I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1022 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a grant program 

under which the Secretary shall make grants to private entities for 

the provision of service dogs to eligible veterans with post-traumatic 

stress disorder, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2021 

Mr. RUTHERFORD (for himself, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. 

PAPPAS, and Mr. STIVERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

a grant program under which the Secretary shall make 

grants to private entities for the provision of service 

dogs to eligible veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Puppies Assisting 

5 Wounded Servicemembers Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘PAWS 

6 Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) According to the analyses of veteran suicide 

5 published by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 

6 August 2016 entitled ‘‘Suicide Among Veterans and 

7 Other Americans’’ and in June 2018 entitled ‘‘VA 

8 National Suicide Date Report’’— 

9 (A) an average of 20 veterans died by sui10 cide each day during 2014; 

11 (B) mental health disorders, including 

12 major depression and other mood disorders, 

13 have been associated with increased risk for sui14 cide; 

15 (C) the proportion of users of the Veterans 

16 Health Administration with mental health con17 ditions or substance use disorders increased 

18 from approximately 27 percent in 2001 to more 

19 than 40 percent in 2014; and 

20 (D) overall, suicide rates are highest 

21 among patients with mental health and sub22 stance use disorder diagnoses who are in treat23 ment and lower among those who received a 

24 mental health diagnoses but were not at risk 

25 enough to require enhanced care from a mental 

26 health provider. 


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1 (2) Pairing a service dog with a veteran costs 

2 approximately $25,000, including training of the 

3 service dog as well as training of the veteran with 

4 the service dog and follow-up services and support. 

5 (3) Organizations like K9s For Warriors and 

6 other members of the Association of Service Dog 

7 Providers for Military Veterans have proven track8 records of training service dogs for veterans with se9 vere post-traumatic stress disorder and dramatically 

10 improving those veterans’ quality of life, ability to 

11 re-enter society, and, most importantly, their 

12 chances of survival. 

13 (4) New, rigorous scientific research provides 

14 persuasive weight to the growing anecdotal evidence 

15 that service dogs ameliorate the symptoms associ16 ated with post-traumatic stress disorder, and in par17 ticular, help prevent veteran suicide. 

18 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con19 gress that the Department of Veterans Affairs must be 

20 more effective in its approach to reducing the burden of 

21 veteran suicide connected to mental health disorders, in22 cluding post-traumatic stress disorder. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROGRAM TO 

2 PROVIDE GRANTS FOR THE PROVISION OF 

3 SERVICE DOGS TO CERTAIN VETERANS WITH 

4 SEVERE POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DIS5 ORDER. 

6 (a) GRANTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

8 Affairs shall make grants to eligible organizations 

9 for the purposes of providing service dogs to eligible 

10 veterans. 

11 (2) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—A grant under this 

12 section shall be in an amount not to exceed $25,000 

13 for each eligible veteran paired with a service dog. 

14 (b) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.—To be eligible to re15 ceive a grant under this section, an organization shall— 

16 (1) be a nonprofit organization that— 

17 (A) provides service dogs to veterans with 

18 post-traumatic stress disorder (hereinafter in 

19 this section referred to as ‘‘PTSD’’); 

20 (B) meets the publicly available National 

21 Standard of the Association of Service Dog 

22 Providers for Military Veterans; and 

23 (C) has expertise in the unique needs of 

24 veterans with PTSD; 

25 (2) agree to provide the benefits described in 

26 subsection (c) and, if necessary, to cover any costs 


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1 associated with the provision of such benefits in ex2 cess of the amount of the grant; 

3 (3) agree to reaccept or replace any service dog 

4 the organization provides to a veteran using a grant 

5 under this section, if necessary, as determined by 

6 the organization and the veteran; and 

7 (4) submit to the Secretary an application con8 taining such information, certification, and assur9 ances as the Secretary may reasonably require. 

10 (c) BENEFITS TO BE PROVIDED USING GRANT

11 FUNDS.—An organization that receives a grant under 

12 subsection (a) shall use the grant to— 

13 (1) provide a service dog for each eligible vet14 eran participating in the program; 

15 (2) for each service dog provided, to provide— 

16 (A) commercially available or government17 guaranteed veterinary health insurance to main18 tain the health of the dog and keep the dog 

19 functioning in the prescribed role for the life of 

20 the dog; and 

21 (B) hardware, or repairs or replacements 

22 for hardware, that are clinically determined to 

23 be required by the dog to perform the tasks 

24 necessary to assist the veteran with the diag25 nosed disorder of the veteran; and 


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1 (3) cover the cost of any travel expenses for the 

2 veteran to obtain the dog, calculated in the same 

3 manner as similar travel expenses provided pursuant 

4 to section 111 of title 38, United States Code. 

5 (d) TRAVEL EXPENSES FOR REPLACEMENT DOGS.— 

6 If a veteran replaces a service dog provided pursuant to 

7 a grant under this section, the Secretary shall pay an addi8 tional amount for such the travel expenses, to be cal9 culated in the same manner as similar travel expenses pro10 vided pursuant to section 111 of title 38, United States 

11 Code. Such payment shall be in addition to any other ben12 efits the veteran receives for the first service dog provided 

13 under this section. 

14 (e) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.— 

15 (1) INITIAL ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this 

16 section, an eligible veteran is a veteran who— 

17 (A) is enrolled in the patient enrollment 

18 system of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

19 under section 1705 of title 38, United States 

20 Code; 

21 (B) has been treated and has completed an 

22 established evidence-based treatment for PTSD 

23 yet remains diagnosed with PTSD by a quali24 fied health care provider, as rated on the post25 traumatic stress disorder checklist (PCL–5); 


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1 (C) the health care provider or clinical 

2 team of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

3 that is treating the veteran for such disorder 

4 determines, based upon medical judgment, that 

5 the veteran may potentially benefit from a serv6 ice dog; and 

7 (D) agrees to successfully complete train8 ing provided by an eligible organization in con9 junction with the receipt of a service dog. 

10 (2) ONGOING ELIGIBILITY.—To remain eligible 

11 to participate in the program, a veteran shall see the 

12 health care provider or clinical team of the Depart13 ment of Veterans Affairs treating the veteran for 

14 such a disorder at least once every six months to de15 termine, based on a clinical evaluation of efficacy, 

16 whether the veteran continues to benefit from a 

17 service dog. 

18 (3) OTHER CASES.—If at any point, the veteran 

19 is no longer able or willing to care for the service 

20 dog, the organization that provided the service dog 

21 and the veteran shall determine the appropriate re22 course to ensure the safety of both the veteran and 

23 the service dog. 

24 (f) APPROVAL OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.—The Sec25 retary of Veterans Affairs may review an application subVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Mar 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1022.IH H1022

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1 mitted by an eligible organization for a grant under this 

2 section only after the organization accepts an eligible vet3 eran into an appropriate program. The Secretary shall ap4 prove or deny such an application not later than 90 days 

5 after the date on which an eligible organization applies 

6 to participate under this section on behalf of an eligible 

7 veteran. 

8 (g) RELATIONSHIP TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

9 AFFAIRS BENEFITS.—The provision of a service dog to 

10 a veteran under this section is in addition to any other 

11 hospital care or medical service furnished by the Depart12 ment for that veteran for PTSD. An improvement in 

13 symptoms as a result of the provision of a service dog shall 

14 not affect the eligibility of the veteran for any other ben15 efit under the laws administered by the Secretary. 

16 (h) METRICS.—In carrying out this section, the Sec17 retary shall— 

18 (1) develop metrics and other appropriate 

19 means to measure, with respect to veterans partici20 pating in the program, the improvement in psycho21 social function and therapeutic compliance of such 

22 veterans and changes with respect to the dependence 

23 on prescription narcotics and psychotropic medica24 tion of such veterans; and 


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1 (2) establish processes to document and track 

2 the progress of such veterans under the program in 

3 terms of the benefits and improvements noted as a 

4 result of the program. 

5 (i) GAO BRIEFING AND STUDY.— 

6 (1) BRIEFING.—Not later than one year after 

7 the date on which the Secretary commences the 

8 grant program under this section, the Comptroller 

9 General of the United States shall provide to the 

10 Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

11 Representatives and the Senate a briefing on the 

12 methodology established for the program. 

13 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after 

14 the date on which the grant program under this sec15 tion terminates, the Comptroller General shall sub16 mit to the committees specified in paragraph (1) a 

17 report on the program. Such report shall include an 

18 evaluation of the approach and methodology used for 

19 the program with respect to— 

20 (A) helping veterans with severe PTSD re21 turn to civilian life; 

22 (B) relevant metrics, including any reduc23 tion in metrics, including reduction in scores 

24 under the post-traumatic stress disorder checkVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Mar 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1022.IH H1022

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1 list (PCL–5), improvement in psychosocial 

2 function, and therapeutic compliance; and 

3 (C) reducing the dependence of partici4 pants on prescription narcotics and psycho5 tropic medication. 

6 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

7 authorized to be appropriated for the period of fiscal year 

8 2021 through fiscal year 2024, $10,000,000 to carry out 

9 the program under this section. 

10 (k) TERMINATION.—The authority to carry out a 

11 program under this section shall terminate on the date 

12 that is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this 

13 Act. An eligible veteran in possession of a service dog fur14 nished under the program as of the date of the termi15 nation of the program may keep the service dog after the 

16 termination of the program for the life of the dog. 

Æ 


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