II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 711 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 

of the invaluable service that working dogs provide to society. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2023 

Mr. BUDD (for himself, Mr. KELLY, Mr. TILLIS, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of the invaluable service that working 

dogs provide to society. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Working Dog Com5 memorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Dogs going back thousands of years have 

2 been tied to humans whether for protection, compan3 ionship, or assisting in daily activities. 

4 (2) The United States had an unofficial canine 

5 military presence assisting soldiers in the Civil War 

6 and World War I, but military K–9s did not become 

7 officially recognized until March 13, 1942. During 

8 the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 

9 United States military employed approximately 

10 2,500 K–9s. 

11 (3) Military K–9s have seen service in every 

12 major United States combat since World War I and 

13 have been praised by military leadership as an indis14 pensable asset for military, police, government, and 

15 private security teams around the world. 

16 (4) In 2000, section 2583 of title 10, United 

17 States Code (commonly known as ‘‘Robby’s Law’’), 

18 was enacted, which allowed for the adoption of mili19 tary K–9s by law enforcement agencies, former han20 dlers, and other care groups. 

21 (5) Since 2000, military K–9s have left service 

22 and gone onto work explosive detection for police 

23 forces and work as service dogs for veterans and 

24 families. 


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1 (6) Beyond their military working capacity, 

2 working dogs provide enhanced mobility assistance 

3 and renewed independence for the injured and dis4 abled. Service dogs are able to support veterans 

5 struggling after war, hear for those who are deaf, 

6 see for those who are blind, and even sense changes 

7 in a person’s body before a seizure. Working dogs 

8 play a vital role in improving the lives of many. 

9 (7) The service dog programs of America’s 

10 VetDogs were created to provide enhanced mobility 

11 and renewed independence to United States vet12 erans, active-duty service members, and first re13 sponders with disabilities. 

14 (8) America’s VetDogs provides— 

15 (A) guide dogs for individuals who are 

16 blind or have low vision; 

17 (B) hearing dogs for those who have lost 

18 their hearing later in life by alerting to alarms, 

19 door bells, sirens, and more; 

20 (C) service dogs for those with other phys21 ical disabilities that are specially trained to pro22 vide balance, retrieve dropped items, open and 

23 close doors, turn on and off lights, carry a 

24 backpack, and more; 


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1 (D) facility dogs that are specially trained 

2 to spend time working with wounded veterans 

3 recovering at military hospitals and veterans 

4 medical centers; 

5 (E) dogs that work with physical and occu6 pational therapists as they treat soldiers and 

7 become an essential part of the healing process; 

8 and 

9 (F) posttraumatic stress disorder service 

10 dogs that are trained to help mitigate the symp11 toms of posttraumatic stress disorder by pro12 viding the emotional and physical support a vet13 eran may need. 

14 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

15 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of the in16 valuable service that working dogs provide to society, the 

17 Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter referred to in this 

18 Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue the following 

19 coins: 

20 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 

21 coins, which shall— 

22 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

23 (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 

24 (C) contain 90 percent gold. 


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1 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 

2 $1 coins, which shall— 

3 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

4 (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

5 (C) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 

6 (3) HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

7 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 

8 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

9 (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 

10 (C) be minted to the specifications for half11 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 

12 31, United States Code. 

13 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 

14 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 

15 title 31, United States Code. 

16 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

17 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

18 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis19 matic items. 

20 SEC. 4. DESIGNS OF COINS. 

21 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The designs of the coins 

23 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

24 vast contributions that working dogs serve in society 

25 to include the range of services that the dogs provide 


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1 in detection, military service, therapy, and assist2 ance. 

3 (2) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

4 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 

5 (A) a designation of the value of the coin; 

6 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2025’’; and 

7 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 

8 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer9 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

10 (b) SELECTION.—The designs for the coins minted 

11 under this Act shall be— 

12 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 

13 with America’s VetDogs and the Commission of 

14 Fine Arts; and 

15 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

16 Committee. 

17 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

18 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 

19 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

20 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 

21 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

22 of the coins minted under this Act. 

23 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 

24 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 

25 period beginning on January 1, 2025. 


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1 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

2 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 

3 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 

4 of— 

5 (1) the face value of the coins; 

6 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 

7 respect to such coins; and 

8 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 

9 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 

10 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

11 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 

12 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 

13 discount. 

14 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 

16 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

17 before the issuance of such coins. 

18 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre19 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea20 sonable discount. 

21 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 

23 Act shall include a surcharge of— 

24 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coins; 

25 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coins; and 

26 (3) $5 per coin for the half-dollar coins. 


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1 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 

2 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 

3 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 

4 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to America’s 

5 VetDogs for general expenses associated with the fulfill6 ment of the mission of America’s VetDogs, including for 

7 costs associated with— 

8 (1) personnel related to training, dog care, and 

9 consumer needs; 

10 (2) consultants to facilitate the training of 

11 America’s VetDogs certified service dog instructors; 

12 and 

13 (3) travel, room, and board for clients served by 

14 America’s VetDogs. 

15 (c) AUDITS.—America’s VetDogs shall be subject to 

16 the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, 

17 United States Code, with regard to the amounts received 

18 under subsection (b). 

19 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

20 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

21 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 

22 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

23 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro24 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

25 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 


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1 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in 

2 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec3 retary may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 

4 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

5 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec6 essary to ensure that— 

7 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

8 will not result in any net cost to the United States 

9 Government; and 

10 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

11 are disbursed to any recipient designated in section 

12 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all of 

13 the coins authorized by this Act (including labor, 

14 materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 

15 marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the United 

16 States Treasury, consistent with sections 5112(m) 

17 and 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code. 

Æ 


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