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. ROYBALALLARD, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. WELCH, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, 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. 

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 ‘‘Wounded Warrior 

5 Service Dog Act of 2019’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 3137 IH

1 SEC. 2. WOUNDED WARRIOR K–9 CORPS. 

2 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—Subject to the avail3 ability of appropriations provided for such purpose, the 

4 Secretary of Defense shall establish a program, to be 

5 known as the ‘‘K–9 Service Corps Program’’, to award 

6 competitive grants to nonprofit organizations to assist 

7 such organizations in the planning, designing, estab8 lishing, or operating (or any combination thereof) of pro9 grams to provide assistance dogs to covered members. 

10 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The recipient of a grant 

12 under this section shall use the grant to carry out 

13 programs that provide assistance dogs to covered 

14 members who have a disability described in para15 graph (2). 

16 (2) DISABILITY.—A disability described in this 

17 paragraph is any of the following: 

18 (A) Blindness or visual impairment. 

19 (B) Loss of use of a limb, paralysis, or 

20 other significant mobility issues. 

21 (C) Loss of hearing. 

22 (D) Traumatic brain injury. 

23 (E) Post-traumatic stress disorder. 

24 (F) Any other disability that the Secretary 

25 considers appropriate. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 3137 IH

1 (3) TIMING OF AWARD.—The Secretary may 

2 not award a grant under this section to reimburse 

3 a recipient for costs previously incurred by the re4 cipient in carrying out a program to provide assist5 ance dogs to covered members unless the recipient 

6 elects for the award to be such a reimbursement. 

7 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

8 under this section, a nonprofit organization shall submit 

9 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such man10 ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 

11 require. Such application shall include— 

12 (1) a proposal for the evaluation required by 

13 subsection (d); and 

14 (2) a description of— 

15 (A) the training that will be provided by 

16 the organization to covered members; 

17 (B) the training of dogs that will serve as 

18 assistance dogs; 

19 (C) the aftercare services that the organi20 zation will provide for such dogs and covered 

21 members; 

22 (D) the plan for publicizing the availability 

23 of such dogs through a targeted marketing 

24 campaign to covered members; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 3137 IH

1 (E) the recognized expertise of the organi2 zation in breeding and training such dogs; 

3 (F) the commitment of the organization to 

4 humane standards for animals; and 

5 (G) the experience of the organization with 

6 working with military medical treatment facili7 ties; and 

8 (3) a statement certifying that the organiza9 tion— 

10 (A) is accredited by Assistance Dogs Inter11 national, the International Guide Dog Federa12 tion, or another similar widely recognized ac13 creditation organization that the Secretaries de14 termine has accreditation standards that meet 

15 or exceed the standards of Assistance Dogs 

16 International and the International Guide Dog 

17 Federation; or 

18 (B) is a candidate for such accreditation or 

19 otherwise meets or exceeds such standards, as 

20 determined by the Secretary. 

21 (d) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall require each 

22 recipient of a grant to use a portion of the funds made 

23 available through the grant to conduct an evaluation of 

24 the effectiveness of the activities carried out through the 

25 grant by such recipient. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 3137 IH

1 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

2 (1) ASSISTANCE DOG.—The term ‘‘assistance 

3 dog’’ means a dog specifically trained to perform 

4 physical tasks to mitigate the effects of a disability 

5 described in subsection (b)(2), except that the term 

6 does not include a dog specifically trained for com7 fort or personal defense. 

8 (2) COVERED MEMBER.—The term ‘‘covered 

9 member’’ means a member of the Armed Forces who 

10 is— 

11 (A) receiving medical treatment, recuper12 ation, or therapy under chapter 55 of title 10, 

13 United States Code; 

14 (B) in medical hold or medical holdover 

15 status; or 

16 (C) covered under section 1202 or 1205 of 

17 title 10, United States Code. 

18 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 

20 $11,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS