II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3689 

To establish a grant program to encourage the use of assistance dogs by 

certain members of the Armed Forces and veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 18 (legislative day, DECEMBER 17), 2012 

Mr. KERRY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to encourage the use of assistance dogs by certain members of the Armed Forces 

and veterans, 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 ‘‘Senior Airman Michael 

5 Malarsie Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) As of the day before the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, thousands of members of the 

10 Armed Forces and veterans have visual, hearing, or 


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1 substantial mobility impairments and receive bene2 fits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

3 (2) In fiscal year 2011, 269 veterans received 

4 benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs 

5 for guide dogs (visual impairments), hearing dogs, 

6 and mobility dogs. 

7 (3) As of the day before the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, the number of veterans who need 

9 the assistance of guide dogs is expected to increase 

10 as more members of the Armed Forces who serve in 

11 Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Free12 dom, and Operation New Dawn are diagnosed with 

13 disabilities and veterans who already have assistance 

14 dogs need replacement dogs. 

15 (4) As of the day before the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, members of the Armed Forces and 

17 veterans diagnosed with visual, hearing, or mobility 

18 impairments are subject to long waiting periods to 

19 receive assistance dogs. Nonprofit organizations 

20 train and provide service dogs free of charge to such 

21 members and veterans, but rely solely on fundraising 

22 and volunteer staff to meet growing demand. 

23 (5) According to the annual survey conducted 

24 by Assistance Dogs International for 2011, there 

25 was a backlog of 188 veterans waiting for dog placeVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:17 Dec 19, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3689.IS S3689

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1 ment of guide and service dogs. In that same survey, 

2 agency members of Assistance Dogs International 

3 were able to place dogs with only 72 veterans. 

4 (6) As of the day before the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, each guide dog costs approximately 

6 $45,000 and takes about two years to raise and 

7 train. 

8 (7) In fiscal year 2011, the Department of Vet9 erans Affairs spent $243,992 on veterinary care and 

10 necessary hardware for 266 service dogs, including 

11 those trained to aid visually, hearing, or mobility im12 pairments. The average cost per veteran was $917. 

13 (8) As of the day before the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, service dogs work on average 10 

15 years, and young veterans can require multiple re16 placements during the span of their lifetime. 

17 SEC. 3. SENIOR AIRMAN MICHAEL MALARSIE PROGRAM. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

20 appropriations provided for such purpose, the Sec21 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af22 fairs shall jointly establish a program to award com23 petitive grants to eligible entities to assist eligible 

24 entities in planning, designing, establishing, and opVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:17 Dec 19, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3689.IS S3689

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1 erating programs to provide assistance dogs to cov2 ered members and veterans. 

3 (2) DESIGNATION.—The program established 

4 under paragraph (1) shall be known as the ‘‘Senior 

5 Airman Michael Malarsie Program’’ (in this section 

6 referred to as the ‘‘Program’’). 

7 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of the Pro8 gram, an eligible entity is any entity that— 

9 (1) is described in section 501(c)(3) of the In10 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from 

11 taxation under section 501(a) of such Code; and 

12 (2) is a member of the International Guide Dog 

13 Federation or Assistance Dogs International. 

14 (c) COVERED MEMBERS AND VETERANS.—For pur15 poses of the Program— 

16 (1) a covered member of the Armed Forces is 

17 any member of the Armed Forces who is— 

18 (A) receiving medical treatment, recuper19 ation, or therapy under chapter 55 of title 10, 

20 United States Code; 

21 (B) in medical hold or medical holdover 

22 status; or 

23 (C) covered under section 1202 or 1205 of 

24 title 10, United States Code; and 


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1 (2) a covered veteran is any veteran who is en2 rolled in the system of annual patient enrollment es3 tablished under section 1705(a) of title 38, United 

4 States Code. 

5 (d) APPLICATION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking a 

7 grant under the Program shall submit an application 

8 to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 

9 Veterans Affairs therefor at such time, in such man10 ner, and containing such information as the Sec11 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af12 fairs may require. 

13 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each application submitted 

14 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

15 (A) A proposal for the evaluation required 

16 by subsection (f). 

17 (B) A description of the following: 

18 (i) The training that will be provided 

19 by the eligible entity to covered members 

20 and veterans. 

21 (ii) The training of dogs that will 

22 serve as assistance dogs. 

23 (iii) The aftercare services that the el24 igible entity will provide for such dogs and 

25 covered members and veterans. 


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1 (iv) The plan for publicizing the avail2 ability of such dogs through a targeted 

3 marketing campaign to covered members 

4 and veterans. 

5 (v) The recognized expertise of the eli6 gible entity in breeding and training such 

7 dogs, including how many of such dogs 

8 were provided to covered members and vet9 erans during the most recent three-year 

10 period. 

11 (vi) The commitment of the eligible 

12 entity to humane standards for animals. 

13 (vii) The experience of the eligible en14 tity with working with military medical 

15 treatment facilities or medical facilities of 

16 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

17 (e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

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

19 under the Program shall use the grant to carry out 

20 programs that provide assistance dogs to covered 

21 members and veterans who have a disability de22 scribed in paragraph (2). 

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

24 paragraph is any of the following: 

25 (A) Blindness or visual impairment. 


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

2 other significant mobility issues. 

3 (C) Loss of hearing. 

4 (D) Any other disability with respect to 

5 which the Secretary of Defense and the Sec6 retary of Veterans Affairs determine that provi7 sion of an assistance dog under the Program 

8 would be appropriate for the treatment or reha9 bilitation of a covered member or veteran with 

10 such disability. 

11 (3) POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND

12 TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of De14 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

15 shall determine whether the provision of an as16 sistance dog under the Program to a covered 

17 member or veteran with post-traumatic stress 

18 disorder or traumatic brain injury would be ap19 propriate for the treatment or rehabilitation of 

20 such covered member or veteran. 

21 (B) CONSIDERATION OF STUDY ON USE OF

22 SERVICE DOGS FOR TREATMENT OR REHABILI23 TATION OF VETERANS WITH MENTAL INJURIES

24 OR DISABILITIES.—In making a determination 

25 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of DeVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:17 Dec 19, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3689.IS S3689

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1 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

2 shall consider the findings of the Secretary of 

3 Veterans Affairs regarding the study conducted 

4 under section 1077(d) of the National Defense 

5 Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2010 (Public 

6 Law 111–84). 

7 (f) EVALUATION.—The Secretary of Defense and the 

8 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall require each recipient 

9 of a grant under the Program to use a portion of the funds 

10 made available through the grant to conduct an evaluation 

11 of the effectiveness of the activities carried out through 

12 the grant by such recipient. 

13 (g) ASSISTANCE DOG DEFINED.—In this section, the 

14 term ‘‘assistance dog’’ means a dog specifically trained to 

15 perform physical tasks to mitigate the effects of a dis16 ability described in subsection (e)(2), except that the term 

17 does not include a dog specifically trained for comfort or 

18 personal defense. 

19 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

21 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016. 

Æ 


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