, and the Secretary could assign veterinary public health officers from the Commissioned Corps to IHS service areas. The bill also adds the Director of the Indian Health Service to the One Health Framework officials list. - Federal coordination would increase with required work alongside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture's APHIS Wildlife Services must complete a feasibility study within one year on delivering oral rabies vaccine to Arctic wildlife reservoirs, evaluate vaccine efficacy, and make recommendations.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Veterinary public health for Tribal communities: benefit, low. If enacted, this bill would create a Public Health Veterinary Services program inside the Indian Health Service. The program would pay for spaying and neutering, vaccinations, disease testing, surveillance, and other services that reduce animal-to-human disease in IHS Service areas where risk is en…
- Add Director of Indian Health Service to One Health: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would amend the One Health coordination framework to add the Director of the Indian Health Service to the list of participating officials. This would expand interagency representation and could improve coordination to prevent and respond to zoonotic disease threats affecting Tr…
- Rabies vaccine study for Arctic Tribes: benefit, low. If enacted, the Secretary of Agriculture would be required to complete a feasibility study within one year on delivering oral rabies vaccines to wildlife linked to rabies transmission to Tribal members in Arctic regions. The study would evaluate how well those vaccines work and would make recommend…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3633: Digital Asset Market Clarity Act
- 119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act
- 119-hr-7613: ALERT Act
- 119-hr-4075: Fire Weather Development Act of 2025
- 119-hr-5351: NSF AI Education Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-8473 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8473)

## Related
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-3633: Digital Asset Market Clarity Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3633)
- [119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-471)
- [119-hr-7613: ALERT Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7613)
- [119-hr-4075: Fire Weather Development Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4075)
- [119-hr-5351: NSF AI Education Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5351)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8473 (as of 2026-09-21).