S 620
· 119th Congress
· Native Americans
Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act
Sponsor
Latest action
Held at the desk.
Action timeline
Every recorded action on this bill, newest first. Stage badges color-code the legislative path.
Dec 15, 2025
floor
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Dec 15, 2025
floor
Received in the House.
Dec 15, 2025
floor
Held at the desk.
Dec 11, 2025
passed
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
Dec 11, 2025
passed
Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8687; text: CR S8687)
Sep 29, 2025
committee
Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Murkowski without amendment. With written report No. 119-69.
Indian Affairs Committee
Sep 29, 2025
other
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 174.
Mar 05, 2025
committee
Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
Indian Affairs Committee
Feb 18, 2025
introduced
Introduced in Senate
Feb 18, 2025
introduced
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Indian Affairs Committee
Text versions
Each stage of the bill — official text published by GPO. Click any format to read on congress.gov / govinfo.
CRS summaries
Plain-English summaries written by the Congressional Research Service — neutral, nonpartisan staff who summarize bills as they advance through stages. The authoritative description of what each version of the bill does.
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Introduced in Senate
Feb 18, 2025
Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act
This bill expands support for public health veterinary services (e.g., disease surveillance or vaccination) in tribal communities to address zoonotic infectious diseases (i.e., diseases that spread between humans and animals).
Specifically, the bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Indian Health Service (IHS), to expend funds for public health veterinary services to prevent and control zoonotic disease infection and transmission in IHS areas where the risk for disease occurrence in humans and wildlife is endemic.
HHS may assign or deploy veterinary public health officers from the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps to IHS areas.
Additionally, HHS must submit a biennial report to Congress on the use of funds, the assignment and deployment of veterinary public health officers from the USPHS Commissioned Corps, data related to the monitoring and disease surveillance of zoonotic diseases, and related services.
The bill also includes the IHS as a coordinating agency in the National One Health Framework. (This framework addresses zoonotic diseases and advances public health preparedness in the United States.)
The bill requires the Department of Agriculture to conduct a feasibility study on the delivery of oral rabies vaccines to wildlife reservoir species that are connected to the transmission of rabies to tribal members living in Arctic regions of the United States. The study must (1) evaluate the efficacy of the oral rabies vaccines, and (2) make recommendations to improve the delivery of these vaccines.
via Congressional Research Service · published through congress.gov
Changelog
ⓘ
How a bill moves through Congress. Each stage produces a new official text. The diff between them shows what changed at that step.
ih / is — Introduced in House / Senate. First filed version.rfh / rfs — Referred to a committee for review.rh / rs — Reported back by the committee to the floor (often with amendments — this is where most language changes happen).pcs / pch — Placed on Calendar for floor consideration.eh / es — Engrossed. Passed by the originating chamber. Text is now what was actually voted on.rdh / rds — Received by the other chamber.eah / eas — Engrossed Amendment. The other chamber passed an amended version.ath / ats — Agreed to. Both chambers settled on the same text.enr — Enrolled. Final reconciled text, sent to the President.pl — Public Law. Signed by the President. It's now law.pp — Public Print. Official printing post-enactment.
Most bills die before eh/es. Going from pcs → enr is the full path through both chambers.
ⓘ
How a bill moves through Congress. Each stage produces a new official text. The diff between them shows what changed at that step.
ih/is— Introduced in House / Senate. First filed version.rfh/rfs— Referred to a committee for review.rh/rs— Reported back by the committee to the floor (often with amendments — this is where most language changes happen).pcs/pch— Placed on Calendar for floor consideration.eh/es— Engrossed. Passed by the originating chamber. Text is now what was actually voted on.rdh/rds— Received by the other chamber.eah/eas— Engrossed Amendment. The other chamber passed an amended version.ath/ats— Agreed to. Both chambers settled on the same text.enr— Enrolled. Final reconciled text, sent to the President.pl— Public Law. Signed by the President. It's now law.pp— Public Print. Official printing post-enactment.
Most bills die before eh/es. Going from pcs → enr is the full path through both chambers.
Line-level diff between text versions of this bill — what actually changed at each legislative stage.
+8
−32
28 unchanged
--- Reported (Senate)
+++ Engrossed (Senate)
@@ -1,35 +1,15 @@
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
-[S. 620 Reported in Senate (RS)]
+[S. 620 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]
<DOC>
-Calendar No. 174
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 620
-[Report No. 119-69]
-
-To provide public health veterinary services to Indian Tribes and
-Tribal organizations for rabies prevention, and for other purposes.
-
_______________________________________________________________________
-IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
-
-February 18, 2025
-
-Ms. Murkowski (for herself, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Peters, and Mr. Schatz)
-introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
-Committee on Indian Affairs
-
-September 29, 2025
-
-Reported by Ms. Murkowski, without amendment
-
-_______________________________________________________________________
-
-A BILL
+AN ACT
To provide public health veterinary services to Indian Tribes and
Tribal organizations for rabies prevention, and for other purposes.
@@ -125,25 +105,21 @@
amended by striking ``and the Secretary of the Interior'' and inserting
``, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Director of the Indian
Health Service''.
-Calendar No. 174
+Passed the Senate December 11, 2025.
+
+Attest:
+
+Secretary.
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 620
-[Report No. 119-69]
-
_______________________________________________________________________
-A BILL
+AN ACT
To provide public health veterinary services to Indian Tribes and
Tribal organizations for rabies prevention, and for other purposes.
-
-_______________________________________________________________________
-
-September 29, 2025
-
-Reported without amendment
Cosponsors (3)
Members who signed on to support this bill.