Wounded Warrior Service Dog Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3137 To establish a grant program to encourage the use of assistance dogs by certain members of the Armed Forces. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 5, 2019 Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. COHEN, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. POCAN, Mr. PETERS, Ms. FRANKEL, Ms. ROYBAL- ALLARD, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. WELCH, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. CON- NOLLY, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. BISHOP of Geor- gia, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. NEAL, Mr. SWALWELL of California, and Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To establish a grant program to encourage the use of assistance dogs by certain members of the Armed Forces. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wounded Warrior 4 Service Dog Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3137.IH H3137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3137 IH SEC. 2. WOUNDED WARRIOR K–9 CORPS. 1 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—Subject to the avail- 2 ability of appropriations provided for such purpose, the 3 Secretary of Defense shall establish a program, to be 4 known as the ‘‘K–9 Service Corps Program’’, to award 5 competitive grants to nonprofit organizations to assist 6 such organizations in the planning, designing, estab- 7 lishing, or operating (or any combination thereof) of pro- 8 grams to provide assistance dogs to covered members. 9 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The recipient of a grant 11 under this section shall use the grant to carry out 12 programs that provide assistance dogs to covered 13 members who have a disability described in para- 14 graph (2). 15 (2) DISABILITY.—A disability described in this 16 paragraph is any of the following: 17 (A) Blindness or visual impairment. 18 (B) Loss of use of a limb, paralysis, or 19 other significant mobility issues. 20 (C) Loss of hearing. 21 (D) Traumatic brain injury. 22 (E) Post-traumatic stress disorder. 23 (F) Any other disability that the Secretary 24 considers appropriate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3137.IH H3137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3137 IH (3) TIMING OF AWARD.—The Secretary may 1 not award a grant under this section to reimburse 2 a recipient for costs previously incurred by the re- 3 cipient in carrying out a program to provide assist- 4 ance dogs to covered members unless the recipient 5 elects for the award to be such a reimbursement. 6 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 7 under this section, a nonprofit organization shall submit 8 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such man- 9 ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 10 require. Such application shall include— 11 (1) a proposal for the evaluation required by 12 subsection (d); and 13 (2) a description of— 14 (A) the training that will be provided by 15 the organization to covered members; 16 (B) the training of dogs that will serve as 17 assistance dogs; 18 (C) the aftercare services that the organi- 19 zation will provide for such dogs and covered 20 members; 21 (D) the plan for publicizing the availability 22 of such dogs through a targeted marketing 23 campaign to covered members; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3137.IH H3137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3137 IH (E) the recognized expertise of the organi- 1 zation in breeding and training such dogs; 2 (F) the commitment of the organization to 3 humane standards for animals; and 4 (G) the experience of the organization with 5 working with military medical treatment facili- 6 ties; and 7 (3) a statement certifying that the organiza- 8 tion— 9 (A) is accredited by Assistance Dogs Inter- 10 national, the International Guide Dog Federa- 11 tion, or another similar widely recognized ac- 12 creditation organization that the Secretaries de- 13 termine has accreditation standards that meet 14 or exceed the standards of Assistance Dogs 15 International and the International Guide Dog 16 Federation; or 17 (B) is a candidate for such accreditation or 18 otherwise meets or exceeds such standards, as 19 determined by the Secretary. 20 (d) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall require each 21 recipient of a grant to use a portion of the funds made 22 available through the grant to conduct an evaluation of 23 the effectiveness of the activities carried out through the 24 grant by such recipient. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3137.IH H3137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3137 IH (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 1 (1) ASSISTANCE DOG.—The term ‘‘assistance 2 dog’’ means a dog specifically trained to perform 3 physical tasks to mitigate the effects of a disability 4 described in subsection (b)(2), except that the term 5 does not include a dog specifically trained for com- 6 fort or personal defense. 7 (2) COVERED MEMBER.—The term ‘‘covered 8 member’’ means a member of the Armed Forces who 9 is— 10 (A) receiving medical treatment, recuper- 11 ation, or therapy under chapter 55 of title 10, 12 United States Code; 13 (B) in medical hold or medical holdover 14 status; or 15 (C) covered under section 1202 or 1205 of 16 title 10, United States Code. 17 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 19 $11,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3137.IH H3137 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS