OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Support Our Military Working Dogs Act

Floor Speech

Date: March 10, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Defense Military Personnel Veterans Animals and Wildlife Government Budget and Spending

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, today I reintroduce the ``Support Our Military Working Dogs Act'' in commemoration of National K9 Veterans Day later this week. The United States K9 Corps was established on March 13, 1942.

Military working dogs serve with our troops on the front lines and provide recuperating services for our veterans and their former handlers. Caring for these dogs in the field and once they return home is our responsibility. The ``Support Our Military Working Dogs Act'' would ensure that our nation's military working dogs receive the best possible care and direct the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to work with veterans' service organizations and other nonprofits to support their long-term veterinary care, once adopted by their former handler's into loving homes.

Specifically, the ``Support Our Military Working Dogs Act'' would authorize DOD to provide charitable support for retired or injured military working dogs after their adoption, by coordinating third-party donations to cover the cost of long-term veterinary care. The bill would also ensure that the U.S. government covers all transportation costs associated with transferring retired military animals, including horses, to their new adopted homes, building upon the success of the Military Working Dog Retirement Act of 2015.

Lastly, the bill for this Congress includes a new provision clarifying that DOD's Joint Trauma Education and Training Directorate may also conduct research on the treatment and avoidance of injuries for military working dogs. Former Congressman Ralph Abraham (R-LA) sponsored this provision as an amendment to the House-passed ``National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,'' but it was ultimately removed during conference negotiations with the Senate. I am pleased to include this much-needed clarification in my bill.

As chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, which has jurisdiction over military working dogs, I urge all members of the House to join me in cosponsoring this important legislation. Congress must support our K9 veterans during and after their service.

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